WarnerMedia has joined forces with Magna, a global media intelligence company part of IPG Mediabrands, to evaluate three of the leading contenders in the alternative audience measurement space.
Magna and WarnerMedia will conduct the first of several anticipated trials offering a side-by-side performance comparison of Comscore, iSpot.tv and VideoAmp. These trials will implement alternative measurement across select verticals and advertisers and are part of WarnerMedia’s “test and learn” strategy to diversify its measurement solutions portfolio. WarnerMedia will share the trial results to advertisers ahead of the 2022 upfront season.
The selected companies have made recent strides with ad-measuring campaigns. NBCUniversal tapped iSpot.tv in January to measure ads during the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics. Comscore and VideoAmp have ongoing partnerships with Disney and Paramount Global, respectively.
“This test-and-learn with Magna is one of the first steps in actionizing on our goal to offer best in class measurement capabilities and provide greater visibility into return on ad spend across our award-winning IP,” said JP Colaco, president of advertising sales at WarnerMedia, in a statement.
The companies aim to determine which audience measurement solution paves the way for more informed media planning and buying, as well as a method that goes beyond traditional panel-based surveys.
“As media consumption habits have shifted beyond just traditional linear television to multiple platforms and devices, a greater diversification of measurement systems is critical to support the growth and effectiveness of advertising,” said Dani Benowitz, U.S. president at Magna. ““This increasingly fragmented ecosystem has complicated the task of driving a consumer through the purchase funnel, so we’re excited to test-and-learn new ways to measure the effectiveness of our advertising with WarnerMedia.”
The effort to find suitable alternative measurement sources is pressing as Nielsen, which has long held a considerable grip in the audience measurement space, recently came under fire for alleged unreliable ratings.
WarnerMedia is expected to merge with Discovery by the end of this week. Discovery is also testing the waters with alternative ad currencies, as it earlier this week announced a partnership with data measurement company Edo.