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October 2017There is a better way:Moving beyond the claims of fast, goodand cheap digital measurement tohelp build stronger brandsAndrew Bradford

There is a better wayDespite many claims to the contrary and no smallamount of genuine potential, I would characterisedigital as a clearly defined area of doubt anduncertainty. Data is ubiquitous but often ofindeterminate quality. In the last two years, theindustry has been rocked by scandal after scandal.Another year of mobile anyone? Regardless of thesemyriad issues, including the vastly overblown claimsof a new medium, we all recognise potential whenwe see it. I sometimes think that digital wouldperform much more strongly for clients if we couldremove the digital industry from it. There are threeareas we should focus on.1. ConvergenceAt a macro-level, convergence is having a profoundeffect. In its broadest sense, digital is undeniably forcingadvertising and media sectors together. The cycletime between advertising testing and media flighting isconstantly reducing. The ability to deploy multiple creativeand optimise or select high performing creative live haschanged the way we look at testing; here we see theconvergence of copy testing and media evaluation. The[largely behavioural] metrics used by digital buyers arerather different from those [predominantly attitudinal]measures that clients need to evaluate the power topersuade. It’s also worth wondering for how long inflightoptimisation will continue to be viable in an industry withsignificant media inventory inflation. At a channel level weare at last seeing cross media datasets that are finallydelivering the necessary confidence to plan multi-channel.In my experience deploying services, the immediatechallenge is that clients and agency organisations are notstructured to make use of such data. Does the necessaryorganisational convergence between TV and digital reallyexist? Ipsos developed its Ipsos Connect specialisation bymerging its media and advertising expertise to respond tothese broad market changes.3Andrew Bradford2. Digital grows upinto a mediumEvidence of the internet beginning to adopt the mannersof a ‘grown-up’ medium is all around us. But social mediacontinues to struggle to deliver value to clients. Closescrutiny of the claims by the social media community(usually with nine zeros following it) suggests that the powerof social media to reach audiences and customers forbrands is usually a rounding error compared to traditionalmedia. Look at the investments made by companieslike Facebook and Google on demonstrating their abilityto deliver reach and frequency data, such as digital adratings. Look at their announcements such as “Likes don’tmatter”. Exactly how many social media platforms areshowing ad revenue growth?

There is a better wayWe see the effect of that data on our market place asmany publishers offer audience guarantees, just likeTV. More broadly across the industry we see the massadoption of viewability as a trading currency. Is viewability(a development to be welcomed), really any different froma TV OTS? However, in a world of trading on 2-secondexposures for video, what if the client’s creative needsfive seconds to deliver its message? Programmaticcontinues to affect the market, particularly in terms ofinventory pricing and improving operational efficiency.This game-changing technology infrastructure is beingtrialled on TV – how will broadcasters respond to thesedevelopments? Will they accept open markets or offerprivate market places? What will be the effect on pricing?The great unifying ad format between TV and digital isvideo. Last year the IAB estimated that video ad revenuesincreased by 53% which belies two changes: a moderateincrease in inventory, plus demand by advertisersoutstripping that inventory increase as they search for themost appropriate format for their branding activities. Thishas led to a third big change: the inflation of CPMs. Infact, in the UK, Ebiquity reports that terrestrial commercialbroadcasters are selling their run of schedule linear TVads for 8cpm against all adults, and their digital video4Andrew Bradfordinventory for 17.56 against the same target. The IAB(US) ad spend report shows that between 2015 and 2016CPM-based revenue increased its share of spend againstother models by 2 percentage points (an increase of 6bn)– that’s the model used in broadcast media. Undeniably,the internet is growing up but adolescent media needsaccountability, like its mature brethren, and that’s notalways easy.3. AccountabilityThe World Federation of Advertisers suggests that, forevery dollar spent on digital media, only 40 cents actuallybuy any media. By the time that dollar has paid the agencytrade desk, the DSP, the exchange, assorted tech anddata fees from a DMP, and the SSP, there’s not much left.This of course excludes the issues around data qualityin an industry too ready to conflate people with devices,and to be far too undisciplined in its use of metrics.When did reach in traditional media ever mean anythingelse than the number of people that saw an ad orcontent? In digital we seem to think it’s OK to apply theterm ‘reach’ to devices, households, credit cards – all veryuseful levels of measurement but let’s not conflate themwith people. Advertisers will be familiar with the datasetsthat publishers and platforms provide to demonstrate thevalue of their inventory.

