NEWS
By Andrew Birmingham - Mi3
Jasmine Beech, Charlie Brown, Vikki Friscic, Jordan Taylor-Bartels, and Katie Finney
New analysis for Southern Cross Media Group of almost $73.3 million in media spending and more than 615,000 commercial outcomes undertaken by Prophet suggests marketers are systematically undervaluing the television, audio and brand advertising that builds demand before consumers search, click or buy. The findings challenge the neat platform dashboards that reward the channel nearest the transaction while overlooking the media that put the customer in the market. The research argues growth instead comes from channels working as a system. Across campaigns for KitchenAid, BYD and MYOB, television, premium video and radio were credited with strengthening demand and making lower-funnel media work harder, sometimes at a fraction of the cost suggested by platform reporting.
What you need to know:
New research commissioned by the merged Seven West Media–Southern Cross Media Group and conducted by Prophet, argues last-click attribution continues to over-credit performance channels while undervaluing the TV, audio and brand activity that created demand earlier.
The study analysed $73.3m in media spend and more than 615,000 commercial outcomes across automotive, retail and software campaigns, finding channels work as an interacting system rather than in isolation.
Across KitchenAid, BYD and MYOB, the modelling found broad-reach media made a substantial contribution alongside performance channels: KitchenAid’s total marketing investment delivered a reported 328 per cent return; radio generated BYD demand at about three times its share of spend; and 7plus directly influenced 859 MYOB subscriptions, with TV also strengthening later search and paid social activity.
The findings point to a gap between channel perception and actual contribution, with platform dashboards often capturing the final conversion while missing the media activity that created intent earlier.
Marketers were urged to adopt “two-speed” measurement, combining live attribution with broader modelling and controlled experiments to assess delayed, brand and cross-channel effects.
SCA and Seven are pitching their combined TV and audio proposition around “moments and rituals”, arguing growth comes from using channels together rather than optimising each in isolation.
The research also highlighted the value of unexpected audience signals, including women lifting shed campaign conversions by 117 per cent and cat owners proving 90 per cent more likely to respond to accounting software ads.
It’s a story as old as digital advertising: The final click is likely still stealing the credit. New research revealed at an event for marketers yesterday by Southern Cross Media Group, the merged Seven West Media and Southern Cross Media Group entity, argues brands are still undervaluing the television, audio and brand activity that created demand long before consumers converted.
New research commissioned by the merged Seven West Media–Southern Cross Media Group entity and conducted by Prophet analysed almost $73.3 million in media spending and more than 615,000 commercial outcomes across automotive, retail and software campaigns over two years. The analysis used Prophet’s proprietary “digital clone” models of each brand’s demand system.
The central claim stemming from the combination of the study and yesterday's presentations is that advertising should be measured as an interacting system rather than simply a collection of channels competing to claim the sale. Brand familiarity, media exposure, category demand, economic conditions and earlier campaigns can influence consumers before they search, click or buy.
Take the example of Chinese EV manufacturer BYD: In the report, it uses an example to demonstrate how demand exists before consumers choose a brand.
Per the study: "People don’t begin their journey with a specific brand in mind. In the case of electric vehicles, the decision starts at a category level. Consumers decide they want an electric vehicle, and only then does brand preference begin to take shape. That distinction is where marketing plays its role."
In analysing BYD’s demand system, data showed approximately 37 per cent of test drives were directly influenced by marketing activity, while 63 per cent were driven by baseline demand and broader market conditions. In other words, demand already existed. Radio reportedly then contributed demand at about three times its share of spending, while premium video’s cost per acquisition was more than 70 per cent lower than platform reporting suggested.
"Marketing’s influence lay in determining where that demand ultimately flowed," according to the report. "The modelling also pointed to clear differences in how channels contributed to that outcome. Radio delivered roughly three times the demand contribution relative to its share of investment, while premium video consistently outperformed platform-level reporting by creating demand that other channels went on to convert."
I think there’s a massive gap between perception and reality when it comes to such a dynamic industry
— Jordan Taylor-Bartels, CEO, Prophet
Data can sometimes confirm what a marketer's gut is telling them, said Prophet CEO, Jordan Taylor-Bartels while speaking on a panel at the event. “The mathematics often backs a little marketing anecdote that we know that’s remained true over the course of decades."
Nor was Taylor-Bartels suggesting other channels are not important. And the study does not suggest search and social media lack value. KitchenAid’s modelling attributed 44 per cent of influenced revenue to search and 22 per cent to Facebook. Television, BVOD and premium video contributed another 22 per cent, while the overall marketing investment reportedly returned 328 per cent.
"But what we are specifically seeing is the power of channel, and the role of channel," said Taylor-Bartels. "We see things, typically again around linear TV, and particularly again around audio, where it’s actually had a positive effect going against bad PR. We’ve seen that across superannuation, where it’s a trusted medium ... we are seeing traditional commercials across linear TV that actually have a positive effect.
"I think really the only way you can figure that out is through experimentation. You need to make sure you have a model ... that is able to measure those effects, so you can actually start to test in a safe environment.”
In another example, MYOB’s modelling attributed 55 per cent of subscriptions to marketing and said 7plus directly influenced 859 new subscriptions. Television was credited with building mental availability that later strengthened search, paid social and other lower-funnel activity.
Taylor-Bartels said the findings exposed a disconnect between the way marketers perceive channels and the contribution models can assign to them. “I think there’s a massive gap between perception and reality when it comes to such a dynamic industry,” he said.
