Ethan Rapp of Simulmedia on Marketing Data Companies

Rapp was an early innovator in digital research at DoubleClick in its formative years and has held senior research roles at AOL Conde Nast and Knowledge Networks He also cofounded Marketing Evolution a leading cross media measurement firmamp160 Currently Rapp is responsible for the Simulmediaamp8217s Business Outcomes measurement programs which combine TV viewership data from set top box data with behavioral data including transactions and online activity from various sourcesI recently sat down with Rapp to learn moreCharlene Weisler What do your Business Outcomes capabilities enable Simulmedia to doEthan Rapp We now have the ability to look at client specific Business Outcomes relative to Simulmedia television buys and other television and online components of the client39s campaign Examples of these outcomes can include offline sales online sales basket sizes transactions by customer segment online behaviors etc Itamp8217s really an effort to look at mediaamp8217s direct impact on a clientamp8217s goals in a very transparent way and at the same time demonstrate the value of Simulmediaamp8217s audience targeting Because we do a lot of amp8220data matchingamp8221 we take great precautions to protect privacy and in fact never ever touch personally identifiable data ourselves We always use trusted third partiesCW How does this work with clientsER This has become a critical part of the Simulmedia offering as we are now guaranteeing that our media will produce better business outcomes than traditional television buying and planning We provide money back if we donamp8217t improve overall business outcomes relative to the TV buy made without us This is a huge step in the industry and takes any perceived risk out of audience buying for the clientThis measurement is provided at no additional charge with a minimum media buy While we have no intention to become a research company a lot of what we do is unavailable elsewhere especially because we can see all TV consumed including our buy the other buys of our clients and even their competitorsamp8217 buys So as you can imagine there is a lot of analysis we have the capability to do that doesnamp8217t exist elsewhere Our analysis can and should inform future planning and buying that is what makes it truly closed loopCW Where is television measurement heading Will it become more digitally based with connected TVsER The interesting thing that has happened to TV in the last couple of years is that digital has provided pressure on the CMO and CFO to provide ROI across more media Until recently TV has not been able to deliver the same level of visibility that digital can provide Recently however we have gained access to this great treasure trove of set top box data which allows us to do far better targeting and measurementCW What do you think the common metrics will be to facilitate cross platform measurementER I think the amp8220must haveamp8221 in the industry requires that the metrics for digital media and the metrics for TV need to eventually align I donamp8217t think that the result should be the GRP regardless of how entrenched it is currently I think it needs to be at a person level or at least a household level because that is what will enable the understanding of efficiency in media planning Eventually it needs to be business outcomes Thatamp8217s our job Improve the ability for companies to grow their bottom line with their ad spendingCW Is ROI only about the clientamp8217s immediate return on a specific campaign or is it broader than thatER The metric has to be at a level where we can measure individuals and markets Buyers will want to know where they can specifically place efficient media to influence people and move market share both in the short term and long term They want to know where they are gaining share from and where they are losing it ROI needs to be framed by the specific goals of the marketer Thatamp8217s why we work so hard to make our targeting so robust and our measurement tailored to each clientCW What are the greatest differences between digital and TVER The differences are substantial right now Objectively there are probably more differences than there are similarities From a creative standpoint TV gives you emotion TV gives you reach TV gives you a brand identity over the short and long term Digital has never really proven to do those things in a scalable lasting way On the other hand digital is great for highly targeted buys to be able to drive short term sales the ability to optimize and activate in realtime based on how audiences behave and to a certain extent create targeted awareness It is very flexible as a medium It is a lot harder to create a new campaign in TV in a couple of days where in digital you can create one in a couple of hours Of course the goal is the same to drive sales With all that said TV is still the most dominant medium against almost any metric you can think of especially consumption and influence The imminent death of TV is highly overstated and we are innovating in ways that make it more targeted and more measurableThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillage management or associated bloggers

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Ethan Rapp of Simulmedia on Marketing Data Companies

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Charlene Weisler

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