Tony Jarvis

Articles by Tony All articles by Tony

• In The Industry's 'Currency Fiesta,' Is Attention The Ultimate Common Currency? in MediaDailyNews on 04/08/2025
  

  "Fiesta" or "farrago," could attention metrics be the multicurrency solution that normalizes value across all media channels and media vehicles?

• ARF Day Two: 'Who Do You Trust?' in MediaDailyNews on 03/27/2025
  

  The second day of the Audience x Science conference echoed Day One's trust issues, underscored by discussions about the evolution of AI, the ANA's Project Aquila, and the continuing dominance of walled garden data.

• ARF Day One: Nielsen Still The Currency Force, Attention Finds Its Center in MediaDailyNews on 03/26/2025
  

  The first day of its Audience x Science Conference delivered fascinating learnings on media and ad measurement, but "attention" metrics surely dominated.

• Media & Marketing Analytics: Back To The Future? in Planning & Buying Insider on 11/14/2024
  

  Sequent's partners, Jim Spaeth and Alice Sylvester, have assiduously helped marketers understand the enormous complexities and see through the smoke and mirrors of marketing mix modeling, multi-touch attribution, and last-touch attribution, as revealed by their many cautions, caveats, and questions.

• CIMM Report Reveals An Elephant In The Panel Measurement Room in Planning & Buying Insider on 10/24/2024
  

  Thanks to CIMM, the industry now has an incredibly comprehensive and detailed report on the value and projectable costs of panel-based audience measurement.

• A Hundred Reasons To Ask, Does The Trade Desk Have 'Premium' Right? in Planning & Buying Insider on 09/19/2024
  

  That's what an ARF town hall discussed Wednesday following its release of a "top 100" premium suppliers list, which ranks Hulu No. 1 and France's Le Figaro No. 100.

• The Marketplace Implications Of MRC's OOH Standards in MediaDailyNews on 07/01/2024
  

  Buyers and sellers who chase cheap CPMs generated by inflated opportunity-to-see metrics rather than significantly more valuable likelihood-to-see ones will undervalue out-of-home media.

• Are Attention Metrics On A Path To Becoming Advertising Currency? in Planning & Buying Insider on 05/16/2024
  

  Based on this week's release of phase 2 of the ARF's validation initiative, it's complicated.

• In Dissent in MediaDailyNews on 04/29/2024
  

  This MRC standard essentially takes out-of-home back to the days of using distribution/circulation for planning and buying the medium, using definitions and derivations that are ill-defined, confused, contradictory and inconsistent.

• Be Scared, But Don't Be Fooled in MediaDailyNews on 03/28/2024
  

  The JIC's clarifying statement focuses on "transparency around transactional readiness," but has nothing to do with the quality, validity or relevance of a proposed advertising currency metric.

Comments by Tony All comments by Tony

• Normalizing Principal Media Buying Is Not Normal by Maarten Albarda (Media Insider on 06/13/2025)
  

  Josh: As Maarten eloquently and I believe appropriaiately stated it's really about, "transparency, trust and integrity", ever decreasing characteristics in the media buy/sell arenas, notably in the US as exemplified by "Principal Media Buying".  Years ago when JWT went well beyond aggregating brand buys and spending for just a single advertiser/client in the upfronts via a JWT 'principlal media buy', i recall there were threats of law suits for unethical conduct and I believe some at the agency lost their jobs.  Sadly this decline in transparency, trust and integrity, is also reflected in the media currency and research arenas.  As an industry research guru and champion you are on the front lines to addresss the current damaging practices and failures to follow the best practices and established media research principles. As a colleague opined, Advertisers ultimately determine the status and behaviours of our industry via their ad dollars. So perhaps "we" are merely getting what "they" deserve?  As an early member of https://www.advertisingwhocares.org/ , "we" are trying to underline and remind advertsiers of best practices across all the cornerstones of the ad industry to help them understand and embrace the most effective advertising practices and investments possible to dirve brand equity and brand strength for both for the long and short term. 

• At Cannes Lions, Ad Measurement Is The Creative Industry's Most Urgent Challenge by Nada Bradbury (MAD on 06/13/2025)
  

  Nada: Encouraging progress on the auditing, tracking, transparency and accountability of "content-rendered-counts", aka "viewable impressions" (Not a measure of REAL OTS), e.g., independently validated proof-of-play/posting/printing.  However, if you remember your Nielsen days, this initial fundamental measurement of whether the creative messages were rendered by the media to advertiser/agency specifications can only "deliver" a brand outcome with, at a minimum, a known valid exposure opportunity, or actual Eyes/Ears-On, or some level of attention by the people in the brand's target group (HHs generally a very poor surrogate!).  Hopefully driven by relevant, brilliant, and meaningful creative in a non-toxic, synergyistic media environment for the brand. The latter requires a persons-based (not synthetic!) sophisticated measure of the population for potential or actual exposure.  In other words, at a minimum, a person-based measure of REAL OTS, e.g. Nielsen, or better, "contacts" or Eyes/Ears-On, e.g., GeoPath (US) or Route UK), or even better, attention, e.g., TVision.  Good luck on the panel!

