Arno Meijerink – ACE | IM Lounge

In the ever-evolving world of media strategy, staying ahead of the curve means embracing innovation, creativity, and data-driven decision-making. Arno Meijerink, founder of ACE | IM Lounge and partner of ACE stands at the forefront of this. ACE | IM Lounge is a leading media agency known for its bold approach to brand growth and performance. In this recent interview, Arno shares insights on navigating creativity and innovation in media strategy, mastering attribution, and managing media fragmentation with a strategic focus. From leveraging AI tools to developing collaborative campaigns that resonate with audiences, Arno reveals how ACE | IM Lounge continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in media strategy.

INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY IN MEDIA STRATEGY

The advertising landscape is becoming broader in terms of choices and opportunities and it’s essential to keep communicating. “If you have a fantastic product and you don’t tell anyone about it, then it’s not going anywhere. That’s where media buying is crucial,” Arno says. For shaping effective media strategies and staying relevant in the market, innovation and creativity are needed. Arno advocates constantly exploring new technologies, such as AI, to enhance both creative and media efforts; “We try to consider all new possibilities, and constantly challenge ourselves.”

To determine the direction of innovations, ACE | IM Lounge uses a range of tools. Using so-called ‘red teams’ to test against AI models, ACE | IM Lounge adopts an approach that looks at what products can be extracted from AI and how threats can be turned into opportunities. One example is their Social Sentiment scan tool “BuzzEar”. The tool analyses competitors’ social media content and generates a score based on the sentiment of comments or engagements over time. This provides valuable insights into how people perceive the brand compared to its competitors. Arno explains: “When you realise the advantage of scraping, evaluating, and processing data at scale, you truly feel like you’re working on new, applicable things that improve your daily tasks. Now we can see what themes emerge. AI is great at summarising and can be put to good use in this way.”

When it comes to creativity, Arno also sees more agencies struggling with AI. “You need to feed AI with good prompts and data to get good outcomes. That’s what our ACE AI Studio specialises in; setting good starting points while still traditionally engaging with clients and focusing on innovation.” By integrating innovative techniques, ACE | IM Lounge aims to deliver fresh, impactful campaigns that connect with audiences and maintain a competitive edge in the market.

‘’When you realise the advantage of showing how we can scrape, evaluate, and process data at scale, you truly feel like you’re working on new, applicable things that improve your daily tasks.”

ATTRIBUTION, MEASUREMENT, AND DATA-DRIVEN DECISION MAKING

There is an ongoing struggle to accurately measure the impact of different media channels on business KPIs. Instead of measuring the awareness a media campaign gives, ACE | IM Lounge focuses on business performance; “We think every goal is ultimately to service the client’s business, and that’s never awareness. Awareness is necessary as a means to an end. So, how much awareness do we need, and through which channels, to get to the actual purchase or influenced behaviour?” Arno explains.

He elaborates further; “There’s an ongoing debate about awareness, standing out on the shelf, and mental availability. A lot of tools come and go, but it’s still challenging to bring it all together, both in terms of awareness and which elements influence awareness.”

To address this, his team focuses on developing more reliable methods for evaluating media campaign success. Arno stresses the importance of data-driven decision-making, using a range of indicators such as brand search uplift and engagement metrics to gauge effectiveness; “We often tweak our campaigns on the awareness side. Based on engagement, search behaviour, social sentiment, and research on awareness and perception, we build our attribution model. This model also looks at direct and postponed business performance. When we advertise on TV, radio, and social media simultaneously this data provides insights into the number of contacts, the best-performing ads, media, and channels.     And know how to optimise the campaign performance.”

However, the data from each campaign should provide value long-term and not just for the campaign itself. At the moment, data-driven insights are mainly measured within the campaign, but ideally, the data should inform both spontaneous and aided awareness. “Measurement will need to improve; those small signals will need to be better analysed. We see brand search uplifts, but what does it mean in this specific market, season, or for this product? Ideally, all this data will correlate strongly, suggesting we try certain strategies again and gather new data,” Arno explains.

“A lot of tools come and go, but it’s still challenging to bring it all together, both in terms of awareness and which elements influence awareness.”

Navigating Media Fragmentation and Creative Collaboration

There are also some commercial challenges with media buying. Arno addresses the increasingly fragmented media landscape, where choosing between focusing on core channels or spreading efforts across many is becoming more complex. “Committing to your well defined strategic goals and thus specific media choices helps with focusing on the task at hand. You can’t do everything with a limited budget. Measuring value and showing over time the impact on brand value and business growth over time are challenges we embrace in our daily work.”

He discusses the merits of each approach, depending on client needs and market conditions; “There are so many possibilities, and this applies to any media agency claiming to be data-driven. Some decisions are still made by gut feeling, dividing budgets among channels without much rationale. We’re working to underpin these decisions more. That’s where things are headed, making reasons for choices more visible.”

Arno highlights the importance of collaboration between paid media and creative teams, ensuring campaigns are both strategically robust and creatively engaging. “Especially the creative aspect is often overlooked by media agencies, or you see media agencies bringing creativity in-house, thinking they can handle it. It’s a different skill set.” He believes that by working closely together, these teams can craft integrated campaigns that leverage the strengths of both creative thinking and media strategy, achieving maximum impact for their clients.

“Collaboration is key, but you have to understand each other’s strengths. I don’t know of any media agencies that are super creative, nor creative agencies that excel at media. That’s what we aim to combine here at ACE. In today’s complex media landscape, balancing creativity, innovation, and data-driven insights is the key to delivering campaigns that not only resonate with audiences but also drive business growth.

“In today’s complex media landscape, balancing creativity, innovation, and data-driven insights is the key to delivering campaigns that not only resonate with audiences but also drive business growth.”