The team behind Project Apollo has released the first “live†case study findings from the ambitious single-source measurement system and it shows – are you sitting down? – that this
sophisticated form of “consumer-centric measurement†produces better targeting. Phew! I know some people were worried that Arbitron and Nielsen would sink millions of dollars, line up support form
big marketers like Procter & Gamble and Wal-Mart, and that it might not show anything. Seriously, the early findings are encouraging for two reasons: 1) Apollo’s developers are beginning to show
actual results; and 2) It may encourage other marketers and media to get behind the test. The initial case study, conducted on behalf of an unnamed pain reliever brand (let’s see if we can figure
this one out – P&G is the project’s biggest supporter?), and shows that less than 30% of the dayparts on cable networks delivered the brand “buyer†rating points at approximately the same
level as Nielsen’s conventional adults 25-54 rating points – the demographic break normally used to target that market. The study actually shows very little correlation between that demo and
the actual brand targets: Nearly half of all the dayparts across the cable networks delivered significantly more or less brand buyer ratings than demographic ratings. Okay, so we know this is going
to be a headache for somebody. Wonder which brand they’re going to take to get rid of it?
