Getting the Industry to Work Together Towards Attribution and Cross Media Measurement Solutions. An Interview with CIMM’s Jane Clarke

On February 3 and 4, CIMM, as part of the ARF, presents its 10^th Annual Cross-Platform Video Measurement & Data Summit. CIMM has been focusing on attribution for a few years and has helped spearhead efforts to get the industry to work together. 

Where are we with attribution and cross media measurement? Jane Clarke, CEO and Managing Director of the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM), explains.

Charlene Weisler: How close are we to true attribution? 

Jane Clarke: The challenge with complete multi-touch attribution is identity resolution, and particularly cross-channel identity resolution.  Most of the ID resolution solutions can’t incorporate impressions from the walled gardens with identity attached since the walled gardens see this as a data security challenge.  Their POV is that they are protecting the identity of their customers within their platform.  The WFA initiative was created primarily to address this challenge: how to get impressions linked with an identity out of the walled gardens.  The initial approach is called Virtual ID (VID), which is a probabilistic model that also groups customers into segments.  They’re also working on a Secure Media Identifier (SUMID), which should be announced soon.  There are also many commercial approaches to linking identity across TV and digital media, but only a few of them have managed to incorporate secure ad impression data from the walled gardens. 

Currently, attribution is being conducted only for digital media, but increasingly for TV, using Smart TV or STB data or commingled datasets.  These approaches create exposed and unexposed groups of customers and measure outcomes against them to see if those exposed have a lift in the outcome metric.  In 2020, CIMM completed a study on Unpacking Data Inputs into TV Attribution, which pinpointed some of the challenges with getting consistent results across providers and suggested best practices, such as standardizing ad measurement and combining Smart TV and STB data.

Weisler: What are the best practices for cross media measurement and who is doing it correctly?

Clarke: There aren’t enough successful solutions to cross-media measurement for best practices to have emerged yet.  However, vendors can be evaluated by how far along they are with the four building blocks for cross-media measurement, which are: 1) Standardized and scaled granular Smart TV and STB data for content and ads combined to be as nationally representative as possible; 2) Standardized digital content and ad exposure data across sites and mobile apps; 3) A single-source cross-media measurement panel, or a linked combination of single media measurement panels, to calibrate the large “census-like” datasets; and 4) a solution for ID resolution to connect all the datasets and deduplicate them.  CIMM has produced recommended best practices in some of the areas, such as combining Smart TV and STB Data and TV Attribution.

Weisler: Where do you see media measurement one year from now?

Clarke: Now that media companies and TV OEMs are “data owners,” more walled gardens are being created.  This means that there will be even more pressure to perfect solutions in development from the walled gardens for secure encrypted ID resolution.   Additionally, more companies will try to authenticate their customers, to enable more personalized experiences and better measurement.  Regulations surrounding privacy and data security will become clearer, so companies will be able to adapt their solutions.  Nielsen will most likely offer “ad” measurement for TV by this time next year.  This will be a big step towards comparable metrics across media.  There may be some changes coming in which TV OEMs are willing to license their data for measurement purposes, since they are increasingly wanting to use the data for their own ad sales purposes.  So, progress will be made by a number of the vendors working on cross-media measurement solutions, but new technical challenges will also present themselves.  I don’t think that the WFA/ANA solution to ID resolution will end up working for TV, as it is currently envisioned, so alternative solutions will need to be developed.  The WFA/ANA solution is designed to dedupe individual devices vs. the way that Smart TV and STB data are deduplicated at the household level.  

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

 

The Importance of Strategy in the Corporation and Career. Interview with Kathy Doyle

Kathy Doyle, EVP, Managing Partner UM, had an unlikely path to a career in advertising. Having switched her college major from business to education and finding that there were no teaching jobs upon graduation, she began tending bar at a TGI Fridays. 

Luckily this bar was located between two advertising agencies where Kathy came into contact with agency executives. One, Jack Ryan from Burnett, would from time to time offer entry level opportunities to restaurant employees. Kathy soon found herself in the accounting department at Burnett and onto a career in advertising. “It was a weird career path to advertising but a happy one,” Kathy relates.

  

Charlene Weisler: How has your work evolved over the years and how has advertising evolved since you first started?

