Gross Rating Points (GRP) is a foundational metric in advertising that quantifies the overall impact of a media campaign. It measures the total exposure of an advertisement to a target audience, expressed as the sum of all rating points achieved across different placements. A single rating point represents one percent of the target population, so GRPs aggregate how many impressions a campaign generates relative to the audience size.
The formula for GRPs is straightforward:
Loading formula...Reach refers to the percentage of the target audience exposed to the advertisement at least once during the campaign period. Frequency measures the average number of times those reached were exposed to the ad. For instance, if a campaign reaches 50 percent of a target audience and the average person sees the ad three times, the campaign delivers 150 GRPs.
GRPs are valuable because they provide advertisers with a simple, aggregate view of campaign weight. A higher GRP indicates more audience exposure, but it does not differentiate between broader reach and repeated frequency. That limitation is why media planners often use GRPs in conjunction with metrics like Cost per Point (CPP) to understand not only how much exposure a campaign generates but also how efficiently the budget is spent.
Although GRPs originated in traditional media—television, radio, and print—they remain part of the vocabulary in cross-channel planning. In digital media, GRPs are sometimes translated into “digital rating points” or equivalents, enabling advertisers to make comparisons across platforms. This continuity makes GRPs an enduring benchmark for campaign measurement.
Would you like me to also create a glossary entry for TRPs (Target Rating Points), since it’s the closely related metric that focuses only on a defined demographic segment?
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