GroupM and TV rating agency Nielsen are collaborating on a cross-platform measurement service that will help standardize the way broadcast and online content is rated.
The companies said the new ratings system would be the first of its kind and would answer the growing demand from advertisers eager to take advantage of the burgeoning online video market.
The new service will be called the "Nielsen Cross-Platform Campaign Ratings" and will use existing television audience measurement tools as well as leverage its online campaign rating product. Combined, Nielsen said, the two will provide clients with total and overlapped reach and frequency of their marketing campaigns. Initially, it will be used by GroupM, but it will be available to other ad buyers, the companies said.
"Our advertiser clients increasingly recognize that traditional television advertising and online video advertising must work together," said Rino Scanzoni, GroupM's chief investment officer. "It's vital that we have consistent measurement, and that's our goal in working with Nielsen."
TV and web measurement traditionally employ different metrics, which has made it difficult to equate the two. GroupM and Nielsen officials said consistent measurement across TV, the web and beyond is critical in order to calculate the total reach and frequency of a cross-platform campaign.
"This is a major breakthrough," said Steve Hasker, the president for media products and advertiser solutions at Nielsen. "This measure will show you the reach of your campaign on TV, the reach of your campaign online, and will show you the overlap between the two."
For more:
- see this release
- see this New York Times article
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