At Rembrand, we offer a two-pronged approach combining In-Scene Media and Multi-Touch to maximize brand reach and visibility. Each format offers unique advantages and insights, and Rembrand provides aggregated metrics to give brands a comprehensive view of their performance. This guide breaks down the metrics available for each and highlights the differences in insights available for Rembrand’s In-Scene Media and Multi-Touch solutions.
What’s the Difference Between In-Scene Media and Multi-Touch?
In-Scene Media is executed as a form of virtual product placement integrated into an organic video by the content creator. The brand’s insertion is a visual part of the video itself, which can range from short-form (<30s) to long-form (90+ minute podcast) and reaches organic audiences through each creator’s channel.
In-Scene Media metrics are similar to those of sponsored content or physical product placement within a creator’s video. Since it is not served as an “ad”, it is not tracked as such by social platforms.
Multi-Touch is served as a paid video advertisement that can appear as pre-roll, mid-roll, or post-roll. These ads are managed by Rembrand through YouTube’s ad platform to audiences who have seen the brand’s In-Scene Media, providing a higher level of control over targeting and delivery.
Multi-Touch metrics are on par with metrics from other paid YouTube ads.
The metrics available for each offering are different as each type of content is delivered differently to the audience. Here’s a breakdown and comparison of the available data for In-Scene Media within organic videos, and Multi-Touch as paid media placements.
Metrics Available for In-Scene Media (Organic Videos)
For In-Scene Media, brands are provided access to a live dashboard with a performance overview across all creator videos including your branded insertions. Rembrand is able to provide clients with more data than publicly available, as we require creators to verify their social account(s) with us prior to inserting branded placements. This allows us to gather data and aggregate it in a dashboard for brands, across all videos with insertion, via direct platform API integrations.
The following data is aggregated across all videos with Rembrand In-Scene Media placements:
Views: The number of times all videos containing In-Scene Media have been watched. Metrics available per channel, per day.
Video Minutes: Total minutes that viewers spent watching videos with brand placement.
Brand Minutes: Estimated minutes, based on view rate and brand time on screen, that viewers spent watching content with the brand insertion visible.
CPS: Cost per second, given the brand’s CPM rate and the increasing amount of brand minutes on screen over time.
Platform Proportion: Percentage of views across channels if multiple are leveraged for the campaign (e.g. YouTube, YouTube Shorts, TikTok).
YouTube Premium: Number of individual views watched by YouTube Premium members, who pay to bypass all YouTube ads but still see your brand’s placement. In addition, the number of minutes watched by these users, and estimated brand time on screen seen by these users.
Demographics: Aggregated viewer demos across age and gender.
Device: Insights on whether viewers are watching on mobile, TV, or other devices.
Total Video Comments: Number of all comments on all videos combined, allowing brands to see the rate of engagement with this organic content.
Brand Engagements: Number of comments on videos with In-Scene Media which mention the brand or placement, along with the number of likes of those specific comments. Top brand comments are shown in the platform.
In addition, the following data is available per video with Rembrand In-Scene Media placement:
Videos: Thumbnail, link, creator name, video title, and date published for all videos with your brand’s placement inserted by Rembrand.
Views: The number of times each video containing the In-Scene Media has been watched, per YouTube’s API.
Brand Asset: Thumbnail of which approved brand asset was inserted into each video.
Video Length: Length of each video with brand placement; varies greatly across creators depending on the type of organic content.
Brand Timestamps: Precise timestamps where the brand placement starts and ends, as well as the summarized time on screen throughout that window. Note brand time on screen is not always continuous between the start and end timestamps, as it will appear organically within the content and creators often cut away to different shots or scenes.
Brand Minutes: Estimated minutes, based on view rate and brand time on screen, that viewers spent watching each specific video with the brand insertion on screen.
YouTube Premium: Percentage of YouTube Premium members who watched this video, paying to bypass all YouTube ads but still seeing your brand’s placement; varies greatly across creators depending on the type of audience they attract.
