• by Alex Weprin , October 29, 2018

The Interactive Advertising Bureau on Monday released what it calls the Advanced TV Attribution Buyer’s Guide, a document that is intended to help media buyers understand “the benefits, opportunities and processes for conducting attribution studies within the confines of Addressable TV/VOD and OTT/CTV.”

The IAB Buyer’s Guide is being released ahead of the organization’s Direct Brand Summit, to be held in New York City this week. The IAB hopes the guide will have particular relevance for marketers coming from a direct-brand background.

“Direct brands are data-driven, and hyper-focused on reaching and engaging their core customers,” says Eric John, deputy director, IAB Digital Video Center of Excellence.  “Advanced TV (which we define today as Addressable TV and OTT) offers not only more precise targeting, but also the ability for marketers to measure the effectiveness of their campaign from exposure to conversion.

"For direct brands — and any brand —measuring ROI is table stakes today, regardless of platform. With this attribution guide were are illustrating the steps for how to do it effectively on the big screen," he added.

While traditional linear television has long relied on third-party data from Nielsen to track ratings among different age groups and demos, as linear TV and digital video converge, new technologies allow for more precise targeting and data. 

At the same time, video consumption is splintering between different platforms, with consumers watching their video on smart TVs, connected TV boxes and sticks, video game consoles and mobile devices.

“Outcome-based analysis can help level the playing field. After all, who cares how many impressions were delivered on one platform versus the other when what matters most to a brand is the outcomes that it drove?” a blog post introducing the Buyer’s Guide says.

The Buyer’s Guide addresses the workflow of the attribution process, what to look for in attribution partners and matching exposure data to households, as well as the benefits of attribution studies. 

It also looks at what those studies can measure, best practices, challenges and solutions for attribution. It was developed in collaboration with the IAB Advanced TV Attribution Working Group.

The full Advanced TV Attribution Buyer’s Guide is here.