Identity. Measurement. Clean rooms. Privacy.
Each of these topics got plenty of airtime at our Industry Preview in New York City earlier this week. The common thread? You guessed it: Connected TV.
But CTV isn’t dominating the conversation just because it’s growing. Fact is, measurement is still behind. There has been progress, though.
“Identity is becoming the new currency for video ad measurement,” said Lisa Valentino, Disney’s EVP of client solutions and addressable enablement, from the stage.
But for any currency to actually work, she added, there needs to be interoperability between big data sets.
Data camp
Disney announced new programmatic integrations with Experian and LiveRamp on Tuesday, which Valentino told me wouldn’t be possible without clean-room tech.
Clean rooms allow for privacy-safe matching between different sets of identifiers, which leads to higher match rates and better incremental reach. Unilever, for example, saw match rates of up to 80% through Disney’s integration with The Trade Desk’s UID2, Valentino said.
NBCUniversal and Roku have also been investing in clean room development to woo advertisers with better targeting and measurement that can withstand scrutiny on the privacy front.
But clean rooms alone won’t solve the buy side’s measurement woes.
Made to measure
There’s a huge “sense of urgency” within the industry to get measurement right so CTV can attract the ad dollars it deserves, said John Halley, president of advertising at Paramount, who was also speaking at Industry Preview.
That urgency is why Paramount recently helped launch a joint industry committee (JIC) to create currency standards – and why NBCU hosted a panel of its media competitors at its One23 developer conference on Wednesday. Rising tide and all that.
Advertisers want their measurement providers to give them deduped reach and frequency tied to outcomes. They want advanced audiences rather than demo-based audiences. Their demands are well known.
But first, the buy side and the sell side have to agree on a set of standards for measurement providers. Otherwise, you can’t use them as a currency, Halley said at One23 on NBCU’s stage.
Agencies are on board with that sentiment.
The TV industry needs to home in on a consistent set of metrics for counting reach and frequency across platforms, said Cara Lewis, chief investment officer at Dentsu, also speaking at NBCU’s event. Once that happens, buyers can pick and choose vendors based on their unique selling points – like, say, cross-screen attribution or performance-based measurement.
But what I’m wondering is: Will the JIC be able to finalize its standards in time for its self-imposed 2024 deadline as planned? It’s ambitious, and we shall see.
Let me know what you think. Hit me up at [email protected].
