Audience Measurement in 2020 – A Blueprint

Itamp8217s time to think beyond the currencies and to consider audience measurement in the roundThe issues are clear even if the solutions are not They come down to money and clarity of purpose We are blessed with many professional audience measurement businesses What we donamp8217t have is a briefSo here goes amp8212 with a blueprint oversimplified and summarizedDefining the desired outcome in broad terms is actually the easy bit amp8220easyamp8221 in the sense that most people agree with the basic principles The need is for crossmedia research that guides advertisers towards the ideal communication channel mix to meet their goalsThe group that needs to drive this forward is the advertisers Vendors of whatever shape and size have no interest nor should they in looking beyond the borders of their own worlds Agencies should contribute but theyamp8217re not a realistic source of major fundingThe advertiser is the ultimate beneficiary of any system that helps improve any aspect of marketing and should be at the forefront of driving improvementsFurthermore as the beneficiary advertisers amp8212 and not just the biggest amp8212 should pay Why should a traditional media form pay for anything that risks revenues moving to the platforms Or vice versaAudience measurement is an important contributor to advertising success and beyond It can help quantify different qualities of exposure by channel It can expose dodgy data that is not part of an approved validation system It can undermine the spread of fake news It can explain how different communication channels feed off each other and work together Itamp8217s no exaggeration to say that accurate audience measurement plays a part in ensuring a democratic fair societyIt can be compared to industryadministered ad regulation The only people who benefit from an unregulated ad market are those who seek to lie and cheat Those who tell the truth in a creative and interesting way benefit We can discuss why UK political advertising is unregulated another dayAdvertisers benefit from a system of regulation by not spending time in court arguing over whether or not Persil really washes whiter Itamp8217s a fast flexible system that moves with the times the language and the fashions Advertisers are right to fund itAd regulation in the UK is funded by a levy on ad spend for instance Itamp8217s collected simply fairly and proportionately I see no reason why a levy canamp8217t fund greater audience understanding Itamp8217s been tried before as a funding mechanism for audience measurement in South Africa successfullyIt offers a secure funding base from which roadmaps can be drawn up It engages and involves advertisers in the debate A small fraction of a percentage could deliver a healthy annual potLetamp8217s assume a 01 percent levy in the UK as an example Total ad spend here is of the order of amp16320 billion 01 percent equals amp16320 million Letamp8217s assume that not all media spend is monitored or eligible so bring it down to amp16312 million Assume a collection rate of 50 percent so thatamp8217s amp1636 millionHereamp8217s a short video introduction to the levy idea courtesy of the 2019 asi Conference This makes a multimarket as opposed to a UK caseWhat would the funds raised be used for I see three parts to an advertiser driven initiative or set of initiatives But I wouldnamp8217t dismantle the currency measures In the UK Broadcasters39 Audience Research Board BARB et al do what they do well and theyamp8217re watched like a hawk by their stakeholdersThe first part needs to address issues around the giant platforms and should be able to progress without substantial advertiser funds beyond staff costs Stakeholders need to agree on common definitions such as amp8220what is a vieweramp8221 An objective program of data validation and verification needs to be put in placeIamp8217m not advocating a onesizefitsall approach but some basic principles need to be laid down and the advertisers are the only people amp8212 possibly in conjunction with the regulators amp8212 to do it Continued major advertiser support for the platforms should be made conditional on these reforms taking placeAny costs should be the responsibility of the platformsPart two consists of desk research looking around at what others do seeking ways to combine datasets from different sources and looking at how small changes such as adding questions to existing studies could yield significant resultsPart three would be a program to deliver a crossmedia planning data framework for the industryIs a Facebook video impression the same as a TV impression and if not what is the comparison Are ads in a printed newspaper read as carefully as TV broadcast ads are viewed What is an influencer campaign on YouTube worth and how can the value be maximized How does an editorial exposure generated by PR compare with an ad on the same website Is a radio 30second commercial the same as an OOH exposure and if not whatamp8217s the comparisonAsk any agency planner these questions and youamp8217ll get answers But they will be based on opinion and experience maybe some clientspecific evidence amp8212 not considered and measured industrywide researchIamp8217ve heard that work like this would discourage agencies from doing their own proprietary work I disagree It would give them a framework from which to buildThen thereamp8217s the media marketing organizations some of which seem to think this sort of work would somehow undermine their own efforts Why wouldnamp8217t this sort of program help them in selling their own mediumamp8217s strengthsAnd there are those involved in running the currencies Again why should they be worried about this To unpick the currencies would be mad as I argued here a couple of weeks agoI think an advertiser program should be about adding to what we have amp8212 not undermining the foundations many of us have spent decades constructing A program of planning research can only be constructed on top of a firm baseThose who have so far argued against a levy as a funding mechanism say it wonamp8217t be acceptable to advertisers Maybe not immediately we need to sell it in just the same way that we had to sell the Advertising Standards Board of Finance ASBOF levy to fund the Advertising Standards Authority ASA all those years ago in the UKIt could be sold as a way of spending savings from the media budgetConsider An agency sells the client a plan to buy four insertions across 10 titles 40 insertions in total I told you I was going to simplify The 40 is sold as an optimal number The agency delivers 45 because itamp8217s big and masterful in its negotiations But is 45 necessarily better than 40 And why couldnamp8217t the cost of the five be put into the levySpending to plan rather than spending to budget in other wordsIn the UK the advertiser trade association ISBA has hired and is seeking advice from anyone prepared to give it The UK has a history of innovative audience research initiatives such as the target group index or TGI 50 years agoNow would be a good time to do it againDon39t stop now Read more from Brian Jacobs in The Cog BlogClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNetamp160

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Audience Measurement in 2020 – A Blueprint

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Brian Jacobs

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