A brand lift study shows how your digital ads change people’s perceptions. A study can reveal if audiences actually remember the brand, feel more aware of it, or are more likely to consider buying. Even better, you can review study results while the campaign is running.
Brand lift studies launched from the illumin platform are run independently by Cint, one of the industry’s leading brand lift providers. With Cint's Lucid measurement solution powering the research, marketers gain trusted results and clear confidence in the quality of their campaign insights.
Why it’s useful
- Built into illumin. Run studies directly from the platform. There's no external setup.
- Learn what’s working and adjust while ads are live when data become available.
- True impact, not guesses. See if your ads are driving meaningful shifts in awareness and intent.
- Audience clarity. Identify which segments reacted most strongly, by age, gender, income, or frequency, and use those insights to shape future targeting. This analysis can validate existing strategies or highlight new ones to test.
| ℹ️ Cint's Lucid Measurement study on the illumin platform is available for Open Web campaigns (display, native display, video, native video, audio, and CTV) on the Canvas (new experience). DOOH, email, and Meta are not part of the study. Marketers can create one brand lift study per campaign. |
Steps to configure brand lift settings
- Open a campaign on the Canvas (new experience).
- Go to the action bar at the bottom of the canvas.
- Click the flask icon. A new window displays.
- Go to the Brand lift measurement card.
- Click the Configure button. A new page displays.
Steps to create your first brand lift study
On the Brand Lift Study page, click the Create a study button. A new page displays the step-by-step-workflow. The menu on the left side of the page lists the required steps.
Study details
- Campaign name: The form auto-fills this field. You can change the name.
- Check box: If CTV is part of your campaign, check the box.
- Country and language: Click the field and choose a country and language. Then review the Measurement Feasibility note in the right-hand panel. This note from Cint shows the number of impressions needed to gather a strong sample size and produce reliable brand lift results.
- Industry: Choose the industry that fits your brand. Cint uses this information to set useful benchmarks, so lift results can be compared to similar brands.
- Impressions: Enter the number of impressions you expect the campaign to deliver. Ideally, this should align with the guidance shown in the Measurement Feasibility note. Delivering at or above the suggested level helps ensure reliable results. The minimum allowable entry is 1,000,000 impressions. If the live campaign delivers fewer impressions than the recommended, the study may not gather enough responses to produce statistically meaningful lift results.
- Study duration: Use the date picker to set the study period. Cint recommends running the study at least two weeks, though longer durations generally provide stronger results. Aligning the study period with the campaign flight is a best practice. After the study begins, you can adjust the end date if needed.
Brand details
The details you enter on this page help Cint fill in some of the basic survey questions that it shows to respondents. These inputs are used for context, and they don't change how Cint runs the study or how it calculates the results.
Brand information
- Product category: Enter the category that best describes your product. This choice is important because it later populates key parts of study questions. You can edit the field until the study launches, which ensures proper sentence structure throughout the workflow.
- Purchase window: Enter a value that reflects how long people normally take to buy your product. For fast decisions, you might enter something short, like “within two weeks.” For products that require more thought, the window can be longer, such as “within six months.” This window helps Cint shape realistic survey questions about purchase intent, so the results match real buying behavior in your category.
Brand competitors
- Your brand (in-target): The brand you want to study in this campaign.
- Competitors: Enter two or more brand competitors. Click the Add competitor link to add more fields.
Click the Save and continue button to go to the next page.
Baseline questions
Cint uses baseline questions to measure a respondent’s normal shopping habits and category behavior. The goal is to ensure that the Control and Exposed groups behave identically so the final brand lift score is accurate and fair.
Some fields fill in automatically, but you should read each question carefully and confirm that it's grammatically correct and phrased in a way you'd naturally ask it. This step helps eliminate setup errors that could weaken the study or confuse respondents.
There are three types of baseline questions: Brand Usage, Category Recency, and Device Usage. The checkboxes under each question show the answer options that survey participants will see. They're listed here for reference only and cannot be edited on this page.
When you’re ready, click the Save and continue button to move to the next screen.
KPI questions
KPI questions help show the impact of your campaign. They measure ad recall, brand awareness, and purchase intent. These results show how your illumin advertising influences people’s perception of your brand and their intent to buy or consider you in future purchase decisions. Brand Awareness is the default KPI question. You can add up to four additional questions, for a maximum total of five KPIs measured in the study.
- Brand Awareness: Do people recognize or know the brand?
- Ad Recall: Do people remember seeing the ad?
- Brand Favorability: How positive do people feel about the brand?
- Band Consideration: Are people willing to consider the brand in the future?
- Purchase Intent: Are people more likely to buy from the brand?
- Brand Recommendation: Are people willing to suggest the brand to others?
Click the Save and continue button to go to the review page.
Review page
Here's your last chance to look over the inputs and make changes before going live. After you click the Launch study button in the bottom right corner of this page (and Launch study in the confirmation pop-up), Cint locks the survey questions. They cannot be changed. Once live, you can update the number of impressions and the duration end date. That's it.
Steps to review the survey status
To review the status of the study, go back to the Brand Lift Study page.
There are three status modes.
- Draft: Your work to build the study is in progress. It's not live yet.
- Pending: Cint is building your study. Nothing can be changed.
- Live: The study is active. You can change the end date or impressions number.
To edit a study, click the pencil icon after the study goes live. You can update the number of impressions and the duration end date.
Steps to download a report
When the study reaches an 80% confidence level, Cint updates the report data once per day. In addition, users can download the report from the illumin platform. To download a report, go to Brand Lift Study and click the arrow icon. Marketers can download an .xls file or ppt. file.
FAQs
Can I change the end date of the study after it goes live?
Yes, but understand that a new date can impact the quality of the survey results. A shorter campaign may not deliver enough impressions to reach the required sample size, which could make the study less reliable or even not viable. If the campaign ends early, Cint may not have enough exposed and control group data to produce meaningful lift findings. A longer campaign gives more time to collect responses, which can improve precision and reduce error margins.
Can I change the number of impressions after the survey goes live?
Yes, but the survey feasibility may change. Cint uses impression estimates to predict whether your campaign can reach enough people to produce a strong sample size. If impressions go up, feasibility improves. If impressions drop too low, the study may be flagged as risky or not viable. The survey size needed for statistically reliable results does not change, only the likelihood of reaching that sample changes. In the end, lift quality can vary.
Can I generate a survey for my Meta or DOOH campaign?
On the illumin platform, brand lift reporting only supports Open Web campaigns, so Meta and DOOH aren’t eligible.
Which impressions are included in the study?
All impressions are counted in the study. For example, if there are two campaigns on the Canvas (new experience), the study tracks all impressions from those campaigns. However, DOOH, email and Meta campaigns are not included.
What data is available in the lift report?
The lift report shows how your campaign performed across key KPIs and survey questions. It also highlights top-performing media and audience variables, lift by age and gender, performance by channel, and frequency insights. You can export the report as a PPTX or XLSX. The report is produced by the vendor, not illumin.
Which countries and languages are supported by Cint?
Cint’s brand lift reports are available for more than 30 countries, with support for local languages. You can find the full list in Cint’s documentation.
What is the maximum study period?
A Cint study can run for up to one year.
How can marketers use a Cint report to optimize a campaign?
The report helps users spot opportunities to shift budget, pause underperforming ad types, and uncover new ideas to test in future campaigns.