NBCU Beefs Up Measurement Spin Team, Recruits Comscore's Ripley

by Joe Mandese , March 1, 2022

NBCUniversal, which has been leading the communications battle to introduce alternative audience measurement currencies into the advertising marketplace, this morning announced it is beefing up its team with two new top trade communications executives, including the former head of communications at Comscore.

Neil Ripley, who was head of corporate communications at Comscore, will serve as vice president-communications of NBCU’s Advertising and Partnerships Division.

Ripley will “lead the company’s narrative around ad technology, data and cross-platform media measurement,” NBCU said, noting that his appointment follows the company’s recent introduction of “NBCUnified,” a massive “first-party consumer data and identity platform,” as well as its first “certification” of a new audience measurement currency, iSpot’s.

During a presentation at the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s recent conference, NBCU Chief Business Officer Krishan Bhatia disclosed that NBCUnified has already amassed the unique identities of 150 million people and will “scale to 200 million in short order.”

The Advertising and Partnerships unit also announced that Margaux Fleuranges has joined as senior manager and will lead “executive thought leadership and social media strategy.”

She joins from Univision, where she was senior associate-corporate communications.

audience measurement, comscore, data, management, media measurement, nbcuniversal, television

4 comments about "NBCU Beefs Up Measurement Spin Team, Recruits Comscore's Ripley".

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Nicholas Schiavone from Nicholas P. Schiavone, LLC, March 1, 2022 at 12:59 p.m.
Best Media Research Joke of March 2022 - and it's just started!

"NBCU Beefs Up Measurement" by naming
a vice president-communications for NBCU’s
Advertising and Partnerships Division. Really now?

Further, NBCUnified has already amassed the unique identities
of 150 million people and will “scale to 200 million in short order.”
I wonder if they asked anyone's permission? Frightening!

Reply

Ed Papazian from Media Dynamics Inc, March 1, 2022 at 2:03 p.m.

The term " communications" used in this manner usually means the PR function---press relations, promotions, presentations, etc. ---but not measurement, itself---which is the important thing.

John Grono from GAP Research, March 1, 2022 at 5:04 p.m.

Nicholas & Ed. I think you have missed the Nirvana for media agencies and advertisers that is just around the corner. Just imagine a system where each and every media owner has its own data base of a couple of quadrillion IDs generating bespoke measurements through unknown algorithms of their own design. It would be glorious as every channel will be #1 on at least one metric. Be still my beating heart!

Ed Papazian from Media Dynamics Inc, March 2, 2022 at 9:14 a.m.

John, I think that the sellers' goal ---and, unlike advertisers, they tend to act more or less in unison---is to force Nielsen to pump out "impression"-style "audience" data for all forms of "TV"---including CTV, digital video, etc. ---so they can use the resulting---device usage-based stats as their new "currency". And I expect Nielsen to comply---as this is what their primary financial supporters want.

Since advertisers continue to be asleep at the switch about the need for attentiveness metrics, they will be fed huge numbers of phantom ---non-existant---"viewers" while at the same time being asked to pay ever higher CPMs for supposedly superior targeting mechanisms that use the same inflated "audience" data. Do I blame the sellers? Not at all. Were I in their shoes I'd probably do the same thing.

In this context, it's not essential for each seller to come out first in the survey findings. They understand that some play the programming game better than others and that this year's loser can be next year's winner---so no problem there. After all, you have to develop some measure of credibility for your "currency".