The last one I wanted to share with you was about accounting software… What if I told you that cat owners are 90% more likely to respond to ads about accounting software.
— Kim Loasby, head of digital ad product and operations, Southern Cross Media Group
Two speeds
The message for marketers attending the event yesterday was that the immediate challenge is to build a measurement system that operates at two speeds. Live attribution can identify which creative, targeting or placement is generating a response during a campaign. Broader modelling and controlled experiments are needed to understand delayed effects, brand contribution and whether today’s advertising is producing demand that will convert weeks or months later.
SCM Adelaide Managing Director, Vikki Friscic, said experimentation was central to the work conducted with its five participating clients. “We were testing real experiments to get a better understanding of how total television and audio turns up in the entire ecosystem and the impact it has,” she said. “A key takeaway today is that growth doesn’t come from optimising channels in isolation.”
That distinction matters because short-term attribution is easier to take into a budget meeting. Platforms produce neat dashboards linking spending to clicks, leads and sales, while upper-funnel media can take longer to influence behaviour and may receive little recognition from the system recording the final action.
Seven's Head of Total TV sales, Katie Finney, said many marketers had built their careers using platform evidence and were more accustomed to proving lower-funnel performance than explaining how television, audio and other broad-reach channels contributed earlier.
"They've gone through that stream the whole way, and they haven't been heavily exposed to the upper part of [of the funnel] or role of traditional channels. The platforms are coming in and saying, ‘Well, we've done this for you'," she commented. "They can take that into their CFO and say, ‘Well, this is why the marketing works. We've proved this.’ But if you're not doing that upper funnel, brand building, reaching audiences before they are customers, that performance media will stop working."
Later, Finney added, “For me, I think it’s that combination of channels all working together to deliver the best outcomes and needs for those brands. It’s how they all come together to deliver that demand effect.”
The SCA-Seven integration proposition play
Seven and SCA, which officially completed their $385 million merger in January, are looking to translate that business decision into a combined screen-and-audio proposition built around two separate media functions. Television is positioned as a creator of large cultural moments through news, sports and entertainment, while audio is presented as part of repeated daily rituals including commuting, school drop-off, exercise and the drive home.
Of course, all those choices come with their own cost, as head of SCA iQ, Jasmine Beech, acknowledged when she noted consumers face the challenge of content overall. "They rely on content they trust," she said. "We know how to best plan and invest in media is constantly evolving."
According to Beech, “Simple attention alone is no longer the benchmark for success. The advantage comes from turning attention into meaningful action, attention versus intention, or less from a focus on reach and more on influence.”
For SCA and Seven West Media national head of strategy and partnerships, Charlie Brown, "Television [is] the medium of moments, and audio the medium of rituals … One creates appointment viewing, and the other creates habitual listening … We can be with audiences when they're actively participating in culture, or when they're simply just getting on with life.
"We know the best outcomes don't come from choosing one channel over another, but by bringing them together, connecting the channels, people experience brands in different contexts, different mindsets, and different moments throughout the day. And when those touch points work together, that's where the multiplier effect really comes into play… Television excels at delivering those big moments that matter. Audio excels at becoming part of everyday habits."
The opportunity for brands, Brown argued, does not come from choosing between the two environments. "It's about using both, showing up in the moments that people remember and the rituals they repeat."
The distinctions matter because they introduce a creative opportunity as well as a buying proposition. Per Brown, television and premium video can establish a large narrative or cultural association. Audio can repeat, personalise or contextualise that idea inside familiar routines, while search and performance media capture active intent.
The SCM executives also said how the combination can extend audience reach, pitching that their platforms collectively reach more than 20 million Australians each month, with 38 per cent of their audiences shared.
“In simple terms, this is not just about delivering more impressions, but about reaching more people,” Brown said. “Modern media planning isn’t just about chasing attention; it’s about understanding how attention behaves.”
Wanna buy a shed?
A final aspect of yesterday's presentation was built around using unexpected audience data to challenge targeting assumptions. Southern Cross head of digital ad product and operations, Kim Loasby, said brands needed to connect audience precision with effective creative.
“You can target within an inch of your life, but if the message doesn’t land, then you miss the mark,” Loasby said, before leaning into an example about a client who was selling sheds.
"The typical audience that they would target is men. They have a freestanding house and they've got a yard big enough to support her shed. They might have a boat. They might have some tools. Maybe they even have a tractor. That's who they typically would target. And yes, that all makes complete sense.
"But what the tools we built were telling us was that there is another audience of people. They also own a freehold house with a yard big enough to support a shed. There is a boat. There might be a tractor. There's plenty of tools, and they belong to their husband."
Loasby said adding women to the campaign for sheds increased conversion by 117 per cent within four days.
Another example of unexpected insights mined from the combined TV and audio data seams: Cricket fans were reportedly 21 times more likely to respond to a campaign about the kinds of eggs used inside processed foods (caged versus uncaged, for instance). These were customers who "have a propensity to spend based on their lifestyle, what their preferences are, and that makes sense," said Loasby.
"What this opens up for the brand is an opportunity to get alongside the cricket, a space that they've never thought to buy into before. But now they have a lean-in audience of people who are 21 times more likely to respond to their message."
Loasby wasn't done. "The last one I wanted to share with you was about accounting software … What if I told you that cat owners are 90 per cent more likely to respond to ads about accounting software?"
Loasby's point was that data can uncover overlooked customers. The broader lesson is that the channel receiving the click may deserve credit without deserving all of it.
