Are the basics of Reach, Creative, Targeting, and Recency still critical to good advertising?

What makes an ad campaign effective? Its reach? Precision audience targeting? Resonance of creative? Timing? Repeat messaging?

These questions have troubled marketers since the dawn of advertising. But NCS discovered the answer — to every one.

In one of the most comprehensive advertising industry analyses in the history of the industry, NCS analyzed the results of 500 marketing studies and another 863 brand campaign studies published over two quarters. The meta-analysis identified the five key drivers of ad effectiveness: creative, reach, targeting, recency and context. More importantly, the research revealed how these different components complement each other in an ad campaign and their relative value in influencing consumer behavior.

One key finding is creative is still the most important factor in driving sales, although media is increasingly valuable due to advances in ad-targeting technology. Reach, context, recency and targeting are all ineffective if the creative is uninspired.

The study also revealed the majority of ad campaigns aren’t targeted at consumers most likely to respond to the creative. Improvements in media-buying are still desperately needed.