Kathy Doyle: For me personally, I strategically changed jobs and evolved as the company evolved. I have held various leadership iterations. I started as a buyer then entered client services.  The digital age has been a boon in my career and continues to change the industry. Those in the linear sector of advertising are trying to figure out how the future will unfold from here. To me it is fun to see how things are happening. No two days are the same. I love that.

Charlene Weisler: What are the challenges for an agency today?

Kathy Doyle: Evolution. Technology and platforms evolve daily.  Fortunately, UM has always been at the forefront of what is happening in the industry, so this is not a new situation for us. We change and adapt and reinvent ourselves. We anticipate what is coming and prepare for it as best as we can.

Charlene Weisler: How has data changed the way the agency world works?

Kathy Doyle: It has definitely changed our business. We have proprietary data tools to help inform our local buys by informing and targeting viewing habits. Sometimes we depend on client data that we then apply to our decision making, especially in TV. It has become a world where we are using and relying on data driven decision making.

Charlene Weisler: Your agency uses Nielsen exclusively. Is there a role for STB data?

Kathy Doyle: I definitely think that there is a role. But I don’t know what it looks like and there are privacy concerns. We will all have to figure it out.

Charlene Weisler: Looking ahead, where do you see the media industry five years from now?

Kathy Doyle: I wish I knew! It is all based on the rate of change – is it five years or two years? My vision – UM is one of the only agencies that has already switched to impression based buying for local TV and radio to be used as the currency. The intent was to find a more stable mechanism for local viewing and listening behavior. Additionally, we think it sets us up nicely for the transition to becoming local audio & video buyers as opposed to radio & TV. We are confident that the industry will eventually do the same. 

Charlene Weisler: How do achieve work life balance?

Kathy Doyle: I come from a long line of women who worked outside the home so I have always seen work / life balance in action. My mother, my grandmother and even my great grandmother worked outside the home. I always felt that working and taking pride in my work makes me a happier person, which in turn makes me a better mother. It inspires me to achieve better balance and I am a happier person at home. Given my family’s history of working women, I suppose I learned from example. I am not exactly sure how to strike the exact balance, but I find that it works itself out.

Charlene Weisler: What advice can you give a student today who is seeking a career in media?

Kathy Doyle: Don’t be shy about making connections with people, even if it is through social media liked LinkedIn. If someone contacted me that way, I would try to make time to talk. It may not work with everybody or with every person you try to connect with, but it can be a great way to network and expand your connections.

This article first appeared in www.MediaBizBloggers.com

Q&A Interview with Gregory Artzt

Gregory Artzt, CEO General Sentiment, comes from a mathematical and systems background which is a good thing because his company is in the business of gathering, processing, analyzing and framing results from big social media datasets. General Sentiment taps the growth of user generated content and valuates it with market research principles. In this fascinating interview, Gregory discusses the future trend in social media, the importance of “Likes” as part of the measurement arsenal, Business Intelligence platforms, Set Top Box Data and ROI. He also looks ahead with some important predictions on social media and the industry at large.

The five videos of the complete interview are as follows:

Subject                                                Length (in minutes)

Background                                            (5:16)
General Sentiment                                 (6:29)
B.I. & STB Data                                     (5:33)

Predictions                                             (8:05)


Charlene Weisler interviews General Sentiment's CEO, Gregory Artzt who talks about his background in this 5:16 minute video:




In this 6:29 minute video, CEO Gregory Artzt talks to Charlene Weisler about his social media measurement company, General Sentiment:


Charlene Weisler interviews Gregory Artzt in this 5:33 minute video about Business Intelligence and Set Top Box data:


General Sentiment's Gregory Artzt talks to Charlene Weisler about social media data and ROI in this 6:38 minute video:



Charlene Weisler interviews General Sentiment's CEO, Gregory Artzt offers some predicitions about the media industry in this 8:05 minute video:


Data ROI                                                (6:38)

Q&A Interview with Harvey Kent - Donovan MediaOcean

Harvey Kent, Chief Media Strategist for Donovan Systems, was one of the early pioneers in standardizing media pre-buying and Buy / Sell IT systems. And he has helped the industry adapt to the changing landscape in processing media data from its many sources to its many users. In this interview, Harvey talks about Donovan and MediaOcean, the introduction of Set Top Box Data into Donovan, media measurement and upcoming trends in the media landscape.