Metrics Available for Multi-Touch (Paid Video Ads)
With Multi-Touch, brands have access to a standard set of media metrics. Here are the standard metrics you can expect from Rembrand on Multi-Touch placements:
Impressions: The number of times your video ad was shown.
Views & View Rate: A view is counted when the following occurs, and varies per YouTube: “a person watches 30 seconds of your video (or the duration, if it's shorter than 30 seconds) or interacts with your video in various ways”.
Engagements & Engagement Rate: An interaction is counted when the following occurs, and varies per YouTube’s definition: “clicks, views, and more”. An engagement occurs when a consumer engages with an ad, and varies per YouTube’s definition: “for example, viewing at least 10 seconds of or clicking on a video ad”.
Clicks & Click-Through Rate (CTR): A click is defined by YouTube as “when someone clicks your ad”. Click-through rate is defined by YouTube as “a ratio showing how often people who see your ad end up clicking it.”
Reach/Frequency: YouTube helps to gauge ad saturation by providing average impression frequency per user, which YouTube defines as “the average number of times a unique user was shown your ad over a given time period”.
Additional metrics available include “video played to” metrics at 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%; watch time; frequency distribution; conversions (if set up by the brand); and others per request.
Metric Comparison Chart: In-Scene Media and Multi-Touch
Metric | In-Scene Media | Multi-Touch |
Impressions | N/A^ | Yes |
Views* | Yes* | Yes* |
Engagement | Yes^ | Yes |
Clicks | N/A^ | Yes |
Gender/Age Demos | Yes | No |
Device Type Breakdown | Yes | Yes |
Reach/Frequency | Yes^ | Yes |
YouTube Premium Views | Yes | No |
Video Minutes Watched | Yes | Yes |
Brand Minutes Watched | Yes | N/A |
Cost Per Second | Yes^ | N/A |
YouTube Definitions & Clarifications*
*Views: YouTube has their own methodology for counting views of organic long-form videos, which they only define as “the number of legitimate views”. Multiple sources state YouTube counts a long-form video as a “view” when a user (not a bot or spam) intentionally initiates playing a video, and then watches at least 30 seconds.
Rembrand Definitions & Clarifications^
^Impressions: Impressions are not an applicable metric with organic content. Only views are tracked, and are what is used for the brand’s CPM.
^Engagement: Rembrand’s Brand Engagement dashboard metric counts the number of comments on videos with In-Scene Media which mention the brand or placement, along with the number of likes of those specific comments. Overall video likes or comments are not considered, as these vary greatly across each creator and are typically tied to the video or content itself as opposed to the placement within it.
^Clicks: In-Scene Media is not clickable within creator videos, however, brands often opt to include clickable links within the creator’s video notes/description, and short URLs or brand promo codes within the visual disclosure statement. Brands can set these up to be trackable on their end to determine any direct engagement beyond awareness.
^Reach/Frequency: While individual viewers of organic content cannot be tracked across organic content, on a technical basis, Rembrand estimates reach across creators included in each brand campaign. Approving a larger number of creators increases your brand’s likelihood to have high brand reach.
^Cost Per Second: For In-Scene Media, brands only pay for views up to the agreed-upon Insertion Order (IO). In addition, brands are often seen for multiple minutes on screen. Therefore, as the campaign progresses and as organic videos remain online, the effective CPM continues to decrease over time with more brand exposure. This metric is not applicable to Multi-Touch, as the CPM is tied to a predefined ad slot.
Driving Effective Campaigns to Reach Campaign Goals
Both In-Scene Media and Multi-Touch offer unique insights that can guide campaign strategy. In-Scene Media provides rich metrics that show how well your message resonates with organic creator audiences, as well as the audiences - and formerly unreachable audiences - reached. Multi-Touch, meanwhile, offers a more granular view of user actions, making them an ideal addition for campaigns focused on precise reach and conversions.
Rembrand’s combined strategy of executing In-Scene Media and Multi-Touch ensures that your brand reaches its target audience through authentic creator-driven content, and is reminded of your brand with targeted paid advertising. Both formats work together to expand your reach and influence. Our goal is to allow brands to confidently plan and optimize their campaigns for maximum impact.