BrainJuicer launches offering that can predict ROI of digital content

BrainJuicer, a UK-based market research agency, has developed a new product that, prior to launch, can forecast the success content is likely to have in the online realm. With the solution, dubbed ‘System1 Digital Ad Testing’, the firm says that marketeers and advertisers no longer will have to face one of the most gruelling challenges in the media space – throwing content out on the streets and subsequently waiting in anxiety to find out how well it is received.

Founded in 1999, in London, BrainJuicer has since grown into a mid-sized market research consultancy with around 150 professionals across more than ten offices globally.

Last week the firm unveiled that is has brought to market a solution with the potential to solve one of the most frustrating steps in the digital media marketing process. Professionals globally spend much effort in creating articles, advertorials, ads or other forms of (online) content, and down the line, with the help of a range of tools and powerful analytical solutions, they are well able to gain insight into the performance of their content. Yet for every piece of content that successfully leaves a mark, there is a much larger number of items that fail to meet objectives, leaving creatives and fee-burners in despair.

Against the backdrop of the growing demands in the industry, as well as the rapidly rising stakes at hand, creatives are actively seeking ways to – just as is the case in the offline world and other industries – somehow predict the success of their product upfront, enabling them to run optimisation techniques before it is too late.

BrainJuicer’s ‘System1 Digital Ad Testing’ solution is the latest to enter the market with the aim of disrupting the existing status quo. The solution builds on a methodology ‘(System1’) that assesses consumers’ emotional reactions to brands along three dimensions: ‘fame’ (the reputation of a brand), ‘feeling’ (how people feel about a brand) and ‘fluency’ (what distinguishes a brand from the rest). In the traditional media space, BrainJuicer has been able to prove that these three factors are the main determinants of a successful brand – stating on its website “our award-winning System1 approach is able to identify ads that have the largest impact on the fame, feeling and fluency of a brand.”

‘System1 Digital Ad Testing’ represents the formal adaptation of the approach to display and online video in order to predict digital content ROI, shareability and click-through rates, while providing diagnostics for improving performance. “As digital spend increases and competition for audience grows fiercer, increasing the effectiveness of digital creative is a top priority for brands today. Being able to predict the profitability and shareability of digital content is therefore more vital than ever”, says Orlando Wood, a Managing Director at BrainJuicer.

The publicly traded research company has in recent months put its methodology at the centre of its digital offering, says Wood, with the results described as impressive. “The tests establish whether content will get click-through and get shared, and are designed to give creatives answers at scale, fast.”

Susan Griffin, BrainJuicer’s Chief Marketing Officer, adds that, if successfully adopted, gone will be the traditional days when marketeers used to "put an ad out and see how the world reacts”, adding “marketeers needs to understand the precise ROI of their media spend.”