Adam Morton, chief product officer at UM Worldwide (IPG Mediabrands), argues that while reach is still an important metric for media planning, the vast array of options at a brand’s disposal means the conversation requires more nuance.
With the number of platforms, online communities, and media options available to us, brands and marketers now have a near-infinite array of options to reach consumers. Paradoxically, at the same time, more media investment is being focused on big tech.
While reach-based media planning remains a cornerstone of many strategies, a critical blind spot exists: the assumption that all media impacts are created equal. This binary thinking – embracing reach while ignoring nuanced impact – is a relic of simpler times.
In today’s complex ecosystem, media is non-fungible; simply aggregating audience numbers ignores the unique value each channel brings.
While acknowledging the importance of reach, clients may simultaneously recognize that not all media delivers the same return. This paradox highlights the limitations of a purely quantitative approach.
Focusing solely on ‘easy to reach’ numbers is akin to hygiene – necessary, but insufficient for true growth. To achieve incremental value, marketers must move beyond simple reach metrics and get to the qualitative based numbers that truly add value.
In collaboration with University of Oxford, we undertook research to better understand how different types of media interactions contribute to brand growth.
The findings revealed that brands do not grow through a single, linear funnel. Instead, they evolve through a more complex and varied set of signals that influence consumers in different ways, depending on the context, platform and creative execution.
This research highlighted three key drivers of brand growth: visibility, vibrancy, and variability. These drivers reflect the diverse ways media can shape perception, connection, and value.
Each brand exhibits its own combination of these drivers, influenced by its category, market position, and audience. Recognizing how these elements interact enables marketers to move beyond standard reach-based planning and build strategies that deliver a richer and more sustainable impact.
At UM, we refer to this planning method and philosophy as full color media, because it acknowledges the full spectrum of media choices available today and the different ways each can influence a brand’s growth trajectory.
Within our research, visibility is often the highest scoring of the three Vs. Not only because brands need to come to mind easily, but also because brands can buy reach and share of voice (SOV) by simply increasing their media investment. But while the link between share of voice and share of market (SOM) still exists, it’s weakening, in part due to the plethora of channels available.
Reach is important, there’s no doubting that, but when we think about a ladder of KPIs, reach sits close to the bottom rung. It’s a means to an end to garner awareness, which may then shift brand perception and go on to deliver sales.
Reach doesn’t help brands to offer differentiation. Brands differentiate by understanding their own uniqueness and using that nuance to connect with culture and customers to deliver competitive advantage. It’s through this understanding that brands can deliver disproportionate effect from their ad dollars and drive growth.
The goal is not to abandon quantitative analysis, but to transcend it by integrating qualitative insights to create truly impactful campaigns that deliver lasting brand value.
Brands that truly understand their unique brand pattern, and the interplay between visibility, vibrancy, and variability, can make their media dollars work exponentially harder.
Instead of relying solely on paid media to generate awareness, they create campaigns that tap into culture, spark conversation, and amplify their reach through social buzz and word-of-mouth.
UM’s award winning ‘Creating Wonder in the Metaverse’ campaign embraced the cultural currency of the Barbie film by creating an immersive experience in the metaverse with Roblox.
In an increasingly competitive toy market, Barbie sought to reaffirm its status as the on-trend, girl empowerment brand. By transporting the Barbie brand to the metaverse, the paid-for activation brought new eyeballs to the brand in a cutting-edge digital setting, generating buzz and connecting with a new generation of girls.
This novel channel choice (and the attention it garnered) hammer home the notion that not all impacts are equal in the world of media, and that understanding a brand’s pattern can supercharge a campaign’s impact beyond its initial paid investment.
Elsewhere in the Barbie universe to celebrate the iconic brand’s 65th Birthday, UM sought to deepen the emotional connection between mothers and Barbie by highlighting her positive influence on their children as a modern empowerment brand.
Through a partnership with Hearst, UM engaged mothers through trusted women’s brands by creating a new platform ‘This Barbie Can’. Brought to life by focusing on ‘This Barbie Can’ careers with Cosmopolitan, fashion with ELLE and healthy lifestyles with Women’s Health, Barbie became part of meaningful conversations on motherhood and empowerment.
MoneySuperMarket has similarly leveraged cultural moments to boost its vibrancy. By keying into timely economic moments that may have increased household spending, and offering money-saving alternatives, the brand garnered favorable public attention.
Each of these cases highlights how brands that go beyond reach-based strategies and understand their cultural relevance can make their paid media spend work harder. By standing against bland, these brands moved beyond generic, one-size-fits-all advertising to create full colour campaigns that resonated emotionally, inspired participation, and ultimately drove disproportionate brand growth.
In a crowded media landscape, variability sets brands apart by reinforcing their unique value rather than blending into category norms. Our research demonstrates that variability, driven by positive impression and quality, accounts for a significant proportion of brand growth, ensuring brands remain distinctive and desirable beyond just visibility or buzz.
While well known, brands like Patagonia and Apple exemplify this. Patagonia differentiates through environmental activism, from its ‘Don’t Buy This Jacket’ campaign to its profit donations, recognizing that sustainability is part of the brand’s DNA.
Apple, meanwhile, prioritizes seamless design and ecosystem integration over competing on price, cultivating a premium, aspirational identity. By embracing variability, brands can leave a lasting impression on customers about their value.
Brands that focus solely on reach risk missing the nuance of impact. I’m advocating for a more sophisticated strategy, integrating visibility, vibrancy, and variability to create meaningful connections.
While reach remains a foundational metric, true differentiation comes from understanding a brand’s unique identity and leveraging cultural relevance. By embracing variability, brands can transcend generic advertising, ensuring every dollar spent extracts maximal value. The future of effective media planning lies not just in expanding reach but in crafting campaigns that deliver disproportionate effect.