The five videos of the complete interview are as follows:

Subject                                                Length (in minutes)

Background and Buy Sell Systems             (5:11)
Standards and Best Practices                     (9:07)
STB Data in Donovan                                 (10:22)
Donovan and MediaOcean                          (6:38)
Predictions                                                  (3:13)


Charlene Weisler interviews Harvey Kent, Chief Media Strategist for Donovan. In this 5:11 minute video, Harvy talks about his background and the concept of Buy/Sell media systems.




Harvey Kent talks to Charlene Weisler about standardization of metrics as it pertains to best practices in media data in this fascinating 9:07 minute video:




Charlene Weisler interviews Donovan's Harvey Kent about the rate of change in the media ecosystem. in this 10:23 minute video:




Harvey Kent talks to Charlene Weisler about Donovan and Mediabank to form MediaOcean. This video is 6:38 minutes:




In this final video, Harvey Kent talks to Charlene Weisler about his outlook on the media landscape for the next five years. This video is 3:13 minutes:

Q&A Interview with Jack Smith - Simulmedia

Jack Smith has the unusual title of Chief Product Officer for Simulmedia, which means that he determines what the company should build in terms of systems. And yet, it is not IT; His work touches all aspects of the business such as research, sales and marketing. Jack comes to Simulmedia with an extensive experience in radio, the internet and television and shares his views in this interview on a range of cutting edge issues from Big Data in TV advertising, Set Top Box Data in measurement, Connected TV, Privacy issues and upcoming trends in the media landscape.

The five videos of the complete interview are as follows:

Subject                                        Length (in minutes)
Background and Simulmedia      (4:52)
STB Data                                     (7:54)
Big Data to TV Advertising         (7:13)
Connected TV, Privacy                (4:56)
Predictions                                   (5:39)

Charlene Weisler interviews Jack Smith, Chief Product Officer, Simulmedia. Jack talks about his background in this 4:52 minute video:



Jack Smith talks to Charlene Weisler about Simulmedia's use of STB data in its measurement processes in this 7:45 minute video:



What is Big Data and how does it impact TV advertising? Jack Smith discusses this subject with Charlene Weisler in this 7:13 minute video:




Charlene Weisler talks to Jack Smith of Simulmedia about Privacy and the Connected TV advancement and its impact on media in this 4:56 minute video:



Charlene Weisler interviews Simulmedia CPO Jack Smith about his thoughts on the future of media in this 5:39 minute video:

Q&A Interview with Jeff Boehme - Kantar

Jeff Boehme, CRO of Kantar, started his career in broadcast at NBC. From there he immersed himself in local cable at the NCC which provided an excellent grounding in the potential of return path data and its applications. From there to Nielsen and now at Kantar, Jeff is setting policy on data metrics and analytics. In this interesting interview, Jeff talks about the data as currency, challenges and opportunities, the difference between MSO, Telco and Satco data and offers some insights into what the future of research looks like.

The six videos of the complete interview are as follows:

Subject Length (in minutes)
Background (3:43)
Kantar STB Data (5:41)
Addressable (5:04)
MSO, Satco, Telco (5:05)
Measurement Currency (6:16)
Challenges to STB Data (4:29)


Charlene Weisler interviews Kantar CRO Jeff Boehme who talks about his research and professional background. This video is 3:43 minutes long:




Charlene Weisler interviews Jeff Boehme who talks about Kantar and the STB data business in this 5:41 minute long video:




Charlene Weisler talks to Jeff Boehme who discusses addressable advertising and offers some predictions for the next five years in this 5:04 minute video:




Charlene Weisler talks to Jeff Boehme, CRO Kantar. Jeff discusses the difference between MSO, Telco and Satco STB data in this 5:05 minute video:




Charlene Weisler talks to Jeff Boehme about measurement currency in this 6:16 minute video:




In this 4:29 minute video, Charlene Weisler talks to CRO Jeff Boehme about challenges to STB data measurement:

Q&A Interview with Jane Clarke - CIMM

This week the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) announced the results of a feasibility study for the Trackable Asset Cross-Platform Identification (TAXI) project. This study, in partnership with the ANA, 4A’s and the IAB is a first step in implementing open and interoperable industry standard codes for content and ads across all content. I sat down with CIMM’s Managing Director, Jane Clarke to talk about TAXI and other CIMM initiatives.


