Measurement players Nielsen and EDO are joining forces in a new partnership that will see each vendor integrate data from the other with the aim of better convergent TV campaign performance for advertisers.
As pointed out by AdAge, it marks the first time either Nielsen or EDO has collaborated with a rival measurement company.
In a statement, Kevin Krim, CEO and president of EDO, said that for years mutual clients of the two vendors have manually combined Nielsen’s reach and frequency data with EDO’s predictive outcomes to maximize their investment decisions and campaign plans but noted “the complexity of a streaming and linear landscape demands better solutions.”
Under the new pact, announced Tuesday, the partners plan to integrate Nielsen’s audience measurement data with EDO’s outcomes measurements. Specifically, Nielsen One audience measurement data will be integrated as input on EDO’s predictive outcomes product for mutual customers. On the flipside, EDO will similarly make its ad outcomes measurement data available as part of Nielsen’s Media Impact planning software for the companies’ overlapping clients.
The integration is set to be part of Nielsen’s currency-grade National TV measurement, including Live Streaming, alongside EDO’s Convergent TV database, which measures cross-category streaming ad airings and all national TV ad airings since 2015. Nielsen in April regained accreditation from the Media Rating Council for its national TV ratings audience measurement, following a 19-month suspension.
“Data-driven software tools - powered by the best signals - are the clear answer,” Krim continued. ‘By connecting these critical datasets in both our platforms, we are offering a multi-dimensional view to meet the needs of Convergent TV.”
Advertisers will be able to use combined datasets for linear TV campaign planning in 2023, while connected TV (CTV) planning and measurement will be available in 2024.
Major media companies appear poised to tap the combined datasets, with executives from Disney Advertising, Warner Bros. Discovery and Mediahub Worldwide quoted in the announcement, giving kudos to the partnership.
“WBD has an unparalleled array of premium programming and audiences across streaming and linear, demanding innovative measurement solutions that can reflect our quality and scale,” said Jon Steinlauf, Chief U.S. Advertising Sales Officer at WBD, in a statement. “By integrating Nielsen and EDO data into a unified view, WBD can be that much more effective at helping brands achieve optimal reach, frequency, engagement, and business outcomes.”
Disney Advertising President Rita Ferro, meanwhile, said in a statement that the media company has been working with both vendors on outcomes based measurement, calling it “a great step forward for our industry to see them join forces.”
“As a premier alpha partner in Nielsen One’s new integration with EDO, we look forward to seeing a solution centered around performance,” Ferro continued. “At a time where the industry is focused on the next best currency, Disney remains focused on expansion and what really matters to advertisers.”
Disney at the start of the year announced expanded work with EDO, tapping the vendor to apply its engagement metrics to measure the impact of ad campaigns across Disney’s streaming footprint, starting with Hulu and expanding to Disney+ and ESPN+. Netflix in May picked EDO to deliver predictive behavioral outcomes data, providing insights into how marketers’ in-flight campaigns perform on the streamer’s nascent ad-supported tier compared to YouTube, other OTT apps and linear TV.
Nielsen and EDO said together their datasets will enable media buyers and sellers to easily plan and optimize convergent TV campaigns, leaning on a single unified view of ad measurement while giving mutual clients more “a more accurate and reliable set of analytics to inform their media investment.”
Eventually the EDO predictive outcome data will be incorporated into Nielsen One Ads, giving customers the ability to plan, measure and optimize campaign performance end-to-end.