Brand advertising beyond the click

If you run marketing for a high-end brand, the typical idea of a successful advertising campaign is one where you ‘reach’ as many of your target audience as possible. Online, that reach is typically measured in views and clicks, and perhaps validated with the occasional post campaign study. Brands assume that if someone has seen an ad and clicked on it, that means you had the audiences’ attention, which will translate into awareness, and later, consideration and purchases.

While that is true to an extent, many views are not actually seen, and clicks are forgotten or not intended. There is a cohort among these groups of viewers and clickers who are more likely to purchase then all the rest, and the key is of course to find them. The typical solution to this ‘problem’ is to add more targeting criteria. We see male 30-45, with high income and hobbies such as golf purchasing the product, we must narrow down our marketing to cater to them. But this is the wrong approach, because you severely limit the potential audience and get to a self-fulfilling prophecy situation.