Knowledge at Hand

• Research & Data Quality
• Article

Learn About the Benefits, Limitations and Dangers of Using LLMs in Advertising Research

• Knowledge at Hand

This report offers an abridged version of the cumulative 2025 AI handbook, exploring the benefits, limitations and dangers of generative AI models when employed in various tasks associated with marketing and advertising research. This report sums up the insights from several experiments where ARF researchers tested AI's capabilities in survey design, sentiment analysis, coding open-ended responses, language translation and addressing AI risks.

• Ad Effectiveness & ROI
• Article

Retail Media Networks: Growth, Opportunities and Challenges

• Knowledge at Hand; CMO Briefs

Retail media networks (RMNs) are rapidly becoming one of the largest and fastest-growing ad verticals in the U.S., offering personalized ads across retailers’ ecosystems. These networks also provide brands with targeted ads and higher conversion rates, while retailers gain new revenue streams and enhanced shopping experiences.

Despite staggering growth, RMNs face many challenges as they continue to grow globally, including a lack of standardization across networks, measurement difficulties, rising costs and complexity. Agencies face additional issues, such as teams lacking the necessary expertise to help clients navigate RMNs.

• Research & Data Quality
• Article

AI Use in Advertising Research: Insights from the AI Handbook

Dive into the future of advertising research with this abridged version of the ARF's first AI handbook. This Knowledge at Hand report and its accompanying one-page CMO brief describe best practices for utilizing AI tools for different aspects of advertising research. This short report is great for those already using AI and those thinking of interweaving it into their research function.

• Targets & Segments
• Article

Having In-Depth Research on Consumers’ Values Yields Tremendous Benefits

• ARF Knowledge at Hand, CMO Brief

In decades past, demographic characteristics were considered the strongest predictors of consumers’ values, attitudes and purchasing behavior. Over time, however, they have grown to become weak predictors and correlates. In this Knowledge at Hand report, Dr. Horst Stipp, EVP at the ARF, summarizes the latest and most impactful research to date on consumer values and how researching them carefully can help shape effective business strategies and impactful ad messages.

• Creative & Branded Content
• Article

How Best to Advertise During a Recession

• ARF Knowledge at Hand, CMO Brief

Even though the U.S. economy has some bright spots, economists warn a recession is still possible due to stubborn inflation. Advertisers want to be prepared as a result. While there is no failsafe advertising playbook to follow, as individual brands and businesses have nuanced needs and branding, there are some best practices and guidelines, which the following ARF Knowledge at Hand report gleans from some of the best research on the topic. The report covers the impact of “going dark,” the often-overlooked opportunities a recession can bring, how to maximize media spend effectiveness and how to frame appeals that are most attractive to customers during tough economic times.

• Research & Data Quality
• Article

Attention and Ad Impact: The Evolution of Attention Metrics

• ARF Knowledge at Hand, CMO Brief

The proliferation of media platforms, with increases in multi-tasking, has made finding ways to get consumers to pay attention to advertising more important than ever. In response, researchers have developed new methods to assess attention and the ARF has found that they can provide more direct and more accurate measurements. However, as these metrics are constantly evolving, there are open questions regarding their validity and reliability. Further, as researchers are using the term “attention” in different ways, clarity about what is meant by attention and how it is being measured is crucial.

• Audience & Media Measurement
• Article

The Evolution of “OTT” and “CTV”

• ARF Knowledge at Hand; CMO BRIEF

Towards the end of 2018, the ARF issued a Knowledge at Hand report and a CMO Brief each called The OTT Revolution. Since then, the OTT revolution has not only continued but it has accelerated. Moreover, the pandemic acted as a catalyst, increasing the rate of this acceleration. At the same time, the meaning of the term OTT has changed.

• Audience & Media Measurement
• Article

Optimal Frequency Planning: Research, Guidelines & Recommendations

• Knowledge at Hand; CMO Brief

Despite a significant amount of research focusing on optimal frequency and recency, going back decades, little consensus exists on how many exposures/impressions are “too many” across platforms. Indeed, a blank frequency cap is likely to lead to inefficiencies. The bottom line, there is no simple “rule of thumb” for optimal frequency planning.

• Targets & Segments
• Article

Influencer Marketing: Best Practices, Trends & Covid’s Impact

• ARF Knowledge at Hand; CMO BRIEF

Influencer marketing has grown more complex over a short period of time, and Covid has accelerated its development. Options have increased significantly while setting the right tone with consumers is perhaps more crucial than ever before. What consumers want to see is authentic relationships between brands and influencers. And the focus has shifted away from celebrities and towards niche, micro-influencers. The following Knowledge at Hand and CMO Brief cover a recent Knowledge Center report looking into the current state of influencer marketing, what the trends are, how Covid has affected this phenomenon and best practices when putting together an influencer strategy.

• Research & Data Quality
• Article

Attention and Ad Impact: New Insights from New Research

• ARF Knowledge at Hand; CMO BRIEF

One of the essential goals of advertising is to get customers’ attention. However, a lot of campaigns approach this simplistically. More “attention” does not necessarily mean an ad is more effective. Attention is a much more complex phenomenon than that. While attention is a prerequisite for ad impact, the term is ambiguous, complex and difficult to measure. Moreover, “attention” does not necessarily indicate a positive response, and a high level of attention is not always a sign of a positive ad impact.