Nielsen's Karthik Rao on Navigating a Brave New Measurement World

Consumer Media Usage Is Growing RapidlySixteen years ago in 2003 US adults spent an overall 50 hours a week on media amp8212 a combination of radio live TV and TVconnected devices and digital devices Ten years later in 2013 that increased 18 percent to 59 hours and just six years later in 2019 it ballooned 38 percent to 82 hours per week From 2018 to 2019 the daily time spent grew 13 percent from 1024 hours per day to 1145 per day combining nine different platformsDoes anyone sleep anymoreOf course with only so much time in a day this impressive growth in usage means more multitasking is taking place Rao also noted that we now have the ability to quotaccess media when and where we might not have been able to beforequot Easy access to content on a smartphone for example enables someone to fill in the gaps of time spent waiting in line commuting and the like by engaging in contentEnrich Understand and Respect the ConsumerquotConsumers are willing to expand time because there are more choicesquot Rao noted For Nielsen that means quotwe have to fundamentally enrich understand and respect the consumer experiences with the biggest word being respectquot To Rao this means not having the viewer quotgoing to every single platform and getting the same damn ad over and over It is disrespectfulquot He added quotPeople can39t handle that many ads They tune outquotFor Nielsen there are five monetization opportunities for media spend including traditional reach advertising through linear targeted advertising with audience buys no advertising such as with SVOD branded integration such as product placement and trade marketing which hit 1 trillion globally Measurement of these options must include the correct coverage inclusion of all necessary data points and diversity representation of audiences to measure total audience And it must cover all platforms quotWe look for the next way that time can expandquot he statedNielsen39s role quotis to organize all of thatquot as well as understand the impact of reach and frequency amp8212 the next relevant metrics amp8212 and track the consumer experience with multitouch attribution to quotcreate a touchpoint and a metric between touchpointsquot The goal is simple measure total audience measure outcomes and expand globallyThe Changing Nature of Media MeasurementIn a business that has historically sold on GRPs based on age and gender the move to impressionsbased selling is a notable change Nielsen according to Rao supports this move quotAnything that helps sellers and buyers make sense of their transactionsquot he saidRao added that quotconsumer experiences are about people and impressions are not people We need to recognize this We want to raise the bar on what we are trying to solve and when you do the role of each data point changes and you use it differently Change is a good thing and we want to be a part of itquotManaging the torrent of data is as much of an art as a science For Rao it has to begin with following the money quotUse it as a roadmapquot he advised quotThings become clearer Money begins with the advertisersquot From there he said ask yourself quotWhat is the persona What is the advertiser or brand trying to solve forquot In fact he recommended that advertisers focus on the roles that different data sets play in either depth or breadth quotIt is less about techquot he noted Instead it39s more about quotWhat is the value of the dataquotAs far as C3 is concerned quotit worked really well for a long time but it is a blunt metric It doesn39t tell you what happened within any commercial pod So it39s not great for engagementquot But when you get down to the individual ad as you can do in digital one gets closer to engagementRao defended the use of panels as important data sources quotOur conviction on the role of the panel is stronger now because of fragmentationquot he said quotYou have to understand the differences in platforms If you don39t get it right you can39t solve big data problems So a truth set is most important One media truth is the panel We use it to ideate every piece of dataquotSettopbox data he added can be used to enhance the panel because it plays into the dynamic of small and bigdata synergies quotSmall data enriches big data Big data expands small data Don39t confuse the relationshipquot he advisedAs Rao said it39s time for change The media ecosystem needs to quotmove beyond a campaignbased view of the worldquot he said In a world of small and bigglass screens quotthe business model is not the same But we need some common way to bring them together That is how TV worksquot he concluded quotIt39s always onquot Maybe that is why we consumers don39t sleep anymoreClick the social buttons to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Nielsen's Karthik Rao on Navigating a Brave New Measurement World

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Charlene Weisler

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Nielsen's Karthik Rao on Navigating a Brave New Measurement World

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Charlene Weisler

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