There is a better wayBut do we believe it’s healthy for these organisations tobe marking their own homework? Would we be happy ifthe referee ran out onto the pitch at Old Trafford wearinga Manchester United scarf? Are the metric definitionsconsistently applied between Facebook, Youtube, CNNand your trade desk? Were the questions in the surveythe questions you need answers to or the questions tometrics that we know are shifted in online?This all sounds rather negative. But there is light at the endof the tunnel. Ebiquity looked at ROI benchmarks acrossdifferent media. Due to the issues noted above, digital’saverage ROI was low but the variance about that average5Andrew Bradfordshows that if given the opportunity, digital absolutely candeliver, and more than that, it can outperform other media.We need a mature, convergent, accountable industrydelivering it. A significant constraint on accountability hasbeen the need/desire for speed – often more because wecould rather than whether we should. Given the inflation ofmedia costs and subsequent increasing risks associatedwith flighting untested copy, the myriad of scandalsafflicting digital media of late and the myriad data qualityissues now exposed, one wonders whether it’s high timewe balanced the competing needs of quality and speedmore evenly. If social media is reaching 0.02% of yourcustomer base is it worth measuring it every minute?

There is a better way4.Andrew BradfordEnsuring the measurement is deviceagnostic but also recognising that just because wecould doesn’t mean we should. Those merging PCand mobile samples should recognise the difficultiesof ensuring sample balance and representation; ofrecognising the differing levels of distraction betweenthe house and the train; the small number of consistentad formats between PC and desktop; that PCs don’tusually use full-screen video views.5.So within this context, what are the measurementchallenges facing clients today?1.Integrating attitudinal and behaviouraldata is key to reconciling customer engagement.Connect:Digital provides a combined respondent leveldatabase to allow us to cut attitudes by exposure time.2.3.AddressingcontextvsRegistration data can provide a rich (and high sampleincidence) source of profiling data enabling Ipsos tosave valuable survey time by not having to ask forclaimed age and gender data. Our Connect:Liveapproach leverages aggregate level registration dataacross multiple social platforms to enable fast fieldtimes with accurate profiling.consistency.We must recognise that digital represents a moredistracted experience than most traditional media(radio possibly excepted). We need to provide clientswith the flexibility to test live (within context wherethe environment content is ever- changing) or to testwithin more controlled but still real, environmentswhere the only discriminator is the test ad, all the timeproviding that realistic distracted environment – not amock environment. Flexibility is key!Linking copy test insights with tradingdata. Our relationship with MOAT Viewability isan industry first, linking viewability tags with surveyrespondents. The result is the only product availablein market to directly link copy test metrics with realviewability thresholds allowing clients to take anevidence based approach to minimum viewabilitythresholds.6Use of registration data where applicable.We mustrecognise thatdigital representsa more distractedexperiencethan mosttraditional media

There is a better wayAndrew BradfordAdvertisingneeds to dotwo things:capture attentionand achievebrand impact6.Speed has been a defining hygienefactor of digital. At Ipsos, Connect:Live canprovide inflight insights within the first week of flightinga campaign on Facebook – a cycle-time unmatchedin the market. Connect:Digital will deliver full testinginsights, including creative diagnostics along withviewability data within seven days and will shortlyundergo an automation program to reduce cycle-timefurther.7.Measuring meaningful brand outcomes.8.A flexible protocol to meet the needsof digital. It’s critical to ensure clients are able toAdvertising needs to do two things: capture attentionand achieve brand impact. When used for brandmarketing, digital advertising needs to be measuredon these outcomes.screen multiple digital creatives for AB tests with theoption of control cells where required.7I’m reminded of an old and wise adage in research: Youcan have your data cheap, fast, good – pick two sothe next time you are on the receiving end of wild multiplatform claims from digital specialists (who probablydon’t even know what a GRP is) or accepting the word ofa publisher telling you how great their performance was orconsidering buying data from ZappiStore because they’llproduce the data before you’ve even run the fieldwork,please get in touch. There is another way.

There is a better wayOctober 2017Andrew Bradford, Chief Digital OfficerIpsos Connect is a global specialised business toco-ordinate Ipsos services in the domains of BrandCommunications, Advertising and Media. As the world ofbrand communications, advertising and media becomeincreasingly complex, fragmented and digitalised, Ipsosis helping clients better embrace this modern complexitywith investment in new approaches and products thatwill fit with the digital age. Ipsos Connect aims to bethe preferred global partner for companies to measureand amplify how media, brands and consumers connectthrough compelling content, great communication andrelevant media planning.This Ipsos Views paper isproduced by theIpsos Knowledge Centre. Game Changers is the Ipsos signature.At Ipsos we are passionately curious about people,markets, brands and society. We make our changing worldeasier and faster to navigate and inspire clients to makesmarter decisions. We deliver with security, simplicity,speed and substance. We are Game Changers.www.ipsos.com@ IpsosIKC@ipsos.com

adoption of viewability as a trading currency. Is viewability (a development to be welcomed), really any different from a TV OTS? However, in a world of trading on 2-second exposures for video, what if the client's creative needs five seconds to deliver its message? Programmatic continues to affect the market, particularly in terms of