# Understand campaign kinds

Source: https://help.cyreen.de/en/cap-explorer/kampagnen/kampagnenarten/ | Language: en | Reviewed: 2026-10-29

The CAP Explorer has two campaign kinds. They differ in **when** a C.A.P. screen shows your visual.

| | Loop-based campaign | Contact-based campaign |
|---|---|---|
| **In the CAP Explorer** | **Loop-based Campaigns** | **Contact-based Campaigns** |
| **When does the visual run?** | One after another in a fixed loop, regardless of who is in front of the screen | Only on an ad contact, that is when an RFID-tagged trolley or basket passes the screen |
| **Sound** | Without sound | With sound. Without sound is possible, but not recommended for good campaign results |
| **Reports** | No dashboards. A loop report is available on request. | Impressions dashboard and Performance dashboard in the CAP Explorer |
| **Types** | Commercial or Unlimited, plus Programmatic | Commercial or Unlimited |
| **Programmatic** | Yes | No |

## Loop-based campaigns

The visuals run one after another in a fixed loop and without sound. How a loop is built and how much room your account has in it is described in [Loop-based campaigns at a glance](https://help.cyreen.de/en/cap-explorer/kampagnen/loop/overview.md).

[Video: C.A.P. screen with several visuals running one after another in a loop](https://help.cyreen.de/loops/kampagnenarten/loop-playlist.mp4)

If there is no content at all on the system or there is a system error (for example no internet), the screen shows fallback content. Cyreen defines it, and only Cyreen makes changes.

### Commercial, Unlimited and Programmatic

When you create a campaign, you choose a type. Depending on the agreement with Cyreen, only one may be available.

| | Commercial | Unlimited |
|---|---|---|
| **Playout guaranteed** | Yes, one playout per loop | No, only if capacity is free |
| **With free capacity** | One playout per loop | Can run several times per loop |
| **Priority** | Before Programmatic and Unlimited | After Commercial and Programmatic |
| **Number of visuals** | Own limit for Commercial | Own limit for Unlimited |

There is also **Programmatic**. You do not book these visuals yourself, see [Programmatic advertising in the loop](#programmatic-advertising-in-the-loop).

### Programmatic advertising in the loop

Programmatic advertising is booked in the partner portal of the Cyreen programmatic partner, not in the CAP Explorer. A programmatic booking also appears nowhere within the CAP Explorer: not in the campaign list, among the visuals, in the reports or in the capacity per store (**Store Availability**).

Booking in the partner portal
→
Request the C.A.P. screen requests a programmatic playout
→
Playout in the loop, without sound

- **Number of slots in the loop:** Cyreen agrees with each retailer how many slots programmatic gets in the loop. This room applies equally to all stores of a retailer. It sets how often the C.A.P. system makes a programmatic request. The more room, the more often programmatic visuals run.
- **Order:** Programmatic comes after the Commercial visuals and before Unlimited, if it is enabled for the store.
- **Playout:** The programmatic booking via the partner portal controls which visual runs when.
- **If no programmatic campaign is running:** If no programmatic campaign is currently booked, the requests of the C.A.P. system stay unanswered. No programmatic visual then plays in this place.

Your Cyreen contact answers questions about programmatic.

### Reports for loop-based campaigns

A playout in the loop is not linked to a purchase. This is why there is no Impressions dashboard and no Performance dashboard for loop-based campaigns.

- **Loop report:** On request through report@cyreen.de, Cyreen compares the campaign period with a period before and a period after. Who can request the loop report is described in [Reports at a glance](https://help.cyreen.de/en/cap-explorer/auswertungen/reporting-angebot.md#loop-based-campaigns).
- **Programmatic:** Proof of impressions is available through the platform of the programmatic partner.

## Contact-based campaigns

The visuals only run on an ad contact, and then with sound. An ad contact happens when an RFID-tagged trolley or basket passes the C.A.P. screen.

Contact-based campaigns make **closed-loop measurement** possible: every ad contact is linked to the purchase at the checkout. This is the only reason why there are Impressions and Performance dashboards here as proof of impact. How to proceed is described in [Contact-based campaigns overview](https://help.cyreen.de/en/cap-explorer/kampagnen/kontaktbasiert/overview.md).

### Commercial and Unlimited

When you create a campaign, you choose a type. Depending on the agreement with Cyreen, only one may be available.

| | Commercial | Unlimited |
|---|---|---|
| **Playout guaranteed** | Yes | No, only if there is free capacity that Commercial visuals do not use |
| **Contact target (impressions)** | Yes | No |
| **Distribution over the run time** | By the expected number of shoppers: the visual plays more often when many shoppers are in the store, spread over the whole run time | Uneven, depending on free capacity |
| **Optimized playout** (for example by weekday or time of day) | Yes | No |
| **Bookable programmatically** | No | No |
| **Impressions and Performance dashboard** | Yes | Yes |

On every ad contact, the system chooses which visual runs:

- **Commercial visuals have priority.** Their chance depends on the booked impressions: a visual with twice as many booked impressions is shown about twice as often. A visual that is behind its target is preferred.
- **Unlimited visuals run on the free contacts.** 1 % of the contacts always stays free, in all stores with the latest in-store update, so that they can run too. An Unlimited visual is not mandatory: a contact-based campaign can also have Commercial visuals only.

Cyreen forecasts how many shoppers will be in the store and distributes the booked impressions accordingly. This way the target is reached as well as possible over the whole run time.

Trolley or basket at the C.A.P. screen one ad contact
→
Commercial weighted by booked impressions
or
Unlimited on the free contacts

> **Not every contact triggers a visual**
>
> Example: if the Commercial visuals in a store fill half of the reach and there are no Unlimited visuals, no contact-based advertising is played on every second contact with the C.A.P. screen.