CIMM Continues to Pave the Way for Cross Platform Measurement

CIMM, The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement, hosted its 5^th Annual Cross Platform Media Measurement and Data Summit last week. The organization has accomplished a lot in the past five years. 

Jane Clarke, CEO and Managing Director, outlined CIMM’s mission which is to “foster innovation in cross platform measurement, bring more granular measurement to TV and look at measurement in new ways. We pilot test new measurement tools to meet the needs of users. It has been a multi-year effort of working together to drive change in media measurement.” 

Goals and Actions For Cross Platform Measurement

CIMM seeks to establish a clear understanding of consumer centric usage across all platforms, to measure exposure by pilot testing touchpoints and to evaluate the results. “Enriching media data quality is the key to ROI and data quality is increasingly important for enhancing the buying currency. CIMM is advocating for more passive measurement at scale, linking census based with shopping behavior,” Clarke stated as she announced a Measurement Manifesto that has three goals and eight actions.

The “must haves” for cross platform media measurement are:

      

       --Accurate representation of cross device universe at scale to use advanced audience segments.

Ø        --An efficient supply chain to real time, with timing comparable to digital.

Ø        --Comparable metrics across platforms with a standard video to average minute to measure ads.

The Actions taken to achieve these goals are:

Ø        -- Embrace competition.

Ø       --  MRC standards.

Ø       --    Move beyond panels, embrace big data and move to census measurements in TV and digital.

Ø       --  Bring more return path data to market for planning. Nationally represent SmartTV and STB data.

Ø       --Measure Out of Home in the ratings. Measure across all possible media points.

Ø       --  Measure both households and individuals.

Ø        -- Implement standardized metadata for content and ads.

Ø       --Demand transparency from 3rd party data companies, linking IDs across devices and channels.

The Impact of Data

Artie Bulgrin, SVP Global Research & Analytics, ESPN, moderated the first panel on Cross Media and Data and asked his panel whether we will see a move away from age and gender demos in buying and selling media across platforms. Michael Strober, in a new role as EVP Client Strategy and Ad Innovation, Turner, replied, “Currently there is too much of the business activating on age and gender.” But, he added, “We are working towards a variety of measurements.” Michael Piner, SVP Investment, MAGNA GLOBAL, was more open to change and said, “We are working towards it. If we can use and overlay third party data, then we don't need (to buy on) age and gender.”

Data rules, according to the panel, whether first or third party. Benjamin Jankowski, Group Head, Global Media, MasterCard, explained, “We have our own data which drives quantitative actions. We can create segments - not individuals because of privacy. The qualitative side is more ahead of the curve. We use social listening to know people's interests.” Piner said, “We use a tremendous amount of big data, are incorporating it into the data stack and ingesting it into our planning system.”

Progress on Cross Platform Measurement

Alan Wurtzel, President, Research & Media Development moderated a panel of end users. When asked how they were using the data to facilitate cross platform measurement, Don Robert, EVP Research and Analytics, A+E Networks spoke of his company’s recent efforts. “We are monetizing cross platform effectively by examining how each platform looks when you take out the commercial units. We are looking at program impressions by duration using currency data based on impressions,” he explained.

However, data delivery lag is a challenge for an industry used to overnight ratings. Ed Gaffney, Managing Partner, Director of Tactical Planning, GroupM explained, “While problems can be solved by research and good quality data, there also needs to be good velocity. The data can’t be six months old. We need it now so we can see what lift we get.”  This means that, for the foreseeable future, the industry is expected to stick with the usual data suspects for upfront buying.  “Nielsen is currency,” Gaffney said, “That is where we are going to do business. We work with comScore (for digital) and Nielsen (for TV).” And yet it is still an open field for more competition In the future. “No one can crack it to everyone's satisfaction,” stated Gaffney, “We will spend the money (for more services). We won’t be happy about it but we will spend the money.”

Participate!

Collaboration is key and George Ivie, Executive Director and CEO, Media Ratings Council is leading the charge. “Accreditation is a difficult road,” he admits, “but we hope to be done with a cross media standard by the end of 2016.” The MRC standard to follow is the duration-weighted viewable impression filtered for non-fraudulent, valid, human traffic.

