Insights From Our Partners July 2026

Affinity Solutions' report, Measurement's Tipping Point: The Optimization Blueprint for Brand Growth, developed with the Affinity Solutions Outcomes Marketing Council, gives marketers hard data behind a problem they've long sensed: 91% believe platform results are overstated, and two-thirds estimate at least 11% of budget is wasted to optimization lag. Drawing on a survey of 210 senior marketing leaders, the report maps the real barriers, including data latency, fragmented infrastructure, and AI fed by low-quality inputs, and lays out a practical path for shifting from proxy metrics to verified purchase data so marketers can optimize in-flight and compete on real outcomes.

For marketers, this blog highlights the importance of measuring the combined impact of patient and healthcare provider engagement rather than evaluating DTC and HCP campaigns in isolation. IQVIA Digital's Halo Analysis helps brands uncover how aligned messaging across both audiences can accelerate conversion, improve prescribing outcomes, and maximize media investments by quantifying the "halo effect" between patient and provider exposure. In select analyses, coordinated engagement was associated with conversion rates up to 2.23x higher than audience-specific campaigns alone. By connecting real-world patient and provider data, marketers gain actionable insights to optimize omnichannel strategies, improve reach, and demonstrate the value of integrated campaigns.

Brand safety is often at the top of the list in terms of advertisers’ contextual targeting priorities. Many still approach brand safety with broad exclusions, minimize entire programs, genres, and sometimes even publishers to minimize potential risk. News is one of the categories most affected, despite being a diverse environment that spans subgenres and programming formats, many of which are generally recognized as having limited brand safety risk. Wurl’s minute-by-minute scene-level analysis of News reveals the nuanced nature of brand safety and the scale of the missed opportunity for advertisers.