Words Matter; Big Numbers Less So

Take the simplest thing We speak of digital media This means next to nothing Pretty well all media forms are digital in that they are distributed digitally It39s akin to describing media forms as being quotpaperquot in the sense that back in the day many were distributed and displayed using paperThe great Tess Alps has argued against the use of the word quotdigitalquot for years and still we do it when in fact what we mean is quotonlinequot and even that39s a bit of an allpurpose nondescriptor when you think about itBut digital online whatever is a misuse of language which may be inaccurate and irritating but by and large is harmless Other quotmisusesquot are more damaging and worse are sometimes used deliberately to misleadBack in the day we used to talk a lot about TVRs and TV ratings until we went allAmerican and imported the descriptor GRPs Everyone knew what GRPs were and if you didn39t you could ask 100 people and get the same descriptionWhether we thought GRPs were a relevant or irrelevant measure of anything we all knew what the expression meant Now try the same 100person test with the word quotviewerquot What is a viewer How long do they have to view to qualify It all depends on who you askHow can this be Surely someone who views something for a predetermined amount of time is a viewer How can multiple descriptions of the same concept use the same word without causing confusionHow to compare those who quotviewquot TV with those who quotviewquot a Facebook video when the two use different definitions of what constitutes a viewerThe issue of course is the quotpredeterminedquot bit The commonsense solution would be for an august body to rule on thisBut what if not all parties agree to the recommendation of the august body What if one party works out that the independent body39s recommendations mean that it loses a rather sizeable proportion of what it refers to as quotviewersquotYears ago we used quotaverage issue readershipquot as a measure of print exposure The august body in question JICNARS a joint industry body but funded in large part by the publishers decreed this to be the currencyYet nobody advertises in an average issue And certainly nobody advertises on an average page within an average issue Why not measure readership by day of the week Readership of a specific section Sports say or reviews Because the numbers would reduce Never mind that they might tell planners and advertisers something useful because the numbers would be smaller we would immediately reduce spend levelsIt was clearly beyond us to explain to our clients that nothing had changed all that was happening was that we were measuring more accuratelyWhen the UK TV measurement system changed from diaries to people meters the sales side of the industry which had in meeting after meeting for years argued against progress came close to having a collective heart attack The numbers would change and ad revenues would collapseSomehow we managed to explain and the feared ad revenue collapse didn39t happenIf the sales directors of the time had been responsible for digging ditches we would never have progressed from teaspoons to shovels to mechanical diggersThis absurd notion that nobody in advertising can manage to look beyond the largest number is what39s behind the multiple currency debate going on in the US Multiple currencies would be a backward step even in a geography alone amongst major ad markets that has always avoided quoting audiences to ads or ad breaks relying instead on program averagesWhy do the Americans put up with this inaccuracy this irrelevance Because the numbers produced are bigger God forbid we may prefer accuracy and relevance over sizeIf size is all that matters we may as well pack up now and leave the business to the algorithms and the optimizersThe result of multiple currencies will be more people spending more time arguing over the minutiae of currency A over currency B and less time discussing how this or that channel can best be used to the advertiser39s benefitMore work for the technocrats more confusion less benefit to the advertisersAnd ultimately less effective advertisingClick 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 MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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Words Matter; Big Numbers Less So

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Brian Jacobs

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

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Words Matter; Big Numbers Less So

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