For decades, the advertising industry has based its strategies on reach. New research by Professor Felipe Thomaz urges us to rethink how we measure and optimise advertising effectiveness. If you’re working in media or advertising, his findings are key knowledge. In this blog post, I not only share his insights but also give you some more background information on its meaning, specifically for display advertising.
For decades, the advertising industry has adhered to the idea that reach is the key to success, targeting as many potential customers as possible in the hopes of creating brand recall. Thomaz’s research flips this traditional thinking on its head. His analysis of over 1,000 campaigns and one million customer journeys revealed that only 1% achieved exceptional financial returns when optimised primarily for reach. The majority of these campaigns resulted in modest outcomes, with average business lifts below 2%. This suggests that focusing solely on reach doesn’t effectively drive a high return on investment (ROI) in most cases.
The results highlight the importance of considering how media channels influence consumers in different categories:
These insights reveal that a broad-reach strategy is no longer sufficient. Instead, marketers must carefully evaluate the effectiveness of each media channel based on the specific category and product they are promoting. A one-size-fits-all approach simply doesn’t work.
While influencer marketing may not always drive immediate results, the findings underscore the continued importance of traditional media, especially video advertising. TV still performs well across many categories. I believe that this is largely due to the immersive nature of video. Video ads excel in building emotional connections, telling compelling stories, and fostering brand recall. At Adnami, we see this firsthand in our data. Our analysis of eAPM data from January 2025 found that video display ads deliver 50% more measured attention than static image display ads. This deeper engagement makes video a powerful tool, particularly for brand awareness campaigns. Video ads are far more effective at drawing consumers in and leaving a lasting impression.
At Adnami, we’ve long argued that all reach is not created equal, especially when it comes to attention. Our data shows that high impact display ads deliver 5x more attention than ads in social feeds and traditional display formats. But attention is just one piece of the puzzle - brands must continuously measure and optimise for real brand outcomes.
The reality is that:
Above, you can see the eAPM attention data I extracted from the same Mobile Midscroll format on different publishers categorised in four cohorts (learn more about domain cohorts here).
All in all, Adnami's findings support the notion that reach alone is not enough.
Thomaz highlights the need for marketers to select KPIs that align closely with their specific business outcomes: “If you don't have goal-specific campaigns, then that's another problem that you have because then you're further averaging things out.”
Research shows that attention is the superior metric for measuring effectiveness, particularly in display advertising. It far outperforms traditional viewability metrics when it comes to driving brand awareness, recall and even sales (more details and data in our “It’s all about attention” white paper).
All in all, this means that media investments need to be optimised not just for reach but for attention and brand impact. By focusing on where and how media spend drives the strongest outcomes, brands can ensure they’re getting the best return on investment.
The key takeaway from Thomaz’s research is clear: Reach alone is not the answer. Marketers must look beyond traditional media planning models, which often start with TV and add additional channels to increase reach incrementally. Instead, brands need to rethink their media mix, focusing on how each channel drives measurable impact within their specific category, domain, format and more.
At Adnami, we’ve been advocating for years that by optimising attention outputs, brands can achieve real, tangible results.
Adnami works with brands to implement strategies that move beyond outdated reach models. If you’re looking to optimise for real brand outcomes, let’s talk.