• I Care About Ukraine Because I Care About America by Dave Morgan (Media Insider on 06/05/2025)
  

  Another insighful and pragmatic piece on Ukraine, its people and the fundamental opportunities it offers the US for its full support  on protecting Ukraine's long term sovereignty.  I believe I speak for many in our inustry - We are so very proud of you and your efforts!  

• WFA Urges Judge To Toss Musk's Boycott Suit by Wendy Davis (MediaDailyNews on 05/14/2025)
  

  Any Media Agency "worth its salt" for any brand can, I believe, easily demonstrate a media plan's superior cost effectivenes regarding the potential achievement of the brand's objectives for a given budget without the inclusion of various unsafe, brand damaging, misinformation cesspits like X.  GARM offered a real opportunity for social media to be fully accountable and transparent to advertisers. This lawsuit surely underlines the need for all advertisers to re-evalute and increasingly embrace the proven power of other major media in leveraging their  brand's creative message in an safe syngeristic context and environment that drives attention.    

• Study Finds Advertisers Prioritizing Performance Over Brand Safety by Steve McClellan (MAD on 04/30/2025)
  

  Brilliant insightful report on a trend that is eroding the cost effectiveness of brand campaigns and the media cess pits they are leaning towards.  Perhaps the Advertiser CFOs should demand real meaningful accountability for media investements from their CMO colleagues?  Hint: High quality media help  optimize long term brand equity!  

• '60 Minutes': Counting Trump Time, Advertisers Blinking? by Wayne Friedman (TV Watch on 04/30/2025)
  

  Michael: As usual advertisers and their brands need to double their support for quality, factual, verified journalism and media content.  There is surely a unique brand campaign associated with sponsoring/supporting 60 Minutes.   i suggest they are wasting $Billions on the various social media content sewers that can be transferred to more cost effective media.  Ask any innovative media agency.

• Strategies For Surviving The News by Gord Hotchkiss (Media Insider on 04/15/2025)
  

  Insightful a d helpful.  Cheers

• In The Industry's 'Currency Fiesta,' Is Attention The Ultimate Common Currency? by Tony Jarvis (MediaDailyNews on 04/08/2025)
  

  Josh: As long as you both do not denigrate the value and cost effectiveness of real JICs/MOCs that provide a media its currency (singular!) and also reflect the confusions and chaos of the US TV/Video market, per Nicholas Grand, your report may pass muster!

• CIMM To Assess Economic Impact Of New Ad Currencies by Joe Mandese (MediaDailyNews on 04/01/2025)
  

  Joe, as THE most knowledeable trade reporter on the Ad/Media business in the US, I must respectfully suggest that your assessment of this US multi-currency farrago is misguided and fundamentally flawed. I sadly suggest it preserves the misinformation, slight of hand and masquerades that are being increasingly embraced by our industry. Why? First, it ignores the wisdom and experience of Ed Papazian who we must surely listen to more. As I experienced first hand at MediaCom, "duopolistic market currencies" are a "bloody nightmare" for all involved. Based on mulit-media global experience it is JICs/MOCs, REAL ones, that are "most cost effective".  Period!  (Aquila may eventually be a media planning resource but not a currency.)Second, it is based on your apparent misunderstanding and/or rejection of the hard earned, long established, role, value, structure and operational procedures of REAL media JICs (and MOCs). Once again, there is no REAL TV/Video JIC in the US. There is a highly conflicted Multi-Currency Certification Committee. The M-CCC unequivocally fails to meet,"The Ten Cornerstones of JICs/MOCs" as researched by John Grono and myself and published gratefully by both Media Post and ESOMAR.  https://researchworld.com/brand-stories/insights-into-media-currency-research.  This was my comment on LinkedIn when this CIMM initiative was announced:"As we are awaiting the assessment of JICs in the US by Jonathan Steuer and Julian Zilberbrand commissioned by Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) last April, I am nervous for your intriguing project. This is especially as the TV Networks that own OpenAP, which masquerades as a JIC (at best a Multi-Currency Certification Committee), exert a powerful influence at CIMM along with Meta et al. As Richard Marks [UK media measurement guru] opined regarding TV/Video "multiple currencies" in the US, "I just don't get it". As Edward Papazian has consistently and correctly encouraged, establish an agreed industry persons-based, content-exposed, audience trading currency ("currency" for any entity is singular) with ancillary databases for enhancements. In my opinion, ideally via a REAL JIC (per my JIC White Paper with John Grono). That "we" have not established a universal Eyes/Ears-On based currency (singular!) across ALL media is ...!!! The use of IAB's/Media Rating Council's "viewable impressions", no REAL OTS, aka "content rendered counts", i.e., circulation/distribution, takes media measurement and metrics back 50 years. Per The Attention Council, "No attention (Eyes/Ears-On a prerequisite), no outcomes.". Keep me posted. 

• Faux Attribution by Dave Morgan (Media Insider on 03/20/2025)
  

  Dave: Per Dr. JIim Spaeth here in the US and  other honest media and marketing scientists gloabally, attribution, is simply smoke and mirrors.  As you suggest, the wilful ignorance - and deceit - must stop. The ANA should immediately investigate this fraud and the $Billions it is costing brands via misdirected inefficient marketing.

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