Brand lift in CTV: how to measure awareness, recall, and intent

What brand lift studies measure

Brand lift studies typically measure four to six metrics along the purchase funnel:

• Ad recall: The percentage of exposed viewers who remember seeing an ad for the brand in a defined time window. Often the most immediate and largest lift signal.
• Brand awareness: Unaided or aided recognition of the brand. Unaided awareness (spontaneous recall of brand name in category) is harder to move than aided awareness (yes/no recognition when the brand name is shown).
• Brand favourability: Whether the viewer's opinion of the brand improved after exposure.
• Consideration: Whether the exposed viewer is more likely to consider the brand for future purchase.
• Purchase intent: Whether the exposed viewer is more likely to buy the product or service in a defined time window.
• Message association: Whether specific campaign messages (key benefits, taglines, product features) are linked to the brand in the viewer's mind.

Not every brand lift study measures all six. Most measure two to four metrics, typically ad recall plus one or two funnel metrics aligned to the campaign objective.

How brand lift studies work: the exposed vs control methodology

The gold-standard methodology is the exposed-versus-control (or test-versus-control) design:

1. Pre-campaign: A survey panel is established. Some panelists will be exposed to the campaign (test group); others will not (control group). The groups are matched on demographic and behavioural characteristics to ensure any post-campaign difference in responses is attributable to ad exposure, not pre-existing differences between the groups.
2. During/post-campaign: Survey questions are administered to both groups, typically via an in-app survey served to exposed viewers after campaign completion, or via a panel survey instrument reaching matched control respondents.
3. Lift calculation: Lift = (% positive response in exposed group) − (% positive response in control group). A 7-point lift on ad recall means 7% more of the exposed group recalled the ad compared to the unexposed control.

Why the control group is essential

Without a control group, you cannot know whether positive survey responses reflect the campaign's effect or pre-existing brand sentiment. A brand that is already highly familiar in the market may show high awareness scores post-campaign — but that awareness existed before the campaign ran. The control group separates the campaign's contribution from the baseline.

Brand lift vendors active in India

Several measurement vendors run brand lift studies in India. Each has different methodology, reach, and pricing:

Nielsen Brand Effect

Nielsen's brand lift solution for digital and CTV campaigns. Uses an exposed-control survey methodology. Available on select India CTV publishers with Nielsen partnerships. Requires minimum campaign scale — typically 2–5 million impressions for statistically valid results. Nielsen Brand Effect is well-recognised by India agencies and clients as a credible third-party source.

Kantar Millward Brown Advertising Effectiveness

Kantar's digital brand lift measurement. Panel-based methodology. Kantar has strong India market presence and established relationships with major advertisers and agencies. Used for campaigns requiring cross-media brand lift comparison (CTV + linear + digital).

YouTube Brand Lift (Google)

For campaigns running on YouTube on TV (which counts as CTV inventory in India). YouTube Brand Lift is embedded in the platform and surveys exposed viewers via in-app prompts. Results are available within the Google Ads interface. This is the most accessible brand lift tool for India advertisers running YouTube CTV campaigns — no additional vendor setup required, and it is free for campaigns meeting minimum scale thresholds.

Meta Brand Lift

For Facebook and Instagram video campaigns (note: Meta campaigns run on mobile and desktop, not traditional CTV). Included here because planners sometimes run Meta alongside CTV and need to compare lift results. Meta uses a survey-based exposed-control methodology similar to Nielsen.

Publisher-run brand lift studies

Some India CTV publishers (JioCinema, Disney+ Hotstar) offer branded brand lift studies run by their own research teams or in partnership with Nielsen/Kantar. These are typically available for large direct IO campaigns (above ₹1–2 crore media spend) and may be offered as added value or at cost. Publisher-run studies are less independent than third-party studies — consider having a third-party validate or replicate key findings for major campaigns.

Cost and scale requirements for brand lift

Brand lift studies require sufficient scale to produce statistically significant results. This means:

• Minimum impressions: Generally 1–5 million impressions in the exposed group, depending on the vendor and the expected lift size. Smaller lift effects (1–3 percentage points) require more scale than larger effects (10+ points).
• Study cost: Third-party brand lift studies (Nielsen, Kantar) typically cost ₹5–20 lakh for a standard study in India, in addition to media spend. YouTube Brand Lift is free for qualifying campaigns. Publisher-provided studies may be bundled with media at large spend levels.
• Timeline: Results are typically available 2–4 weeks after campaign completion. Some platforms (YouTube) provide preliminary results within days of campaign completion.

For campaigns below ₹50 lakh media spend, the cost of a third-party brand lift study is often disproportionate. Focus on delivery metrics (VCR, reach, frequency) and use brand tracking (continuous tracking surveys) to measure brand health trends over time rather than campaign-specific lift.

Limitations of brand lift studies

Brand lift studies are valuable but not perfect:

• Survey bias: Respondents who agree to take surveys may not be representative of all viewers. Heavy survey-takers are over-represented in brand lift panels.
• Recency effect: Surveys administered immediately after exposure measure short-term recall. Whether lift persists over weeks or months is rarely measured.
• Attribution ambiguity: If a viewer also saw the brand's TV commercial, outdoor advertising, or social media ads during the same period, isolating the CTV campaign's specific contribution to lift is difficult. Multi-touchpoint attribution in brand lift is an active research area without a clean solution.
• No business outcome connection: Brand lift measures attitudinal change, not sales. A 5-point lift in purchase intent does not translate directly to a revenue figure. Connecting brand lift to business outcomes requires additional data sources (sales data, search trend analysis).
• India-specific survey panel quality: Survey panel quality in India is uneven. Some vendors use lower-quality online panels that are susceptible to professional survey-takers. Ask vendors about their panel source, quality controls, and fraud detection before accepting study results.

Interpreting brand lift results

What does a good lift result look like? Benchmarks vary by category, campaign size, and metric:

• Ad recall lift: 5–15 points is typical for well-executed CTV campaigns. Above 20 points is exceptional. Below 3 points may indicate creative or frequency issues.
• Brand awareness lift: 1–5 points is normal for awareness campaigns. Large established brands move this metric slowly.
• Purchase intent lift: 2–8 points is a reasonable range. Intent is harder to move than recall.

Do not evaluate lift in absolute numbers alone. Compare to category norms (available from vendors) and to your previous campaign results. A 4-point recall lift may be excellent for a mature category and weak for a new product launch. Context is everything.