The most important thing is for all of us in all areas of the industry is to get involved and help facilitate standardize-able measurement solutions. Ivie concluded with a plea. “Participate!” he said.

This article first appeared in www.MediaBizBloggers.com

Research Has to Be Future Forward. Q&A with ESPN’s Artie Bulgrin

For those of us in Research, it is both the best of times and the most challenging of times; The best of times in that we have access to more unique data sets that can be used to gain greater insight into the consumer experience. The most challenging of times in that the discipline of media research is being bifurcated into Research, Analytics and Data departments, some reporting into the same departments, some operating parallel.

So it was with great interest that I spoke to Artie Bulgrin, SVP Global Research and Analytics for ESPN, who has been an advocate of cross platform measurement data and research solutions. ESPN was the driver behind Project Blueprint, a collaboration with comScore to build the industry’s first cross platform measurement solution. ESPN, through Bulgrin’s efforts, remains in the forefront of research solutions to the changing media environment.

Charlene Weisler: How has the marketplace’s interest in data impacted Research’s role in your company?

Artie Bulgrin: First party data in combination with other proprietary and third-party research has become an important part of the paradigm shift in our business – meaning that we know more about the ESPN fan than anyone else. So our clients have become much more reliant on us for trusted insights and guidance as to how to connect with our fans as consumers and better understand emerging behavior that is currently unmeasured or not measured well in the syndicated space. This is a trust we take seriously.  So for us research and data have been moving on a parallel plane at ESPN. I am responsible for ESPN’s audience research and our digital analytics, so we have been linking census data with traditional measures for a while. We have long advocated time-based measures, such as average minute audience, as a common denominator to link media usage across platforms. Our ESPN XP initiative was created in 2010 to move cross-platform measurement from custom project to standard practice because there was nothing out there to measure total reach or duplication across platforms. The ultimate result of that initiative was Project Blueprint with comScore. Blueprint is a perfect example of big data and panel-based audience measurement merging. If nothing else, Blueprint proved that the hybrid approach works and it is the future. 

Charlene Weisler: How do you use Nielsen beyond linear measurement?

Artie Bulgrin: Right now, not a lot. Mainly because we use Nielsen mostly as a TV currency and our content is mostly seen live.  We do have lots of non-linear digital content and will continue to seek out the best cross-platform solutions - so Nielsen could be a part of that in the future. Meanwhile filling audience gaps in our linear content remains a priority.  Nielsen’s Total Audience Measurement approach is a good plan and we are hoping it can fill those gaps, but enabling total audience measurement and achieving it are two different things. I’ve said before that audience measurement in the digital/data world is now a team sport – meaning it requires cooperation and collaboration from the media, distributors and platforms. One of those measurement gaps  involves TV Everywhere and our Watch ESPN service. Based on our analytics, usage has grown over 60% in the past year across all platforms and over 100% on OTT platforms. OTT viewing of Watch ESPN has matched or exceeded typical TV viewing levels in terms of minutes per device and it is not a personal platform and so we need Nielsen to capture the co-viewing audience in front of the set. 

Charlene Weisler: Where you surprised by this?

Artie Bulgrin: Initially yes. We thought that viewing of Watch ESPN would be driven mainly by displaced audiences in terms of reach and minutes. But now we see that more than half of the minutes consumed are coming from primary or secondary residences through the use of devices like a Roku, Apple TV or XBox 360. These have become the new set top boxes filling more rooms in American homes and creating new opportunities to watch ESPN.  

Charlene Weisler: Is ESPN involved in any programmatic TV efforts?

Artie Bulgrin: Yes. We have some programmatic activity going on right now. But ESPN is still focused on our distinctive point of difference of offering live, premium content and a well-lighted (high viewability) environment.

Charlene Weisler: Knowing what you know about cross platform viewing behavior, where do you see the viewing trends going three years from now?

