Energizing Brand Awareness with CTV Ad Campaigns

A new zero-sugar, plant-based caffeine energy drink sought to establish itself as a standout in its highly competitive category. With other category leaders commanding greater attention, the energy drink needed to differentiate itself by aligning with wellness values.

The campaign aimed to achieve three primary objectives: boost brand awareness, encourage competitors’ consumers to try the product, and expand reach among active adults aged 18–29.

Positioning for impact

Positioning the brand as a leading choice in the crowded energy drink market required a carefully considered approach. Competing against established brands, it needed to appeal to health-conscious, active adults while emphasizing its distinct attributes: zero sugar, plant-based caffeine, and a wellness focus.

Effective messaging was essential to resonate with a younger audience aged 18–29, particularly women, who prioritize fitness and health. VITRO was tasked with delivering impactful messaging, while PDi used its AI-driven meta DSP, Primer, to identify the optimal platform mix, reach, and frequency. In evaluating campaign effectiveness, PDi needed to answer several critical questions:

• Was the campaign successful in driving brand awareness among the target audience?
• Which audience segments demonstrated the most significant lifts in awareness and intent?
• What was the optimal frequency to maximize impact without diminishing returns?
• Did the campaign effectively communicate the brand’s wellness-oriented attributes to health-conscious consumers?
• Did the campaign encourage competitors’ consumers to switch to this energy drink?

DISQO Brand Lift

PDi turned to DISQO to measure the effectiveness of the campaign. DISQO Brand Lift provided vital insights into how the campaign influenced key performance indicators such as brand awareness, purchase intent, and favorability. This approach deterministically linked ad exposure to brand outcomes, delivering reliable, objective insights into incremental lift by comparing exposed individuals with a control group of unexposed consumers.

PDi’s proprietary platform, Primer, targeted and delivered the campaign to CTV viewers, finding efficiency at scale by using AI to optimize not only within DSPs but across them, in real time. The platform enabled precise audience segmentation, targeting active adults aged 18–29 with a focus on women and competitors’ consumers. Playing off the drink’s branding, the campaign employed crown-themed creative emphasizing zero sugar and plant-based caffeine.

Increased awareness

The campaign delivered exceptional results, achieving significant lifts across key brand metrics. By combining precise targeting, compelling creative, and AI- and data-driven optimization, it captured the attention of health-conscious consumers, particularly women and younger adults aged 18–29. Gains in brand recognition were strongest among audiences exposed four to six times.

• +8 points lift in aided awareness, 8x the CTV aided awareness benchmark, affirming that the messaging resonated with the target demographic.
• +14 points lift among audiences exposed four to six times, showing the power of strategic frequency optimization.
• Targeted messaging success: creative emphasizing zero sugar and plant-based caffeine drove consistent engagement across key audience segments.

Increased purchase intent

The campaign converted awareness into action, with strong growth in purchase intent, particularly among women, a core audience segment.

• +8 points overall lift in purchase intent, 2.4x the CTV purchase intent benchmark.
• +7 points lift in purchase intent among women.
• Encouraging brand switches: the campaign made meaningful inroads among competitors’ consumers, encouraging them to consider switching energy drink brands.

Key takeaways

Tailor messaging to align with consumer priorities

Wellness-oriented messaging was particularly effective. Audiences who prioritize fitness and wellness saw a +10-point lift in awareness and a +9-point lift in purchase intent. Craft creative that highlights product attributes and ties the product to fitness goals, self-care routines, or broader lifestyle enhancements to foster deeper emotional engagement.

Prioritize efficient reach over heavy frequency

Audiences exposed 4–6 times saw a +14-point lift in awareness and the highest gains in purchase intent. Beyond this range, lift slightly diminished. Implement frequency caps, use performance data to identify the best-performing frequency range, and allocate budget to maximize reach within it.

Target competitor audiences to expand market share

Strategically targeting competitor consumers increased purchase intent and encouraged consideration. Communicate your brand’s unique value propositions, like “zero sugar and plant-based caffeine,” directly to competitor audiences, and consider dynamic ads that address gaps in competitors’ offerings to drive stronger brand-switching intent.

Energize your advertising with DISQO. Let’s DISQO: hello@disqo.com