Welcome to the Wheelhouse, a popular series of blogs from Ebiquity’s Marketing Effectiveness team.
In this latest edition, Director Inés Miranda from Ebiquity Iberia explores the delicate balance between media synergy and joint saturation. As brands aim to make their messaging stronger by combining different media channels, they must also be cautious of overexposure, which can lead to diminishing returns. This blog examines how to maximise impact while avoiding the pitfalls of over-saturating audiences.
Evaluating Media Synergy and Joint Saturation
In today’s digital world, where people are bombarded with information and ads, it’s hard for brands to capture and sustain attention. A well-planned communications strategy that integrates different channels well is vital. This is where two, often–overlooked concepts are critical: media synergy and joint saturation.
Media synergy means using different channels together to make a message stronger and increase its impact. For example, a campaign might combine TV ads, social media, and print to create brand presence everywhere. The goal is to reach more people and have a bigger impact by combining different types of media.
In contrast, joint saturation happens when a message is repeated excessively across multiple channels, causing consumers to tire of it. Unlike media synergy, which makes the message stronger, joint saturation weakens it.
When people see the same content too often, they stop caring or may even react negatively. This lowers the campaign’s effectiveness and reduces the return on investment (ROI). To avoid this, brands need to watch out for signs of overexposure and adjust their strategies accordingly.
While media agencies often highlight the potential for synergies in multi-channel strategies, advertisers should carefully evaluate whether some recommendations may be influenced by the financial incentives tied to higher-commission media channels. Marketing orthodoxy suggests that having more media lines on the plan results in synergies – but how strong is the evidence for this claim?
If we acknowledge that excessive frequency in one channel can have diminishing returns, we should also accept that excessive frequency across many channels might lead to joint saturation. Believing that synergy always occurs but that saturation never does is naively optimistic. We must balance these factors if we are to create effective marketing campaigns that don’t suffer from overexposure.
The Challenge of Balance
A good way to manage the balance between media synergy and joint saturation is to use response curves, which show how each channel performs by itself and in combination with others. Response curves enable real-time adjustments to keep campaigns effective.
When media share the same audience, saturation can happen faster via interactions. For example, if consumers see both TV ads and social media posts from the same campaign, the combined effect might be good at first. But as they see more, the impact starts to fade.
The chart above shows how two channels perform individually and together:
- Channel A shows a rapid response increase at low levels of investment but stabilizes at high levels because of saturation
- Channel B has a slower response and reaches saturation before channel A
- A+ B combined shows joint saturation, delivering worse ROI as investment grows
Working This Through
Our graph shows how each channel’s effectiveness and their combination change with different investment levels. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for optimising advertising strategy.
If we ignore joint saturation, we might conclude that Channel A generates €92K in sales with €50K investment, while Channel B brings in €56K with €40K spend. Together, this would mean €148K in sales for €90K investment, giving an ROI of €1.64.
But if we consider the joint saturation curve of both channels, the combined investment results in just €104K in sales, lowering the ROI to €1.16, a 30% drop. Considering the impact of joint saturation matters.
Many analyses fail to account for joint saturation, leading to suboptimal media investment. Any comprehensive analysis should include media interaction and its impact on saturation for more precise planning and to improve ROI.
Planning to Avoid Saturation
To prevent joint saturation, careful planning of when and how to use each channel is essential. It’s not just about selecting the right channels, but also phasing, content, and format. Smart deployment helps avoid consumer fatigue and keep the message fresh. A good strategy uses different touchpoints over time, controls how often people see the content, and spreads it out evenly across the year. This approach keeps the public interested and avoids overexposure.
What’s more, measuring each channel’s ROI is crucial for making real-time adjustments. This helps brands identify areas for improvement and optimise their marketing budget. Beyond improving performance metrics, the goal is to boost sales efficiently and sustainably. Effective media planning should focus on maximising synergy while avoiding joint saturation. Brands need to balance both to get the most benefits and reduce risks.
Want to optimise your media strategy and avoid joint saturation?
