Outbrain Case Study
Use Cases: Insights, Brand lift
Background
Outbrain is a leading discovery feed technology for the open web, offering the only end-to-end native advertising stack for publishers and advertisers. Their platform powers content, product, and service discovery for a third of the world’s internet-connected population. Trusted by brands of all sizes, Outbrain’s feed technology is integrated into thousands of media companies’ tech stacks to help manage and monetize content.
Advertisers use Outbrain’s in-feed native placements and proprietary interest-targeting tools to build brand awareness, drive performance, and improve ROAS, outside of the typical walled gardens. To prove the effectiveness of their campaigns, Outbrain conducts brand lift research.
Previously, they measured brand lift using traditional surveys and paid panelists. Looking for a more efficient and cost-effective solution that could live inside their feed, Outbrain turned to Opinion Stage personality quizzes – and found exactly what they needed.
Details of Use
This personality quiz is shown to consumers exposed to the Outbrain campaign, as well as to a control group, allowing the brand to accurately measure the campaign’s impact.
The quiz includes questions that measure key performance indicators such as brand recall, consideration, and brand attributes, helping illustrate the campaign’s impact on brand lift. At the same time, engaging, interactive questions encourage users to participate and complete the experience.
Compared to static surveys, Opinion Stage personality quizzes offer a more engaging way to gather insights. Users are motivated to complete the quiz to discover something about themselves, making the campaign evaluation feel natural and unobtrusive. This approach results in shorter, more enjoyable experiences, as well as significantly higher participation and completion rates.
Outbrain has used Opinion Stage-based studies across markets including the US, France, Germany, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.
They also collaborate with Nielsen for quiz development, data processing, and third-party verification of results.
Results
Using Opinion Stage, Outbrain is able to run high-quality brand lift research at a low cost.
The personality quizzes consistently achieve higher participation rates than traditional surveys, aligning well with the engaging, high-quality content in Outbrain’s feed.
For example, in a brand lift campaign for a major auto manufacturer, Opinion Stage personality quizzes proved highly effective. The quiz contributed to a 23% lift in brand associations with the new vehicle model. With a 70% participation rate and 81% completion rate, the campaign demonstrated just how cost- and time-efficient this approach can be compared to traditional survey methods.
