Who cares where a video runs?
As long as an advertiser can accurately measure that video’s reach, the question itself becomes somewhat moot. And now that video demand-side platform (DSP) TubeMogul is, as of Friday, in the fold as a certified Nielsen mobile Online Campaign Ratings (OCR) partner, that question also becomes less relevant for Starcom MediaVest and its clients, including Kraft. The media agency is the first client to sign up for mobile OCR reporting through TubeMogul, which also handles programmatic video buying for snack food conglomerate Mondelez, formerly a part of Kraft before being spun off from the CPG giant back in 2012.
The new reporting function bolsters TubeMogul’s existing BrandPoint product, which launched back in June 2013. Powered by Nielsen’s desktop OCR, BrandPoint allows users to plan media strategy and purchase digital video based on TV-like metrics, like gross rating point. The inclusion of mobile OCR aims to evolve BrandPoint into what TubeMogul CMO Keith Eadie called, “a true cross-screen plan/buy/measurement system.” Clients will be able to log into a single dashboard to access both desktop and mobile inventory.
“It’s about helping advertisers plan holistically across desktop and mobile with audience demographics in mind,” Eadie said. “It’s also about having reach across audience that is verified by Nielsen and deduplicated between mobile and desktop for a better view and better reach.”
Nielsen officially rolled out its Online Campaign Ratings offering for mobile web and in-app measurement in July. It’s an important move for Nielsen, especially as mobile video consumption – and video advertising on mobile – continues to rise. According to new research from Citrix, the ratio of banner ads to video served over mobile increased between 2013 and 2014 from one video ad for every 20 banner ads served, to one video ad for every 16 banner ads.
Standardized measurement will also help clients to more effectively manage their budgets, said Zach Isaacs, VP and director of video investment at Starcom Worldwide.
“For the first time I can be honest with myself and my clients and plan a video-neutral strategy,” Isaacs said. “If the brand manager for, say, Philly cream cheese came to me and asked me, ‘How did mobile factor into the overall plan?’ all we could do previously was make assumptions. Before I had the mentality, now I have the tools.”
Up until recently, the mobile space was “a little bit of a black box,” said Isaacs, who noted that better reporting is part of what brands need to see before they truly open up the purse strings for mobile. Better measurement helps give agencies and advertisers a little more flexibility with their spend.
“Video consumption is happening across screens and, in a sense, I no longer necessarily have to care, in the majority of cases, that this portion of my budget is going to mobile and this much is going to desktop, and this other portion is going to linear TV,” Isaacs said. “Video is simply video – that’s the point we’re trying to get to – but we can’t do that without standardization of measurement.”
