Ebiquity vs Net Conversion

Ad Awareness Regains Place in Effectiveness Planning

A new study by Thinkbox, Ebiquity, WPP Media, and Gain Theory, presented at the IPA Effectiveness Conference, analyzes 1,478 brands and 328,000 observations to argue that ad awareness is a valuable lead indicator in advertising effectiveness, not just an obsolete metric. The research finds that ad awareness accounts for 17% of brand consideration, of which only 6% is direct, while 11% works indirectly by improving brand perceptions. It also reports category-specific impacts, such as 69% in QSR delivery and 62% in lotteries. The author, Andrew Tindall, recommends that marketers reinstate ad awareness as a KPI, balancing it with attention and emotion in effectiveness planning.

• Study covers 1,478 brands across 128 sectors and 328,000 observations per model.
• Ad awareness accounts for 17% of brand consideration, with 11% indirect effect.
• Thinkbox, Ebiquity, WPP Media, and Gain Theory authored the research.

Retail Media Can Build Brands—Including Ways Other Media Can’t

This opinion column argues that retail media, often dismissed as performance-only, is a powerful brand-building channel. It challenges Mark Ritson's critique by citing research from Binet & Fields and Ebiquity that brand building should account for 55-60% of ad spend, while most budgets go to performance. The author claims retail media offers reach, mental availability, and higher ROI, citing Emarketer data showing its share across formats. P&G's off-site retail media investment reportedly doubled in a year. The piece advises shifting budgets from low-performing performance channels and black-box AI tools to retail media, emphasizing causal modeling over MMM to reveal its true value. It positions retail media as a complement to TV, not a threat.

• Emarketer data shows retail media constitutes 29% of search, 11% of programmatic display/video, 6% of social, 16% of CTV, and 15% of DOOH ad spend.
• Sensor Tower data indicates Procter & Gamble's off-site retail media investment more than doubled in the past year.
• According to the article, 70% of marketers say their marketing mix models do not account for retail media.

Net Conversion Releases 2026 MORE Intelligence Study

Net Conversion's new 2026 MORE Intelligence Study, based on a survey of 1,500 U.S. adults, reveals fundamental shifts in consumer agency, brand loyalty, and demand for creative authenticity, with five strategic takeaways for marketers.

Net Conversion Promotes Joshuah Rodery to CFO

Net Conversion has promoted Joshuah Rodery to chief financial officer after seven months as vice president of finance. Rodery reports to co-founder and CEO Ryan Fitzgerald and is credited with overhauling the agency's planning, reporting, and cash management to support accelerated growth. The independent agency has added three media AOR clients (Winn-Dixie, Evermore Orlando Resorts, HealthyPaws) and opened its first Midwest office in Chicago. Rodery previously worked at Commonwealth Fusion Systems, where he led management accounting, three clean audits with PwC and the U.S. Department of Energy, and identified over $300 million in tax credit value.

• Net Conversion promoted Joshuah Rodery to chief financial officer.
• Rodery joined Net Conversion seven months earlier as vice president of finance.
• Rodery reports to Net Conversion co-founder and CEO Ryan Fitzgerald.