At A Glance
American Home Shield improved CPA efficiency by 18% by working with Experian to apply audience curation through Experian Curated Deals. Through Curated Deals, we connected audience data, inventory, and ongoing optimization across display, online video, and audio, giving AHS a clearer view of which segments drove stronger acquisition performance.What challenge was American Home Shield trying to solve with audience curation?
American Home Shield (AHS) wanted to reach people in-market for home warranty products with greater accuracy and efficiency. They wanted to improve targeting, personalize campaigns across channels, and reduce cost per action (CPA).
For acquisition-focused brands, audience curation can improve both media efficiency and business outcomes. AHS, a pioneer in the home warranty industry, worked with Audigent, a part of Experian, to segment and target in-market home warranty audiences more effectively through Experian Curated Deals.
AHS’s goals
How did Experian use audience curation for American Home Shield?
Experian used audience curation to help AHS better identify, understand, and target online audiences in-market for home warranty products. Our audience curation approach gave AHS real-time performance insight and a more efficient way to act on what was working during the campaign.
Using Audigent data, AHS identified a focused set of audience segments including:
- Consumers in-market for home warranty or protection
- DIYers
- New homeowners
- Parents
- Real estate buyers and sellers
What audience curation approach did American Home Shield use?
We applied three audience curation methods to help AHS reach relevant audiences across audio, display, and online video. This mix gave AHS broader coverage and a clearer read on which curated audiences and activation methods supported stronger acquisition efficiency.
Our audience curation strategy included three methods:
Fallon, AHS’s agency, played a critical role in shaping AHS’s audience curation strategy, media activation, and real-time optimization across channels.
What results did American Home Shield see from audience curation?
AHS improved acquisition efficiency and gained a stronger understanding of audience performance. Our audience curation approach helped AHS identify which curated segments delivered better results and supported more efficient media decisions.
“Partnering with Audigent, a part of Experian, feels like working with a true extension of our own team. They are deeply engaged in campaign performance and collaborate closely with our media agency to optimize in real time. Through testing curation with Audigent, we have improved CPA efficiency while also gaining meaningful business efficiencies. We now have a clear understanding of which segments perform best and why, unlocking new value for our home warranty products.”
American Home ShieldAndrea Steele, Director, Media & Marketing
Experian Curated Deals produced measurable gains across performance and operational efficiency, including:
- 18% overall improvement in CPA efficiency
- 3.7x more cost-efficient streaming audio than AHS’s pre-partnership benchmarks
- 28% lower cost for AHS prospecting display versus pre-partnership benchmarks
Explore more examples of how brands are driving performance with Experian
Download our full case study with American Home Shield
AHS partnered with us to segment and target in-market home warranty audiences more effectively through audience curation. Our innovative approach to curation forms the backbone of AHS’s goal of driving acquisition across online media.
Contact us
About American Home Shield
As a pioneer in the home warranty industry, American Home Shield (AHS) serves millions of customers across the U.S. and operates under the Frontdoor, Inc. umbrella.
FAQs
Audience curation helped American Home Shield (AHS) focus media investment on in-market home warranty audiences across display, online video, and audio. Our approach gave the AHS team greater visibility into segment performance and improved CPA efficiency by 18%. Audience curation means combining audience data, inventory, and optimization into a single activation approach. Experian used audience curation to help AHS activate relevant segments more efficiently and understand which audiences were driving stronger acquisition results.
Experian helps brands apply audience curation by connecting audience strategy, activation, and optimization across media environments. That gives marketers a clearer way to compare curated audience performance, refine segment choices, and improve efficiency across channels.
Audience curation matters because it helps marketers align audience data and media placement more intentionally. That gives teams a clearer view of which audiences and environments are contributing to performance, enabling more informed future acquisition decisions.
Experian Curated Deals unify premium data and premium inventory into optimized private marketplaces designed for performance. Delivered as simple Deal IDs, Curated Deals enrich bidstreams with real-time, privacy-safe signals and apply supply path optimization to improve efficiency and campaign outcomes.
