Redefining currency
Partner content
Comscore’s CEO Bill Livek looks at how measurement is evolving to fit the next generation of media
From the way that we live and work, to the way that we consume media, life today is dramatically different than it was just 12 months ago. Amid all the change, consistency in measurement across the video consumption footprint – from linear to digital to OTT – is critical.
In the past, media was bought and sold using basic age/gender demographics and GRPs. As we enter the next generation of media, where agencies and advertisers are taking an audience-centric approach to planning and buying across myriad platforms and requiring impressions as the means to evaluate their success, it is time that we redefine “currency”.
New trends
The coronavirus pandemic has impacted so many areas of our lives, and for advertisers it has led to a shift in where to focus their limited budgets. Premium video consumption was already a major growth area, as has been consumption over connected TVs. The pandemic accelerated this growth.
As millions of people remained indoors to comply with public health measures, they were also hungry for news and entertainment, so streaming options became an increasingly important piece of the consumption puzzle, along with traditional linear TV. The Ofcom Media Nations 2020: UK Report shows that an estimated 12 million online adults in the UK gained access to a new SVoD subscription during the lockdown.
This is a trend which is set to continue, with IAB Europe estimating that the number of OTT subscribers in Europe will increase from 133M in 2019 to 159M in 2023.
Across the advertising industry there has been an acknowledgement of the need to improve cross-media measurement and redefine old currencies to match the new media trends, as we see with the WFA/ISBA Project Origin.
As the media mix becomes more complex and budgets more stretched, having accurate and reliable cross-media measurement will support advertisers in optimising their campaigns and maximising ROI.
Changing currencies
Historically, currency was the one way you could buy TV, or radio, or outdoor using a standard age/gender demo to identify a show in which you wanted to showcase your brand.
But that doesn’t apply as much anymore, as there are so many more platforms on which to find your target viewer across TV and digital and so many more ways to get your message across to them, whether it be by a traditional tv ad buy, an addressable ad buy, or the purchase of a digital spot.
As we enter into the next decade of TV measurement, one thing is clear: TV will never be the same. Modern media measurement must account for linear, streaming and digital views. Today, we are seeing a necessary shift from traditional demos and GRPs to audiences and impression-based measurement.
Continued expansion
To meet the challenges that come with this evolution, at Comscore we are constantly expanding our capabilities – across platforms and around the world. In 2020, we extended our TV measurement capabilities to parts of Europe. As a leader in TV measurement in the US, we are in a unique position to harness our valuable data in partnership with key players and to create an unmatched measurement offer for this channel. We started our expansion with Germany and the UK.
On our way to achieving a wider international reach, we’ll continue by expanding our TV measurement capabilities across APAC and EMEA in 2021.
For more than a decade, Comscore has been the gold standard for measuring audiences and advertising across platforms. As we enter the next generation of media, we are excited to pave the path to the future, as the industry’s trusted impressions- and audience-based currency.
Bill Livek is CEO and executive vice chair of Comscore