Artie Bulgrin: With television content overall we are seeing fragmentation of viewing driven by more non-linear consumption of TV content. Live TV is still the king of all media activity at over 4 hours per day for the average person. But in Q2, according to Nielsen, we saw live TV viewing decline about 3% or by 8 minutes in the average day. This trend will persist as options grow and as behavior among young people evolves. About half of this change is happening right at home on the TV with the proliferation of OTT connected devices and more SVOD options. In short, Americans are expanding their choices because we love TV!  The other half of the behavioral change in TV content consumption is coming from mobile apps.  Essentially there is no such thing as “least objectionable” content anymore. Most Americans can watch what they want, when they want. At ESPN, we live in a more rarefied environment where 95% of our content is consumed live and TV is typically the best available screen. As a result, we are seeing sports becoming a priority in the hierarchy of choice for live TV viewing. That principle applies to other video platforms as sports fans use the next “best available screen” to follow their favorite events live.   

Charlene Weisler: Do you think we will get to an industry standard cross platform measurement solution?

Artie Bulgrin: We are getting closer. We have more companies than ever pursuing cross-platform measurement including comScore, Nielsen, Symphony Advance Media and Reality Mine, to mention a few. I am hoping this competition will lead to innovation and speed to market. But there are different definitions of cross-platform measurement out there and I’m not sure which will be supported by the industry. In his book “Media Planning” Erwin Ephron said “… our media planning priority is media mix. For that we need good cross-platform duplication data.” That’s in line with my view of cross-platform measurement and where the big knowledge gap is -  to answer the basic measurement questions of how many, how often and how long… meaning  reach, frequency and time which can produce valuable measures of behavior and ad impressions.  Once we know how reach and exposure happens, then we can measure advertising impact more effectively. The search for a perfect solution will never stop in my opinion. We have to stay at it as an industry to keep pace with technology and the consumer. 

Charlene Weisler: What is your opinion of the comScore acquisition of Rentrak?

Artie Bulgrin: We have been partners with comScore since 2012 when they transformed from pure digital measurement to cross platform measurement. With Project Blueprint they are currently the lone national cross platform source out there for planning and content measurement. The merger with Rentrak will certainly strengthen comScore’s TV measurement capability and create some competition for Nielsen. Competition is always good for the industry – it breeds innovation.

Charlene Weisler: What is your philosophy on data and its impact on your job?

Artie Bulgrin: Big data is now transforming our business on an analytics level and helping to improve audience measurement with its granularity and real-time benefits. But data alone can create the illusion of precision which we have to be careful of. Lots of data does not mean it is meaningful or representative. It could be biased and unrepresentative. The other caution is that data can lead to compromises. For example, analytics may mean more precision in device usage, but less precision or even no data on people. So as I said before, data and measurement must run on parallel tracks - that’s where the solutions will be in media measurement. If used properly with the right standards in place, ultimately data plus measurement will lead to solutions that can measure media exposure and connect that exposure to impact at the consumer level. That’s the Holy Grail! 

Charlene Weisler: What do you see as the future of research?

Artie Bulgrin: It’s exciting and so different from when I started 34 years ago. Based on how busy we are and how quickly things are changing, I see a greater reliance on Research for strategic insights with much more reliance on technology and science. Researchers today need to be perpetual students focused on the latest innovations and studying the future in a present tense. This was the main reason we created the ESPN Lab in Austin – to bring advanced science and methods to the study of media and advertising; an approach that gives us deeper insights on how people are interacting with media and advertising right now. The future is around us. We need to find it, study it and be prepared for what will happen next. 

This article first appeared in www.MediaBizBloggers.com

ARF Rocking the Research World With Measurement Mandate

This year’s ARF Measurement conference, a top research-oriented conference, focused two of its 2 ½ days on the challenges in cross platform measurement. Cross platform continues to be a major initiative of an industry that has historically focused predominantly on television. But the days of linear TV dominating the discussion and the historical buying and selling of spots and dots is just about over.

