Ampersand Unveils Insights Tool to Balance Local Strategies and Maximize Media Buys

• How can I find the viewers I need to reach?
• How can I plan and execute buys better?
• How can I improve my performance?
• How can I better plan my next buy?

Buyers have noticed that answering those questions is easier when they're buying nationally versus locally. That's because local data has not been as readily available to media buyers as national data. Natasha Sinagoga, Regional Vice President of Local Sales at Ampersand, believes that the challenge has been processing the sheer amount of data out there.

"Think about all of the data in a DMA being pulled together by different names of clients and advertisers," she says. "You have Toyota as a company and Toyota as local dealerships. So, the local portion has been a heavy lift."

Sinagoga and her colleagues at Ampersand have done the hard work to find a solution. They have just recently announced capabilities that will significantly improve the speed at which marketers can access local viewership data in their AND Platform™ which will provide a more balanced and nuanced picture of local viewership. This tool will give brands a direct view into recent or current campaigns to see where media strategies are falling short on effectiveness and help them focus on what is working.

Fueled by aggregated data from 65 million households, and committed to protecting private information, these new insights could change the way marketers understand and leverage the combined reach and efficiencies of their local and national linear TV ad buys. Brands can also activate these findings within Ampersand's media portfolio, which represents the largest share of multiscreen TV inventory in the U.S.

Bigger, More Actionable Local Data

Ampersand represents 116 million households and reaches advertisers across all screens including cable set top boxes, OTT and CTV. Because of their direct relationship with Charter Communications, Comcast and Cox they have scale that's national but can also be focused down to the zone or DMA. Sinagoga notes that they have "direct access to all of that inventory, so we are their representatives across all those screens. Not just linear, but any way that you're getting access to watch cable programming."

The benefits of better local data are significant. It can help eliminate overspending on broadcast, work past growth plateaus, avoid unexposed or overexposed audiences and shift dollars to cable, cross-network and dayparts for a more effective campaign.

True Next Generation Insights

As you can imagine, data like this goes way beyond just age and gender. Ampersand has over 1,500 different segments, so they can help agencies to better plan and execute their media campaigns against custom targets. Advertisers can also integrate their own first-party data into the mix, making it even more personalized. Being able to give data against a custom target -- whether it's the advertiser's own data or Ampersand's -- can get a better eCPM for hitting the right person, so there will be less waste. This is digital-like accountability for television.

"Let's say you are a grocery store. You could see how your campaign did in Detroit. You could see performance if you bought broadcast and cable, or see performance if you just bought cable," Sinagoga says. "So that's what we're really excited about; having next generation TV insights that we're going to be able to access in an automated fashion, so marketers can simply fill out a form and receive the reports."

Ampersand still uses Nielsen as a shadow currency and understands its importance, but the clients who use these new insights tools are finding areas where they can be more efficient because they're not all trying to be in the same place at the same time. With daypart optimization across broadcast and cable there are more areas of opportunity.

New Capabilities for Better Campaigns

Ampersand's new capabilities will allow planners to pull multiple reports including their campaign summary, impressions, share, reach, curve and frequency curve.

"We're confident that this data will help them plan their campaigns better, and then, in return, their clients will see an increase in ROI," Sinagoga explains. "We're not going to say we win on every demo or every daypart or every area. But if you're showing the data from all viewership, it builds a better picture of where and how you can plan a better media campaign.

"I think it was really important for us to be holistic of the TV viewership," she adds. "Not just focus on local cable, but also local broadcast. I think when you show that, the story becomes obvious."

If you're a marketer looking to bring efficiency and effectiveness to your local or national TV campaigns, click here to get an insights report directly from Ampersand.

Click the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friends.
The opinions expressed here are the author's views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillage.org/MyersBizNet.