Case Nationale Loterij - Loterie Nationale, How the new measurement methodology from Initiative (Omnicom Media) and the National Lottery generated 25x more measurable conversions for campaigns through DPG Media.

7 min

The Challenge: The black hole of digital measurement

“For years, ‘measuring is knowing’ was the ultimate selling point of digital advertising, especially compared to TV or radio. Advanced models such as Multi-Touch Attribution (MTA) provided advertisers with deep insights into their media mix. But the media landscape has changed drastically. Due to stricter privacy regulations, the disappearance of third-party cookies, and changing consumer behavior, 50 to 70% of available data signals are now being lost.
In addition, traditional analytics platforms struggle to attribute value to ads that were seen but not directly clicked on (exposure). The logical consequence? The true impact and performance of local publishers are systematically undervalued.
The National Lottery and Initiative (Omnicom Media) refused to accept this situation. Both were convinced that advertising with local players delivers a strong ROI but that this could no longer be demonstrated using traditional measurement methods.

The Solution: A revolutionary closed-loop measurement approach

To eliminate the blind spot in the data, Initiative, in close collaboration with DPG Media and other publishers, developed an innovative closed-loop measurement process. This enabled them to accurately and reliably link ad exposure to conversions, without being affected by current cookie limitations.
The key to success? Precision reach through CRM matching using Infosum’s Data Clean Room. The campaign specifically targeted a matched CRM audience of known users. This meant that only consumers who could be identified by both the advertiser and DPG Media were shown the ads. As a result, the measurement of this known audience became highly accurate.
After the campaign, DPG Media anonymously and privacy-safely mapped the exposed users again, after which the data was matched against the National Lottery’s conversion files. This created a broader and more complete view of campaign impact compared to traditional campaign reporting, which mainly captures direct conversions on specific campaign products. The closed-loop approach made it possible not only to include exposure-driven impact but also to identify shifts within the target audience and conversions across different National Lottery games. This gave the National Lottery a more accurate understanding of the number of conversions measurably influenced by DPG campaigns.
Moreover, it was crucial to maintain a strict privacy-first approach throughout the entire process. This implied several essential steps: the consent status of each user was continuously respected, users were always anonymized, the National Lottery remained the sole owner of its data at all times, and no profile enrichment took place based on this information. In this way, collaboration using CRM data could take place in a trusted and transparent environment.

The Result: 25x higher measurability and a level playing field

Thanks to this closed-loop setup, the National Lottery gained a significantly broader understanding of the true campaign impact among known (CRM) users. By incorporating exposure, CRM matching, and conversions across multiple relevant games into the analysis, a richer measurement framework was created than what is possible within traditional attribution models. The differences between both measurement methods proved to be highly significant.

25x more measurable conversion impact thanks to the new measurement framework: Within the closed-loop approach, a substantially greater campaign impact became visible than within traditional last-click reporting. This increase was not only driven by exposure-based measurement, but also by a more complete framework that captured broader CRM movements and conversions across multiple relevant products. As a result, the number of influenced conversions turned out to be up to 25 times higher than previously reported. Consequently, the reported CPA also decreased significantly.
This clearly demonstrated that a change in measurement methodology can drastically affect the evaluation of a channel or campaign.

This case demonstrates that the impact of local publishers within traditional measurement models was often only partially visible and therefore heavily underreported. Thanks to Initiative’s drive for innovation, the National Lottery can now map its KPIs far more accurately, properly assess the value of local media, and compete with international tech giants using much stronger data.