Manish Bhatia, CRO of comScore summed it up by saying "video has escaped television." Once consuming "more of a household’s time than a workday", according to Bhatia, the recent declines in overall linear television consumption can be a bit disconcerting … that is until you realize that television viewing is as robust as ever. “We are not losing viewers”, explains Joan Fitzgerald, (Senior Vice President, Television and Cross Media Service, comScore), “They are consuming on different platforms. In fact, multiplatform consumers spend more time with the content on television.”

My take is that while linear TV usage is declining, television usage as a whole – with all of the on demand and OTT options available - will be as important as ever. But we will miss opportunities to fully monetize its importance if we cannot agree on a standard cross platform measurement. The ARF Measurement Mandate conference presented many different and sometimes overlapping solutions in cross platform measurement. Each touts its own secret sauce data sets and algorithms. The result is a confusing noise of competing sales positions that can, unless we can find ways of merging them, potentially impede a standardize-able cross platform measurement solution. The stakes are high. According to Gayle Fuguitt, CEO of the ARF, “$100 billion will be poured into analytics measurement in next year.”

Here are some highlights:

The Importance of Disconnecting

In a time of increasing connection across a range of devices, keynote speaker, Ariana Huffington, gave a thought provoking talk about the need to disconnect from these devices. "We take better care of our devices than we do of ourselves," she explained. "Burnout is the disease of civilization. While we venerate technology we become hyper connected to our devices and become less connected to ourselves. Being tired has become a new normal. We need to be able to disrupt ourselves before we are disrupted." In her new book, Thrive, Huffington encourages us to move from being necessary to becoming indispensable. And the way we facilitate that is with a scheduled time each night to disconnect and take a predictable time off. "No one can be 24/7 individually. We are not machines," she says. Huffington is one of several CEOs who believe that by purposefully disconnecting we can refresh and become much more insightful and creative.

But While We Disconnect, Data Never Sleeps

Ariana Huffington’s keynote provided context for a conference attuned to the frenetic collection of data that comes from more and more sources. The collection of data occurs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Where do you start? According to Jeff Chaban, Global SVP, Business Integration and Analytics, Starcom MediaVest Group, it is by "following the consumer based on viewing habits ... and it will differ by target audience. (We need to) migrate away from a world where we look at consumers as demos and think about the data mix as well as media mix.”

Mike Clarke, Team Lead, Brand Insights and Measurement at Google, is not restricted to the current TV currency. He spoke of Google’s new Brand Lift platform which uses traditional survey techniques with YouTube. Carlos Jose Fonseca, VP of Knowledge and Insights for Coke suggested that we “optimize for business results and not proxy measurement like clicks.”

Measuring Mobile is Vital... But Measured By Whom?

As video content is consumed on different platforms, our need to agree on accredited measurement standards has never been more important. Currently there is no company that has accredited mobile view-ability data, according to Serge Matta CEO of comScore. He explained, "We all know the problem with view-ability. There is a lot at stake. We want to make view-ability the footer not the headline. It is hard to do because digital is so complicated." His solution is to "set upfront expectations, set standards and use quality measurement."

How Do We Get to One Cross Platform Metric?

Ask a number of media executives what is the one platform-connecting metric to use and you will receive a range of answers. For Joan Fitzgerald, comScore is “working to get one metric across platforms.” The challenges though are formidable. “We use a six minute qualifier for television but not for the Internet,” she explains, “Cross media must provide a single metric, unified demography, holistic accounting of all video viewing behavior, scalable measurement of platform and audience and a metric that is reliable to fit the future of advertising.” Leslie Wood, CRO Nielsen Catalina Solutions, believes that “buyer targets will never be as valuable as demos. Demos are predictable. You know what age you will be next year but will you know if you will be drinking orange soda? We won't negotiate on buyer targets but we will plan on them.” Artie Bulgrin, SVP Global Research and Analytics, ESPN, explained that, “the component of time is so essential to this measurement and it is hard to do. Differences in editing rules come up with different results. This is important because time creates impressions.”