CIMM could not have chosen a better Managing Director than Jane Clarke whose extensive and deep experience in Cross Platform and Set Top Box data contribute to her stellar reputation in the media industry. CIMM has two major initiatives – to facilitate the understanding of STB data and help facilitate Cross Platform measurement.

In this video interview, conducted a few days before the release of the TAXI findings, Jane discusses not only the specifications and back story of TAXI but also CIMM’s Cross Platform industry position, STB data and privacy. She also shares some predictions for the media landscape over the next few years.

The five videos that comprise the full interview are as follows:

Subject                               Length (in minutes)
Background                          (2:13)
CIMM and Cross Platform   (5:35)
TAXI                                   (12:29)
Set Top-Box Data                (8:37)
Privacy and Predictions         (7:54)


Charlene Weisler interviews Jane Clarke, Managing Director of CIMM who discusses her background in cable and cross platform: in this 2:13 minute video clip:





Charlene Weisler interviews Jane Clarke who talks about CIMM and its cross platform initiatives in this 5:35 minute video clip:





Charlene Weisler interviews Jane Clarke who discusses TAXI, CIMM's latest initiative. This informative video is 12:29 minutes long:



Jane Clarke talks about CIMM's work in Set Top Box data including the Lexicon and Set Top Box Data Landscape whitepaper in this 8:37 minute video:




In this final video, Jane Clarke discusses the issue of Privacy and well as offers some insights inot the future media landscape. This concluding video is 7:54 minutes long:

Q&A Interview with Jeff Siegel, SVP, ROVI

The advertising marketplace is evolving quickly with the introduction of new platforms, new metrics and new technologies. Jeff Siegel, SVP Advertising for Rovi, has experienced them all in his career from the broadcast model to cable to a company like Rovi which is one of the new players in the media space that is changing the framework of viewing preferences, content platforms and ad models.

In a video interview conducted a few days before the roll-out of a new Rovi initiative on Smart TV, Jeff talks about the differences between the broadcast, cable and new platform marketplaces, Set Top Box data, Metadata, privacy, addressable advertising and their new Smart TV Trial.

The five videos in this interview are:

Subject Length (in minutes)
Background (2:49)
Rovi, Addressability (5:09)
Metadata and STB data (3:24)
Smart TV Trial (3:52)
DVR, CE Partners, Predictions (4:41)



Charlene Weisler interviews Rovi's Jeff Siegel who talks about his background in this 2:49 minute video:





Jeff Siegel, SVP Advertising for Rovi, discusses the company and addressable advertising. This videos is 5:09 minutes:




Charlene Weisler interviews Jeff Siegel who talks about Rovi's Metadata and STB data. The video is 3:24 minutes long:





Jeff Siegel talks about Rovi's new initiative - The Smart TV Trial - which is a test for addressable advertising. The video is 3:52 minutes long:





In this final video (4:41 minutes long) Jeff Siegel talks about DVRs, Rovi's CE Partners and offers some predictions about the media landscape over the next few years:

Q&A Interview with Jack Myers - Media Advisory Group

Jack Myers, Chairman and Media Economist for the Media Advisory Group, is one of the leading media prognosticators in the industry. His Jack Myers Media Business Report and the Survey of Advertising Executives have become industry standards and continue to help media companies serve their customer base and plan for the future.


In the six videos below, Jack talks about a range of issues from his background and how he got into the media trending side of the business, his opinion about the future of media, the role of research in companies, DVR and 3D, sensory recognition, his trends to 2020 and his annual Advertiser Survey. These videos provide a unique perspective on many facets of the media industry.

