Platform Framework
The Bench campaign framework was created to help advertisers go beyond simplistic measures of success and provide accountability for any digital media activity, regardless of objective. The framework provides a robust and reliable method for structuring multi-channel and multi-platform advertising campaigns.
Agency
The entity that is managing the relationship with the client.
Advertiser
This is the company or brand that is advertising their product, service or event.
Campaign
In the Bench framework, a Campaign is a set of objectives, channels, audiences and creatives commonly grouped together to achieve business outcomes for a designated sum of budget in a designated length of time. A single campaign in Bench can consist of multiple DSP and ad-platform ‘campaigns'.
For example, a single Bench campaign could consist of activity across Social (Meta & LinkedIn), Display (Google Ads) and Connected TV/BVOD (The Trade Desk) to create awareness of the brand, drive traffic to the site, and eventually acquire customers via an online store. Despite there being multiple objectives, channels and platforms involved, this would be grouped as one single Campaign in Bench as there is an obvious connection between all elements of the user journey.
Layer
The Bench Layer framework takes the concept of the traditional marketing funnel as a foundation and tailors it to work for omnichannel digital advertising. The specific Bench ‘Layers’ can be pictured as stages in a purchase funnel and mimic the actions a user might take as they interact with a brand and its products or services.
The stages of the Layer framework are as follows:
Awareness - objectives that create awareness of the brand, product or service.
Engagement - engage the target audience with the advertisement, website or other content.
Leads - generate leads with contact information.
Direct Response - generate quotes/enquiries for specific products or services, e.g. book a test drive.
Acquisition - generate online sales or revenue for the business.
The Layer framework exists to provide a structure for planning, executing and reporting of Goals, Media Channels, Audiences and Creatives. By designating activity to a specific Layer, a clear expectation is set for the parameters of how that will be set up and the measures for how it will be deemed successful.
For example, a Display media buy designated to the Awareness Layer vs. the Direct Response Layer will have a very different set of goals, assigned audience targeting strategies, creative (including call-to-actions) and optimisation techniques.
Switching the method of planning Campaigns from a Channel-first mentality to a Layer-first mentality puts the end-user at the centre of the planning process with a focus on their mindset at different stages of their interaction with a brand.
At each Layer, a number of channels and audience strategies can co-exist depending on the marketing objectives. A campaign will usually have a few active layers that together create a cohesive strategy across the buyer journey.
The Layer framework exists to provide a structure for planning, executing and reporting of Goals, Media Channels, Audiences and Creatives. By designating activity to a specific Layer a clear expectation is set for the parameters of how that will be set up and the measures for how it will be deemed successful.
For example, a Display media buy designated to the Awareness Layer vs. the Direct Response Layer will have a very different set of goals, assigned audience targeting strategies, creative (including call-to-actions) and optimisation techniques.
Switching the method of planning Campaigns from a Channel-first mentality to a Layer-first mentality puts the end-user at the centre of the planning process with a focus on their mindset at different stages of their interaction with a brand.
At each Layer, a number of channels and audience strategies can co-exist depending on the marketing objectives. A campaign will usually have a few active layers that together create a cohesive strategy across the buyer journey.
Channel
The Bench framework categorises marketing channels into the following groups:
Display
Native
Search
Social
Video
TV (Programmatic TV)
Digital Out-of-Home
Planning the campaign strategy using the above channels gives you the freedom to strategise around business objectives and then pick the most effective ad platforms and DSPs to achieve these goals.
The platform also provides views to review results of the campaign at a channel level, enabling you to optimise your campaigns at a macro channel level.
Platform / Source
Within channels, you can choose from any of the supported DSPs and ad platforms to achieve your campaign objectives. In the Bench framework, Platform refers to the system you choose to activate the media, i.e. the DSP or ad platform. Examples are Meta Ads Manager, Display Video 360 and The Trade Desk.
Sources are the media sources you activate from the platforms. Examples are Instagram, Facebook, Google Display Network and YouTube etc.
Ad
In the Bench framework, ads have 3 key components: the Promo, Message and Ad Version.
A Promo defines a category for a group of messages: value proposition, offer, promotion, marketing concept, seasonal etc. For example, 10% off, Summer Sale, Early Bird.
A Message defines a specific pitch, specific tone, specific audiences or specific benefit highlighted. For example, Sport Lovers, Youngsters.
An Ad Version is a specific copy-image combination for a message or banner size/format. It is usually used for the optimisation of creatives which reflect the same message. For example, if a creative is an image of male (male-image) and image of female (female-image) with the same copy or gif_300x250 banner and gif_300x600 banner.
Audience Group and Strategy
An Audience Group is defined as the ‘who’ of your desired audience broken down in several distinct groups. For example, Young Singles, Young Couples, Food Enthusiast etc.
Note: Audience Groups should be kept fairly broad. Young Singles is a good Audience Group. Female 18-27 is not as good as it uses parameters to be used in Audience strategies and can severely limit the Audience definition to the detriment of the campaign.
An Audience Strategy is defined as the ‘how’ to reach your desired audience defined through your Audience Groups. For example, you can find Food Enthusiasts using a strategy “Interested in Baking”.
Allocations
The Allocation ties together the combination of Layer, Channel, Platform and Source along with associated creatives, audiences and media budget. This serves as the link between Bench and the Ad Platform/DSP when trafficking the campaign to the Ad Platform/DSP as well as integrating results back to Bench Connect.