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In our Ask the Expert series, we interview leaders from our partner organizations who are helping lead their brands to new heights in AdTech. Today’s interview is with Samantha Zhang, Senior Data Scientist, and Jim Meyer, General Manager of the DASH TV Universe Study at the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF). DASH is an annual tracking study conducted by the ARF to define and better understand TV audience behavior and household dynamics. What does DASH measure, and how does it help the industry understand TV consumption today? By capturing hundreds of individual- and household-level data points from each respondent in a rigorous and nationally projectable sample, DASH creates a comprehensive picture of U.S. consumer TV “infrastructure” – how America watches. Core elements in DASHElements that create context in DASHTV setsLocation | brand | smartness | service modes | sources DemographicsConnected devices Game consoles |video players | streaming devicesYesterday viewing Daypart | TV/device genre | Out-of-home viewingMobile devicesOwners | sharing usersShoppingOnline and in-store | Exposure to major RMNsInternet serviceModes | ISPs | connectivity by device Streaming audio Streaming TVSVOD/AVOD tiers and sharing | FAST Email accounts and apps Live TV Modes of access | including casting from devices Social media For example, DASH gathers: Data on every TV set, including brand, room location, age, “smartness,” and connection devices and modes Household connectivity and video service data, even in homes with no TV set Internet Service Providers (ISP) and TV service usage, including Multichannel Video Programming Distributors (MVPDs), virtual vMVPDs, streamers (ad-supported and premium), and Free Ad-Supported Television (FAST) channels Person-level ownership and usage of video-capable mobile devices, including smartphones, tablets, and laptops Measures of viewing and co-viewing across dayparts, devices, and services Additional modules covering shopping and retail media networks, streaming audio, social media, email, and apps Broad coverage and granularity make DASH a uniquely robust source of truth for practitioners across the industry, including measurement experts and ad programming strategists. DASH also reports regularly (and publicly) on key industry dynamics. DASH identified a growing segment of device-only viewers – now nearly 9 million households that watch TV, but do not own a TV set – and highlighted the implications of that trend for traditional ratings systems based only on households with TV sets. Households (HHs – million)2025 HHs (M) U.S. penetrationChange vs. 2024 (M)Total US134.8100%+2.7Connected TV (CTV)114.685%+2.1TV (Set)124.292.2%+1.1Device-only8.86.6%+1.6TV-Accessible133.198.7%+2.7 DASH called out the rise in app-based pay TV and proposed a new connection framework that better represents the modern TV world, in which linear and streaming overlap. DASH also defines the universes of households reachable with advertising. This graphic, for example, shows how all ad-supported linear and streaming properties in aggregate define the true scale of TV advertising. While 35 million households (and growing) are reachable only with streaming ads and 13 million (and falling) only with linear ads, most households are reachable with both, underscoring the importance of understanding the “overlap.” Who uses DASH data, and what decisions does it help inform? There are three primary users of DASH, each with its own use cases: Measurement providers, including Nielsen, use DASH to calibrate viewership data, turn household data into persons data (and vice versa) and estimate potential reached audiences–what the providers call media-related universe estimate (MRUEs)–for the calculation of ratings. Not surprisingly, measurement companies were the first to see the value that an independent TV universe study could provide. Media companies, including major broadcasters and streamers, use DASH to add context and color to their ad sales presentations – and to track the measurement providers, whose ratings play a major role in valuing ad inventory. AdTech companies, including Experian, use DASH to create high-value audience segments for activation. The recent accreditation of DASH by the Media Rating Council (MRC) and adoption by Nielsen as an input to its TV ratings have generated interest from a broad range of companies. We are actively pursuing new licensees and partners to make DASH more useful within, and even outside, the TV ecosystem. What does MRC accreditation signify, and why is it meaningful for DASH? MRC accreditation means DASH passed a rigorous audit conducted by Ernst & Young over many months, which validated our methodology, controls, and data quality. MRC accreditation establishes that DASH is an industry-standard dataset. While the service provider normally announces its own accreditation, the MRC took the unusual step of issuing its own release on DASH, announcing the accreditation of DASH for TV universe estimation and endorsing the study for broader, cross-media use. How does Experian use DASH data to build audiences? The segments combine specific TV usage habits and behaviors from DASH with Experian data on demographics, spending, and other contextual inputs to create a fuller view of consumer viewing behavior. They are designed to be valuable to advertisers in many categories and planning contexts – and to be customizable to fit advertisers’ media targets. The segments can be used to: Apply or suppress audiences to improve target coverage across a campaign Better align media and creative Reach elusive but high-value viewers, such as Ad Avoiders Drive valuable consumer behavior Achieve specific advertising objectives What are some practical use cases for DASH-based audiences? Here are some practical use cases for four different kinds of DASH segments in five different advertiser categories. Travel Co-WatchersA couples-only resort uses TV Co-Watching Households without Children to strengthen target reach and ad memory recallA big theme park destination uses TV Co-Watching Households with Children to reach families in moments of togetherness Home Entertainment TV Owners and Brand LoyalistsA premium TV manufacturer uses the overlap of Multi Brand TV Owners and Single Brand TV Loyalist Households to market its newest TV model to its most loyal consumers. Fast Food Screen Size ViewersA fast food chain with a high-impact new brand campaign uses Large Screen TV Viewers to better align the media and creativeThat same fast food chain uses Small-Screen TV Viewers to drive store traffic by increasing exposure of its retail campaign among on-the-go viewers Financial Services Cord Cutters A personal cost management app and a cash-back credit card target Streaming-First Cord Cutter Households to reach young, tech-savvy, cost-conscious consumers Thanks for the interview. Where can readers learn more about DASH? We started work on DASH seven years ago, and it’s been fun to watch it “grow up.” Our partnership with Experian is a big step toward putting DASH to work for advertisers and agencies. To learn more, visit our site at https://theARF.org/DASH or contact us at DASH@theARF.org. Contact us About our experts Samantha Zhang, Senior Data Scientist at ARF Samantha Zhang is a Senior Data Scientist at the Advertising Research Foundation working on the DASH TV Universe Study, with additional research spanning areas including attention measurement, digital privacy, and artificial intelligence. Jim Meyer, General Manager, DASH, at ARF Jim Meyer is general manager and co-founder of the ARF DASH TV Universe Study and managing partner of Golden Square, LLC, which advises media and research technology companies on growth strategy and development. Latest posts
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