Subject                                          Length (in minutes)
Background                                      (5:12)
Timeline, STB data                           (6:04)
Research Role, Sampling, STB         (3:45)
Trends to 2020                                (7:55)
DVR, 3D, Sensory Recognition        (5:21)
Survey of Advertisers                       (4:44)



Charlene Weisler interviews Jack Myers, Chairman of the Media Advisory Group. In this 5:12 minute video, Jack talks about his background and his syndicated Jack Myers Media Business Report:




Charlene Weisler interviews Jack Myers, Chairman of the Media Advisory Group. In this 6:04 minute video, Jack talks about what he sees as a media timeline - the evolution of new media platfoms and business models - and how it will all be monetized:



In a follow up to the timeline discussion, Jack discusses the current challenges of Research and its future potential in the new media lndscape, the issue of sampling and some thoughts about STB data:




Jack Myers, Chairman of the Media Advisory Group, offers his predictions on media trends for the next ten years in this 7:55 minute video:




Charlene Weisler interviews Jack Myers, Chairman of the Media Advisory Group. In this 5:21 minute video, Jack talks about trends in DVR, 3DTV and Sensory Recognition technology:




In this final 4:44 minute video, Jack Myers, Chairman of the Media Advisory Group talks about his seminal industry study Survey of Advertisers:







CW: Jack, Thank you so much for your time. How can we get in touch with you?

JM: My email is jm@jackmyers.com and my websites are http://www.jackmyers.com/ and http://www.mediabizbloggers.com/.

CIMM STB Roadmap Whitepaper

CIMM (The Committee For Innovative Media Measurement) has just released the results of an extensive study on the Set Top Box data landscape. I have had the privilege of participating in the collection of the data with Managing Director Jane Clarke and then of compiling the results and writing the resulting whitepaper.

The CIMM STB Data Roadmap Whitepaper is the next step after the CIMM STB Data Lexicon of Terms and Defintions. CIMM's intent with the whitepaper was to explore the current state of STB data as it applies to understanding its strengths and weaknesses for a wide range of applications. Included in the analysis are feedback and insights from a range of constituents from data originators to data processors to software vendors to end users at advertising agencies and content providers as well as other interested parties such as media industry organizations.

The whitepaper – which summarizes and analyzes the results of the study - is arguably the only complete, holistic appraisal of the STB landscape available today. We reached out to all sectors of the industry – all those who touch and are touched by the data. The level of cooperation and the comfort that executives from across the spectrum had with the process is a testament to CIMM’s position in the industry as an unbiased coalition of the end users of media data.

In addition to an industry overview, a goal of the project was to prioritize an industry road map for the development STB data for a variety of uses such as use by the MVPDs (Multi-Channel Video Program Distributors) for marketing and carriage negotiations, granular analyses of programming and advertising, enabling various forms of segmented or addressable advertising or spending on television promotions, matching with outside databases to enable media buying ROI analyses and development of an audit-ready local or national measurement product, all while operating in a construct that does not violate consumer privacy laws. This whitepaper offers insights into the advantages and challenges of the data with suggestions for a workable STB measurement model to which media companies – from programmers to marketers to agencies - may support and subscribe.

Please click here for a PDF version of the CIMM STB Data Roadmap Whitepaper.

Q&A Interview with Ned Greenberg

Ned Greenberg is a research veteran whose experience at MTV, E!, CNBC and most recently at The Weather Channel places him in the center of major research initiatives including Cross Media metrics, Out of Home measurement and Commercial Pod Effectiveness. In this four part video interview, Ned discusses his custom Pod Analysis studies, Cross Platform, Engagement, Set Top Box data through TIVO and the future of research in addition to some future predictions for the media landscape.

There are four insightful videos in that cover the following topics:

Subject Length (in minutes)
Background, Future Cable and Broadcast (4:40)
TIVO STB Data and Out of Home Research (3:54)
Pods, Retention & Engagement (6:14)
Cross Platform, Pre & Post, Future Research (5:03)



Charlene Weisler interviews Ned Greenberg, former VP Research for The Weather Channel. Ned discusses his extensive research background in this 4:40 minute video:




Charlene Weisler interviews Ned Greenberg who talks about his work with TIVO set top box data in this 3:54 minute video:




Charlene Weisler interviews Ned Greenberg. Ned discusses Weather Channels pod analyses and how the format and structure of the pod impacts viewer engagement. This video is 6:14 minutes long:





In this final video, Ned Greenberg talks about Cross Platform measurement and the future of research in this 5:03 minute long video:





Interview conducted by Charlene Weisler, a research veteran, member of the Set Top Box Collaborative executive committee, the CTAM Research and Research Planning Committees and a CIMM consultant. She can be reached through her blog www.WeislerMedia.blogspot.com or at WeislerMedia@yahoo.com.