Set-Top Box Data is Coming: Ready or Not - David Hutchinson - MediaBizBloggers

Earlier this month at adtech a digital marketing conference in New York I had the pleasure of moderating a session on the hot topic of amp8220measurable televisionamp8221 As a TV executive with a long history of traditional as well as digital television distribution experience this was naturally a perspective on advertisingamp8217s favorite medium that I was keen to exploreWith a distinguished mix of participants from CBS TRA Rentrak and Simulmedia we endeavored to look beyond the world of plunging Nielsen ratings and into the world of hypermeasurability afforded by the increasingly accessible data provided by television settop boxes STBsYes yes I know that broadcast research mavens like Alan Wurtzel of NBC have throttled back their enthusiasm about STBs and the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement CIMM has clearly communicated all the challenges inherent in making STB data a universal currency for television audience measurement but Iamp8217ve come to realize that not much of that matters As a good friend of mine used to always say amp8220reality has a funny way of marching on in the backgroundamp8221 While most seasoned media executives agree that Nielsen data will remain the common currency for television planning buying selling and posting itamp8217s clear that available flexible and affordable STB data will continue to amp8220leakamp8221 into the media conversation at the CPM level the specific dollar value of a commercial spot within a rated program or time period based on thousands of people watching For buyers detailed audience profile data beyond square peg demographic categories such as amp8220Men 1849amp8221 will better inform where and how to spend their budgets For networks a better grasp of the true value of their audience will help justify the CPM rates they want to charge buyersA Closer LookAt the local level Rentrak is making short work of signing up station groups including network affiliates to provide vital audience measurement data to stations whose audience numbers have either been misrepresented by Nielsen or donamp8217t show up at all amp8211 and for a fraction of the price of a Nielsen contract TRA is matching specific household purchases with the ads those same households actually see providing the long awaited closedloop control environment that allows advertisers to accurately measure the efficacy of their television ad spending against sales TRA has had so much success with this type of TV ROI measurement that they are now even adding an index column alongside the Nielsen data within their clientsamp8217 own media plans reflecting the concentration of impressions within the types of purchasers that are responding to a campaign Simulmedia has gotten so sophisticated with their ability to extrapolate and articulate viewer profile data from settop boxes ex amp8220aspirational chefsamp8221 amp8220rugged reality watchersamp8221 amp8220SciFi loversamp8221 that they can essentially separate people from shows allowing advertisers and program suppliers the ability to more accurately and freely find the viewers who are most likely to respond to a specific product or show wherever they might be And since the tools to mine the insights gleaned from these data sets are still relatively new Simulmedia is continually turning undervalued ad inventory into TV marketing gold for its clientsThe Big PictureDespite these exciting and very real examples of STB value there is a still a large contingent many not surprisingly with a vested interest in maintaining the status quo who view these advances in TV audience measurement as quaint or experimental at best with little or no application at the national broadcast level However this will begin to change for buyers of regional amp8220spotamp8221 inventory where increasingly available location based audience profile data will start chipping away at the otherwise static 12 month big brand buying cycles Additionally the socalled amp8220scatteramp8221 market already gaining ground in todayamp8217s fast paced opportunity driven media landscape will also become more dynamic as buyers see the benefits of moving beyond broadcast demographic categories for the more detailed profile driven data afforded by 247 secondbysecond STB informationLeveraging advances in digital technology to improve profits is only too fresh in the minds of many online media millionaires who witnessed firsthand how companies like AdvertisingCom 247 RealMedia DoubleClick and Tacoda were able to turn million dollar companies into billion dollar businesses They did so simply by allowing the intelligence captured from a dynamic and measurable realtime media ecosystem read ad networks to continually perfect the amp8220targetabilityamp8221 of advertisersamp8217 campaigns and creative executions Sure 30 second TV spots which take weeks to budget shoot approve and air are nowhere near as nimble as banner ads but TV spots can enjoy the weblike targetability that digital technology is now bestowing upon the television medium which officially amp8220went digitalamp8221 over a year agoAdvertising history has proven that media technology greater effective reach Historically reach has been synonymous with mass a la amp8220bigger is betteramp8221 But today in a world of too much reach noise effective reach is synonymous with ROI and ROI requires access and insights beyond the blunt industrial age tools of reach frequency and gross rating points While these universal tools will continue to facilitate the transactional aspects of the television economy ensuring Nielsenamp8217s common currency status as amp8220uber metricamp8221 for the buying and selling of TV ad inventory amp8211 the quiet storm of television settop box data will continue to infiltrate all levels of the television industryConclusionApart from the timing semantics nuances and debate surrounding the application and value of settop box data our session in New York made it clear that the mighty vertical of television seemingly immune from the effects of digitization that have transformed so many other industries and business models is about to change At first this change will be slow Then through blogs like this one social networks industry conferences newsletters and white papers advertisers will start hearing how their competitors are reaping huge rewards through improved television spending Agencies always concerned about keeping their accounts amp8211 and maintaining the lucrative margins still associated with servicing television ad spending will begin to invest in new resources to help them stay on top of the new advances in amp8220smart TVamp8221Small and mid size program suppliers whose inability to afford having their shows Nielsen rated and thereby foregoing their ability to tap big brand TV budgets will instead be rewarded for delivering premium narrowcast audiences with dollars that would have otherwise been routinely wasted on buckshot broadcast media buys Sure it will be a different world one thatamp8217s almost hard to imagine But itamp8217s coming right to our doorstep whether weamp8217re ready or notDave Hutchinson is a media executive in Los Angeles and can be reached at hutchppitv

Become a Thought Leader. Share your thought leadership article with industry professionals & have them archived in Thought Leadership

Set-Top Box Data is Coming: Ready or Not - David Hutchinson - MediaBizBloggers

Author

Publish date

Channel

MediaBizBloggers

The Care Economy No One Built -- And the Leader Who Did. Wellthy's Lindsay Jurist-Rosner - By Jack Myers

More Videos:

Become a Thought Leader. Share your thought leadership article with industry professionals & have them archived in Thought Leadership

Set-Top Box Data is Coming: Ready or Not - David Hutchinson - MediaBizBloggers

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

MediaBizBloggers

The Care Economy No One Built -- And the Leader Who Did. Wellthy's Lindsay Jurist-Rosner - By Jack Myers

The payment was successful

Cookies