Taking on the challenge of measuring cross-media data
Karin Immenroth, Chief Data & Analytics Officer at Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland GmbH, explores the challenges of creating a cross-media measurement system and how Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland and their partners are facilitating this.
Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland is a multi-media company that comprises video, audio, digital and print offers.
Broadcasters and measurement specialists are collaborating to develop cross-media measurement standards for the whole industry; it is vital that these are transparent and unified. However, this is not as simple as it may seem. The greatest challenges to its creation will be the availability of data as well as data granularity, the comparability of contacts and the exchange rates of media performance of different types of media.
How do you build cross-media measurement?
A market currency relies on the willingness of all providers to reach a consensus on transparency and comparability, but this is no mean feat. However, a joint industry committee like the AGF in Germany is a step in the right direction.
Working with the big digital players
The integration of the GAFAs (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon) into the German JIC standards under the same ‘quid-pro-quo standards’ measurement conditions would be mutually beneficial.
However, the difficulty is to design a fair set of rules that serves all players when GAFAs currently want to be measured under other conditions than the ones provided by the local German JIC standard – which is accepted by advertisers and publishers.
Moreover, advertisers present another hurdle – they often apply and accept the different evaluation standards of the GAFAs regarding proof of media performance and create catalogues of demands for local players, which do not necessarily apply to the GAFAs. From our point of view, it’s highly important that a market currency requires the willingness of all providers to reach consensus on issues of transparency and comparability, which is currently not the case.
What’s next?
There are big steps being taken to develop processes that are innovative and durable. The upcoming AGF projects that empower cross-media measurement in Germany are positive for the industry.
These include Smart Meters which measure the usage of streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime via routers, the ‘Follow the Campaign’ project by Nielsen Digital Ad Ratings that is developing standards for campaign measurement that include addressable TV, and the AGF ‘Return Path Data’ project which concentrates on expanding single source data to analyse cross-device usage information.
RTL and all other broadcasters in Germany are working together with the AGF towards the same goal of creating a reliable and comprehensive video standard that covers all forms of video advertising. However, the path towards standardisation and transparent data gathering is not an smooth one. As our portfolio covers a range of media and devices, we are highly interested in cross-media coverage and measurement. This measurement will highlight the size and strength of the Ad Alliance content network compared to its competitors.
Karin Immenroth, Chief Data & Analytsics Officer at Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland