MAD//Anywhere highlights: Is cross-media measurement something to be cross about?

With the WFA (World Federation of Advertisers) bringing together global brands and activating local advertiser associations to create an industry framework for establishing a new approach to cross-media measurement, it has been a hot topic of late.

At MAD//Anywhere, our Commercial Director in the UK, Martyn Bentley interviewed Karl Ward, Marketing Effectiveness Manager at Direct Line Group – one of the UK’s biggest advertisers – about his perspective on cross-media measurement and experiences with it thus far.

Experiences with cross-media measurement

According to Karl, linear TV has been the broadcast media channel in focus for Direct Line Group. It is the one that has performed the best from an econometrics and brand power perspective, but with consumption changing, the company has started to investigate forms of AV advertising, such as YouTube and BVOD.

By recently working together with AudienceProject and Ebiquity, Direct Line Group has been able to measure related cross-channel media activities, and tie together their digital, social and broadcast video and TV advertising to understand the incremental reach that each of the media channels is driving.

More specifically, Direct Line Group has managed to get insights into which media channels drive reach the fastest, which ones have the greatest engagement and attention and which ones they have to use differently. Among other things, it has shown Direct Line Group that YouTube works really well in terms of driving incremental reach on top of linear TV. However, for Direct Line Group, TV is still king as it drives the greatest reach and engagement, and generates the greatest results in terms of econometrics.

Looking forward

Based on this, Direct Line Group highlights that the focus around transparency and having everybody being open to third-party measurement is key, as it allows advertisers to truly measure and understand the consumption of all media together – something that has been hard to do in the past, but is now possible due to the technical capabilities being available.

This is also why Direct Line Group applauds the WFA and Project Origin processes of bringing everyone in the industry together to create a better framework for cross-media measurement. If some media channels are not performing or if it cannot be proved that they are performing, Direct Line Group avoids investing in these media, which in Karl’s words ‘will hurt everyone’ going forward. So, having publishers and broadcasters support a common measurement framework thus helping advertisers understand what’s driving audience performance is something the entire industry will benefit from.

Get the full experience

If you want to get all the details from the interview with Karl Ward and learn more about his view and experiences of cross-media measurement, you can watch the interview in its full length below. Enjoy!