Campaign evaluation: the check that gets skipped

A media campaign has three stages: the plan, the buy and the airing. The fourth — checking that what aired matches what was bought — is often skipped in practice. The campaign ends, the invoice arrives, sales results are reviewed, and nobody goes back to ask whether the advertiser actually received the volume and quality of airtime they paid for.

That check is called campaign evaluation. It is not a formality, nor a sign of distrust towards the media owner. It is a standard part of buying, and without it the negotiated terms have nothing solid to stand on.

What a campaign evaluation is

A campaign evaluation compares the campaign plan with what actually happened. For television it draws on viewing data measured for the ATO by Nielsen Admosphere, together with the list of aired spots. For radio, on station logs and listening data from Radioprojekt. For print and out-of-home, on proof of publication and photographic records.

The output is an overview that answers simple questions. Did the advertiser get the volume bought? In the right target group? At the right times and in the right positions? And if not, by how much, and why?

What is checked for television

The TV evaluation is the most detailed, because television is bought in GRPs and viewing is measured spot by spot. The main comparisons are:

Delivered GRPs against those bought — how many rating points the campaign actually earned in the target group.
Reach and frequency — what share of the target group saw the campaign at least once, how often, and how reach built over time.
Daypart split — whether the balance between prime time and other dayparts matches what was agreed.
Channel split — whether volume drifted to channels where a point is cheaper but the audience less relevant.
Position in break — for spots bought with a position premium, whether they really ran first or last.
Specific programmes — for fixed placements, whether the spot ran where it should have.

Each of these can look fine on its own and still hide a problem. A campaign may deliver its full GRP volume, but with excessive frequency among a narrow slice of viewers and low reach. Delivered on paper; less than expected in terms of brand building.

What is checked for radio, print and OOH

For radio, the main check is whether spots ran in the agreed number, on the agreed stations and at the agreed times. Listening is measured over longer intervals than TV viewing, so the evaluation is less granular, but verifying the airing matters just as much.

For print, it is whether the ad appeared in the agreed issue, format and position. For out-of-home, whether sites were posted for the full rental period, in the agreed locations and in proper condition — no damage, no obstruction, no late posting.

Why delivery differs from the plan

Gaps between plan and reality are normal and need not mean error or bad faith. The audience for a given programme can only be forecast approximately, schedule changes move airtimes, and breaking news pushes ad breaks aside. Broadcasters usually optimise a campaign as it runs to make up the volume.

Even so, a campaign can end with lower volume, a different split, or positions that do not match the order. Without an evaluation, the advertiser never finds out.

How under-delivery is resolved

If the evaluation shows delivery fell short of the order, compensation follows. Its form depends on the contract terms with the media owner and on the nature of the shortfall. Typically it takes one of three forms:

Make-good airtime — the media owner tops up the missing volume in the following period, usually in a similar daypart and target group.
A credit note — the invoice is reduced in line with the undelivered volume.
Compensation on the next campaign — better terms or bonus volume on the next buy.

What matters is having it pinned down beforehand. If the order states clearly what has been bought — volume in the target group, split, positions — then it is equally clear what counts as under-delivery. A vague order leads to a vague argument.

The evaluation as input for the next plan

The evaluation has a second job: it is the best brief for the next campaign. It shows which channels and dayparts delivered reach efficiently, where position premiums paid off, how quickly reach built and at what point extra GRPs were mostly adding frequency.

Those findings feed straight into the next plan — the channel mix, the campaign length, the volume and the negotiation. An advertiser who evaluates campaigns systematically learns from one campaign to the next. One who skips them starts from scratch every time.

Who should do it

The evaluation should be part of the buyer’s service, not an optional extra. Checking delivery is the natural continuation of the negotiation: discounts and bonuses are only worth something if the campaign actually ran as it was bought.

The advertiser should receive the evaluation in a form they can read — plan set against reality, the gaps explained and a proposal for resolving them. Not as a spreadsheet of numbers without commentary.