Commentary

Marketers Eager To Spend on Multiple Screens -- Want Better Cross-Screen Metrics

The devil is in the details, and the details are in the measurement.

Measurement is still an area of online video and multiplatform campaigns that raises many questions, such as what are the best ways to measure across platforms, and should traditional models be used in which GRPs are measured both for TV and online -- or is there a better mousetrap?

There is no clear-cut answer yet, but media across screens should jump from about 20% of budgets today to 50% in three years, according to a study from ANA and Nielsen of marketers, agencies and sellers. For the study, multiscreen campaigns were defined as those that ran on two or more screens including TV, computer, tablet, mobile phone and digital place-based media. Nearly half of the marketers surveyed said they believed multiscreen campaigns are very important for marketing today and nearly 88% believe such campaigns will be vital in three years. But measurement remains the issue that affects growth because measuring across screens is challenging.

In fact, a lack of consistent measurement is holding back the advertisers who aren’t using multiple screens. One in four marketers haven’t executed a multiscreen campaign and the biggest roadblock is a lack of common metrics, according to a report from digital advertising company Undertone surveying more than 754 marketing professionals. About 59% of marketers and 68% of agencies said a lack of effective cross-screen measurement is the road block in multiscreen campaigns.

More than two-thirds of marketers said they are tracking their multiscreen campaigns separately across screens in the ANA study. Also, about 73% of marketers said they want one set of metrics across all screens.

But there’s some debate as to whether that’s best. Legacy models of measurement, such as GRP,  are not always ideal for video environments, says Kristen Kelly, VP and International Business Director at Starcom MediaVest Group in an interview with Beet.TV. New metrics are often better for new mediums, she adds.

Whatever metrics win, one thing seems to be clear: Marketers need more and better measurement tools, and when they have them, they’ll spend more.
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