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Tony Jarvis

Member since April 2006

As proprietor and Research Architect for the Olympic Media Consultancy we serve global clients in 3 key areas: Provide expert leadership, analysis, planning and strategic thinking to optimize the value and usage of available media/marketing and data/systems information. Generate increased marketing ROI (revenue, profitability and brand equity) by providing relevant insights through designing, executing and interpreting superior advertising research. Evaluate and improve advertising and media effectiveness for agencies and their clients by understanding, developing and managing meticulous consumer research and applying "leading edge" models and concepts. Tony was Chairman of CARF, Canada and is a former Board member of The ARF and MRC . An Olympian he was formerly the British Olympic Swim Team Captain. He writes Op Eds exclusively for Media Post and also offers regular pithy comments on Media Post articles. He refuses to use "Fakebook"!

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  • In Space No One Can Hear You Boycott by Joe Mandese (Red, White & Blog on 08/07/2026)

    As Josh Chasin opined in a comment on this revival of the X suit against the WFA and its now shuttered GARM initiative, brand responsible social media planning & buying requires ardent brand safety considerations which the major social media site contemt gutters do not deliver. Meta, X, etc. do not need a boycott just the application of fundamental solid media planning & buying principles based on persons-based attention metrics and common sense! 

  • Musk Urges Court To Revive 'Brazen' Suit Against 10 Advertisers by Wendy Davis (MediaDailyNews on 08/06/2026)

    Josh - amen!  Beyond real person-based media audiences and typically unsound CPMs (Completely Positively Mad), overall media and program content and environment have always been a critical part of planning and buying effective media along with concerns for other brand messages displayed and their "suitability" on any media/channel under consideration.  As noted, the GARM Guidelines were voluntary.  However, placing one's brand message on the various gutters of social media is an unecessary risk when so many quality safe media vehicles are available that protect a brand's stature and long term equity.  

  • Study Finds More Than Half Of CTV Programmatic Served On Large Screens by Wayne Friedman (Advanced TV Insider on 08/05/2026)

    Wayne: We need to always remember "served" is not necessarily "viewed" and even real persons-based "viewed" metrics are not necessarily reflective of "attention".  Without attention there can be no outcomes for programmers or advertisers.  So the final attention proportions across the programming and channels mentioned will, most likely, be significantly different.  

  • VideoAmp, Nielsen One Pull Out Of MRC Accreditation Process by Joe Mandese (MediaDailyNews on 07/13/2026)

    Spot on as usual Ed!When advertisers and "genuine" quality content providers listen seriously to Ed Papazian, who virtlually always "gets it right" plus their media agency research directors (some at least, and certainly the IPA, UK!), they will stop being hood-winked by the technopolies and their data walled gardens plus all this "alternative ad currency" nonsense, via the highly conflict-of-interest OpenAP that still masquerades as a JIC, on a variety of dubious media metrics that potentially misdirect truly effective media investments whether for ad campaigns or content development.  I respectfully suggest that Aquila and its use of the technopolies' driven,"revised" and false defintion of impressions or opportunites-to-see, is a disservice to the entire industry.  Even as a "Commercial Goverance Tool" Aquila is also unfortunately weak as a result of the many scientific flaws across the various stages of the highly complex data integration and calibration processes and the resulting, so called, "reach & frequency" metrics - not to be confused with Reach and Frequency metrics of the past that had real value! FYI: I am a member of the WFA's HALO Industry Technical Advisory Group, HITAG so have attempted to understand the various constructs of HALO and its offspring, Aquila via ANA, US and ORIGIN via ISBA, UK as welll as, and most importantly, the companies significantly influencing the HALO model! 

  • Half Of Advertisers Buying Programmatic Are Underperforming... by Joe Mandese (Planning & Buying Insider on 05/29/2026)

    Michael:  I respectfully suggest that this TAG report is somewhat flawed albeit insightful.  So called "viewable impressions" per MRC have no persons-based real exposure measures.  They merely reflect 'content-rendered-counts' (on the glass, etc.), i.e., NO REAL OTS, nor LTS, nor contacts even if independently verified, a fundamental POP requirement.  Per The Attention Council, "No attention, no outcomes!"  So whether programmatic or otherwise, evaluating media ROI on anything other than persons-based "qualified" attention metrics is surely spurious.  At media agencies , CPM has always stood for "Completely Positively Mad".  Whether "True" or not, meaningful CPMs based on attention metrics can offer advertisers True insights into relative media efficiencies but even then only as long as they are combined with a myriad of other media qualities relative to the creative message and the brand campaign.    

  • Obit: Long-Time Media Research Leader Andy Brown, Dead At 63 by Joe Mandese (MediaDailyNews on 05/26/2026)

    Josh & Joe:  Let's make this happen!  Have alerted Scott McDonald at ARF. 

  • Obit: Long-Time Media Research Leader Andy Brown, Dead At 63 by Joe Mandese (MediaDailyNews on 05/26/2026)

    Andy was not only a titan of the media research business globally, he shared his deep knowledge and insights willingly and in the clearest manner with us all to the very end. I shalll be forever be grateful for his counsel over the years.  While British and an avid Arsenal fan (I will forgive him!), I would respectfully suggest that ARF considers postumously awarding Andy the "Erwin Ephron Demystification Award" which I was proud to help institute.  I believe his fellow "titan", Erwin, would be more than delighted.

  • Just The FACs, Ma'am: ANA Unveils Its Own New Ad Tax by Joe Mandese (MediaDailyNews on 05/05/2026)

    Levying a "tax" on media data users of a measurement system based on ad spend/or ad revenues is not new.  However, what is surely peculiar for a supposedly media neutral media data/analytics service, is that Aquila is a for-profit entity, supported heavily by the walled gardens technopolies, whilst a division of a not-for-profit industry organisation.  This structure raises possible conflict of interest and data bias questions at a minimum.  Joe, back to you.  

  • No Attention, No Outcomes by Tony Jarvis (Planning & Buying Insider on 04/15/2026)

    Ed:  Sound further insights and considerations as always.  From a media planning and buying perspective, "Attentive audience (actually watched or heard) exposures" should surely be the  basis for all Cross-Media-Measurement as also urged by Jonathan Waite.  It would establish the minimal media metric threshold to achieve any outcome (verus raw impressions) albeit depending on the impact of "many other varibles", as you rightly point out.   

  • State Of The 'Currency' Marketplace: Fiesta, Siesta, Fiasco? by Tony Jarvis (Planning & Buying Insider on 04/01/2026)

    Ed: Just posted this on LinkedIn in response to Dr. Tracy Adams', ARF, excellent observations on the complex barriers facing media measurment in the US. I believe it underlines the concerns we have both expressed regarding the critical importance of people-based real exposure measurement for too long. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tracy-adams625_cimmeast2026-cimmeast2026-measurement-activity-7444879478142439424-_Jnw?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAKo4FUBIAk90m3xtqphku7ECsUhBCx676Y"I would add a caution that relying on device-based ("content rendered counts on the glass" aka "viewable impressions") measurement essentially takes the industry back years to circulation/distribution metrics that we seriously left behind after the seminal Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) Media Model was published, 2003. Understanding how advertising works and the most relevant metrics to use has continued its sophistication with Attention metrics. No Attention. No outcomes!"I have a piece coming out imminently on ARF's Evaluation of Attention Measurement, Phase III that was driven by Tracy together with Paul Donato at ARF.  Terrific work on this critical media dimension by ARF.  

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