The Data Holy Grail - Reach and Frequency : An Interview

1. What is the new Reach and Frequency tool that you guys are rolling out?

   This tool allows you to understand who you aren’t reaching with your message, and who might be seeing too much of a message. You can look at an individual creative (or a full set of creatives) by several key metrics. We let you measure audience saturation by tracking the incremental reach and frequency of an advertisement. This means you can re-target audiences and subgroups by their exposure to advertising across broadcast and cable. If they have low exposure – you can select and go reach them elsewhere or optimize your current buy further. These features are available not only for your campaign, outside group, or effort – but also built to measure the ad performance and audience reach of the opposition’s advertising efforts as well.

2. Why do campaigns and issue groups need this type of tool now? Is it because of changes in the media landscape?

   Exactly correct, this is not really a grading tool on the linear buy as much as it is measurement of exposure to the audience you care about which is a reflection on the ever increasing fractured media landscape. Inevitably, regardless of the audience targeting done on your buy – and yes, everyone should be using Deep Root linear ratings – you will see underserved portions of your audience. This is just an artifact of human nature and changing and dynamic viewing habits. This tool more than anything helps you select those segments within your audience and cut new linear ratings specific for them – you’d see different programs and cable spots that work better for the segmentation versus the audience overall. Even better – you can reach them offline or across digital.

3. What problems does this help media buyers and consultants fix?

   When you segment an audience and rank people from who’s seen it most to least, every buy resembles a hockey stick. We’ve all known that for some time. Now you can do something with that chart. This tool selects households being underserved and lets you re-target them on other mediums like socials, digital, OTT. This will help drive your message. We’ve heard for a few cycles now from consultants that don’t understand how 1,000 points over two weeks isn’t moving polling numbers. It’s due in part to viewership and information flow. This tool in the hands of smart buyers and consultants helps raise everyone’s frequency within a given audience. We’re letting them get even more sophisticated after the buy is placed.

4. How do you source the data / where does that come from?

   This is observed data from set top boxes, connected tv’s, etc. matched against our audiences. And it’s as recent as 24 hrs. We match this data to our public off-the-shelf audiences and to custom audiences created for our clients.

   And honestly, that 24 hour number is pretty significant – it’s giving campaigns the ability to monitor their creative(s) in real time. In the closing days of a campaign allowing for quick adjustments and re-targeting on other mediums.

5. How does digital / OTT / CTV impact the challenge of monitoring this?

   Our omnichannel targeting solution allows you to directly target those voters on streaming apps, OTT/CTV, etc. Obviously streaming has contributed to the fractured landscape, and it’s made buying harder, we are building tools to enable buyers to be successful in achieving comprehensive and efficient buys. As we speak, we’re working on incorporating the streaming data view into our next iteration of this product.

6. How should campaigns think about / reach these folks at the end of the bell curve that are hardly seeing any advertising?

   TV is still a great medium but you have to know you aren’t getting “everyone you care about”. Every strategist and consultant earmarks a mail, digital, and phone budget in addition to TV. Having real-time observed data on who you are missing, and then real solutions to re-target them is table stakes. Targeting households you know have only seen your ad 3 times in the last week in real time with OTT/CTV, Socials, Mail, P2P is not only smart it’s frankly essential today.

 Advice on starting out: We all start off young and arrogant, try and get through that phase as quickly as possible so you can actually start learning. Build genuine relationships with the folks you meet along the way – don’t be transactional.  Regardless of your title, always be willing to take out the trash or clean the kitchen in a campaign office. But the most important lesson I learned was in 2015. I took a $25K pay cut to go to Michigan and work for this promising new State Party Chair, Ronna Romney McDaniel. Sometimes you have to take a step back to take a step forward. Lastly, bourbon helps. 

Jonathan Duke, Fairfax County Va resident. Married to Amber Duke (formerly Athey, give her a follow on X). Native of Paducah, Kentucky. I grew up volunteering in middle and high school for my County GOP and my local congressman. Obviously started running races in Kentucky, including RNC State Director, Attorney General and Congressional campaigns. Have been on efforts in New Mexico and Ohio and before joining Deep Root most recently worked for the State Party in Michigan in 2016 (I was 100% the difference in getting Trump his margin of 10,704 votes) and the 2018 cycle (not my fault).