It is my hope that at the 2016 Measurement Mandate, the issues of cross platform measurement will largely be solved, but I am not holding my breath in anticipation. Some are more optimistic. Andrea Zapata, VP Global Research and Analytics, Vevo said, “Five years ago we were only counting two things - TV and the computer. We are now stitching together metrics. If we can agree on better instead of perfect we will get better.” Fuguitt hopes for “coopertition,” which is a blend of competition and cooperation. I leave it to the ARF to get us there.

This article first appeared in www.MediaBizBloggers.com

CIMM Presents Cross Platform Measurement Solutions

There has never been a better time to explore solutions for cross platform measurement. New technological advancements have been embraced by content consumers and now in 2014, we mark the first year that we have cross platform unduplicated reach and frequency measurement solutions currently being tested. We are not at the currency stage yet but we are certainly taking the first steps.

Credit for these advancements includes measurement companies such as comScore and Nielsen, efforts from networks like ESPN, NBCU and Turner and the industry-wide effort of The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) which has focused on this issue since its inception in 2009.

CIMM’s Managing Director Jane Clarke noted, “The progress towards an open standard of cross-platform measurement made in 2014 is truly encouraging. It’s wonderful to see the industry testing, enhancing and ultimately embracing these initiatives and that CIMM’s mandate of cultivating projects that advance the discussion around these technologies has been fruitful thus far.  I expect the progress to continue and am eager to see a viable cross-platform measurement solution in the near future.” 

I moderated a panel at the recent CIMM Cross-Platform Media Measurement Summit that explored four differentiated cross platform measurement solutions:

Ø  CIMM and ESPN’s work with comScore’s Project Blueprint which brings five separate data sources together to measure simultaneous usage and de-duped reach for video, audio and text. Phase 1 was pioneered by partner ESPN and phase 2 in partnership with CIMM.  The next step is to expand Blueprint from custom study to a standard practice.

Ø  NBCU’s single source approach for measuring the recent Olympics at Sochi with a Day in the Life for three target segmentations – Millennials, Women and Alphaboomers.

Ø  CNN’s All Screen study uses custom data integration linking Nielsen cross platform data and internal digital data.

Ø  Nielsen’s roadmap for cross platform ratings that addresses the what, why, and how of extending their Ratings service to measure across platforms. 

These four solutions all approach cross platform measurement from different angles using different methodologies and data sources. And yet each approach offers a unique and illuminating way to combine data across platforms. A chart which compares all these solutions can be found on the CIMM website.

Some are poised for a fuller industry roll-out such as Project Blueprint. Blueprint sponsor Artie Bulgrin of ESPN says “We have a working measurement system that now needs to be vetted and tested by the industry, first by CIMM members as part of the phase two test.  Blueprint will evolve further and ultimately the MRC will review. Right now the first priority is establishing industry consensus.”

ComScore’s Manish Bhatia adds, “Blueprint’s cross-platform media consumption view combines single source, passive, persons' level measurement system with census level.  We are pleased with the support and guidance from the industry and look to provide fast, relevant insights on an ongoing, syndicated basis.” 

Other solutions like NBCU’s Day In the Life approach may not be easily scalable but it offers an ethnographic look at viewer behavior. Others, using Nielsen’s ratings, can help companies track back to industry standard metrics. Such is CNN All Screen where Turner’s Howard Shimmel anticipates that “Nielsen offers a syndicated service that combines TV in home and out of home data, so the data gets absorbed in agency buying and planning tools.” Nielsen has its own set of priorities according to Kelly Abcarian. "Right now our key areas of focus are on supporting all the clients implementing the Nielsen SDK with their video players to enable cross platform GRPs, and engaging the MRC on key accreditation efforts for these important expansions of our already accredited solutions."

What are the next steps that need to be taken for cross platform measurement, taking into account ingrained industry challenges? “My dream would be for all relevant parties to meet with CIMM to identify the best solution for the industry. No one provider can solve what the market needs, and it will only be through cooperation of various providers, “says Shimmel who adds, “The biggest challenge is companies who believe they can provide an integrated solution themselves.”

What the CIMM initiative proves is that when the industry shares knowledge and works collaboratively, it is possible to find several excellent solutions to challenging problems.