Waze has released its first set of efficacy studies and also found a lift in ad recall for users exposed to brands? Pins and Takeovers, two marketing offerings available on the app. One advertiser, Wells Fargo, found that Waze users exposed to an offer for a free credit report were more likely to visit a branch. 

?For Wells Fargo, the bank wanted to reach consumers close to Wells Fargo locations, and track branch visits by Waze users,? said Sara Hall, product marketing manager for ads at Waze.

?Waze showed a huge lift in navigations to branch in the exposed group vs. a control,? she said. 

?We were also able to test for ad recall, showing that Waze users remembered seeing the Free Credit Report offer.?

 

Despite the growing popularity of mobile advertising, there is still a lack of meaningful measurements that can help marketers determine the effectiveness of their ads. 

This is something Waze hopes to address with its study. 

Waze sought to gain a better understanding of how many users chose to drive to a location after seeing a related Pin or Takeover Ad, a measurement it is calling navigational lift. 

Navigational lift speaks to the way mobile users engage with Waze, which is when they are on-the-go. 

Waze compared the driving behavior of a group exposed to a particular brand?s ad to those were not exposed to the ad. 

Specifically, Waze compared the frequency with which users searched for and navigated to the advertiser's locations before and after ad exposure in the case of the exposed group and before and after the start of the campaign in the case of the control.

 

The average navigational lift was 53 percent for those exposed to the ad. In multiple cases, exposed users were more than twice as likely to navigate to a business as a direct result of seeing associated Pins and or Takeovers.

The better the offer or promotion, the greater the impact was on driving behavior.

?We can prove that we drive users to advertised locations over time - a campaign with Waze equals greater foot traffic to your location,? Ms. Hall said. 

?Wells Fargo was extremely pleased with the results, since our metrics tied in perfectly with their desire to spread word about the Free Credit Score offer while measuring the causal increase in branch traffic,? she said. 

The more traditional metric of ad recall was also measured. 

To measure ad recall, two groups of users were surveyed ? those who had seen a particular brand?s ad and those who had not. 

The average lift in recall for Pins was 86 percent. 

 

The average lift in recall for Takeovers was even higher, 155 percent. 

The results also show that recall is highly correlated with frequency, particularly for Pins. Fewer Takeover impressions were required to make an impact on recall.  

 

In-app advertising can be an important way to reach mobile users, as they are spending a significant amount of their time on mobile in favorite apps. 

Waze, which uses crowdsourcing to provide up-to-date traffic information, has grown quickly over the past couple of years and currently has more than 50 million users. 

As a result, it has attracted quick-service restaurants such as Tim Horton's, Dunkin Donuts, Taco Bell as well as financial services providers such as Wells Fargo and Liberty Mutual. 

Brands can place a branded pin that represents their business on Waze maps. 

 

Takeover ads, which appear on the screen when a car is stopped, are another option. 

?Waze's key value proposition is being able to reach consumers on-the-go in the most contextually-relevant way, achieving real results more standard mobile marketing can't provide,? Ms. Hall said.