TikTok is hopping on the non-fungible token train with its debut of TikTok Top Moments. The TikTok Top Moments collection is based on six culturally significant videos on the platform, and TikTok sees the initiative as a way to empower creators, with proceeds from the sale of the NFTs going “largely” to the creators and…
A ‘constant merry-go-round’: Nielsen and Comscore say the right things, but aren’t progressing fast enough for media buyers
The move to planning and buying television nationally on an impressions basis rather than on ratings has been relatively smooth and steady over the last two years.
But local buying and planning has been a bit of a messier story, especially in light of recent issues around Nielsen’s pandemic-related measurement challenges that led it to lose its accreditation by the Media Rating Council (MRC).
THE BOTTOM LINE
One fundamental metric that needs to be ironed out across the buying and selling parts of the video industry is the difference between how a TV/video impression is counted (minimum five seconds) versus a digital video impression (three seconds).
The issue came to a head during a virtual panel featuring reps from Nielsen and Comscore at Thursday’s TVB Forward conference, held by the Television Bureau of Advertising, which advocates for local television.
Karthik Rao, Nielsen’s COO, defended the company’s continued pursuit of panel-based measurement, on the argument that “they’re the only things that can provide longitudinal access to what consumers actually do within their households,” as well as addressing inclusion and representation. He said Nielsen plans to keep investing in panels.
Rao insisted Nielsen is moving “in a sequence” to address getting re-accredited, and acknowledged that the TV metrics system up to today has been “blunt.”
Nancy Larkin, Horizon Media’s executive vp and managing partner of Local One, its investment unit, cited the urgent need for a “measurement system that’s accredited, reliable and has substantial representation of each local market … Too much time is spent by buyers and agencies having to analyze the data — you just need to get it right.”
One fundamental metric that needs to be ironed out across the buying and selling parts of the video industry is the difference between how a TV/video impression is counted (minimum five seconds) versus a digital video impression (three seconds). Bill Livek, CEO and executive vice chairman of measurement firm Comscore, called that difference “marginal” but acknowledged “the industry should come together around a common definition.”
Livek said the accreditation mess around Nielsen (which he politely referred to as “industry chaos”) has sped up Comscore’s own efforts to get accredited by MRC for its Comscore TV measurement system, which it expects an answer on in the next two weeks. Data gathered in the 210 local markets it plans to serve will inform its national system. “We think it’s important agencies can upshift and downshift,” said Livek.
Horizon’s Larkin said she believes “we all need to move toward impressions,” adding that “the ability to capture the viewing and usage across all TV and digital platforms is critical, and impressions will provide a common denominator.”
Fellow panelist Missy Evenson, vp of sales for local media at E.W. Scripps Co., which owns several TV stations across the country, echoed the need for standardization of impressions-based definitions. “We need an agreed-upon currency of impressions, and an agreed-upon definition of what an impression is across all platforms,” she said. Evenson added the need for “universe estimates that we can all agree on that are validated … Why should the length of time be different between linear and digital?”
The discussion at the conference made clear the measurement firms still have a long way to go before making agencies and clients feel like they have what they need.
As Horizon’s Larkin put it, “It’s just the constant merry-go-round and never jumping off.”
The post A ‘constant merry-go-round’: Nielsen and Comscore say the right things, but aren’t progressing fast enough for media buyers appeared first on Digiday.
The Empathy Equation: How AI Will Reshape Creativity in Marketing
Technology has had a monumental impact on the creative industry. This is true not only in how people consume the things we create, but also in how we craft the work itself. For example, the rise of digital cameras didn’t just allow us to shoot more shots. It democratized the capturing of images. So much…
To Rebrand for the Future, Florist Network FTD Looks to Its Past
To borrow a line from Shakespeare, sometimes what’s past is prologue. At least that seems to be the thinking at florist network FTD, which unveiled a rebranding that harkens back to its founding more than a century ago as a nonprofit collective. “Rebrands are typically viewed as a reinvention, and it’s not often that you…
What Are Monoclonal Antibodies and How Can They Fight Covid-19? | WSJ
Facebook to Express Pre-Campaign Estimates in Ranges, Rather Than Specific Numbers
Facebook detailed two changes that will be implemented on its advertising platform Oct. 5: Potential reach is being renamed estimated audience size, and pre-campaign estimates will be expressed in ranges, rather than specific numbers. Engineering manager Ashish Gupta explained in a blog post that estimated audience size generally estimates how many people meet the targeting…
Chewy Names Former Amazon VP Mark Eamer CMO Amid Ecommerce Surge
The ecommerce market’s growth has accelerated during the Covid-19 pandemic, and Chewy has been one of the companies riding that wave. In hopes of taking that success to the next level, the online pet retailer has hired Mark Eamer as chief marketing officer. Eamer began the position earlier this week. In the new role, Eamer…
Lawmakers Were More Active on Social in the Run-Up to the 2020 Election Than in 2016
Members of Congress were much more active on social media in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election in the U.S. than they were in 2016, and their posts and tweets drew much more engagement from users of those platforms, according to a new study from Pew Research Center. Pew found that lawmakers produced 315,818…
2021 Adweek Executive Mentees Reflect On a Year of Mentorship
In the middle of Brandweek, we gathered virtually for our closing ceremony to celebrate the 2021 class of the Adweek Executive Mentorship Program, presented by Catalina. Mentees and mentors alike came together for an hour and shared anecdotes of their experience in the program, the key learnings, and the teachings that will last them throughout…
NBC Sets Biggest Sunday Night Football Game Campaign Ever for Tom Brady’s ‘Return’
Adele’s searing post-breakup ballad “Hello” isn’t a song that usually makes you think about football, but it’s become the unexpected centerpiece of NBC Sports’ biggest-ever Sunday Night Football promo campaign for Sunday’s matchup between Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers and his former team, the New England Patriots. Ever since the NFL’s Sunday Night Football schedule…