Against a backdrop of Nielsen issues with TV measurement and ongoing advertiser disaffection with the way all media are measured, the Association of National Advertisers has come out with some baseline requirements for measurement.
ANA‘s Media Leadership Growth Council and Cross Media Measurement initiative steering committee together issued the following to "clarify" what its members are looking for:
1. Given that their marketing decision affect billions of dollars worth of transactions, they want “a measurement system that is objective, independent, transparent, neutral, and third-party verified,” which means, given the technology and intelligence available, “a more robust measurement ecosystem that delivers on these aspirations.”
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2. The Media Rating Council is “indispensable,” as is its third-party accreditation to "justify" the billions of ad dollars spent on paid media annually.
3. Also indispensable is cross-media measurement (CMM), with the ANA saying it is “imperative’ that CMM “becomes the paramount objective of the measurement community.”
4. ANA said the move to advance a focus on measurement (which the Nielsen issues have put a spotlight on), should be led “by a consortium of trade bodies that represent the various industry constituents — including those organizations that are small to medium-sized businesses." ANA said there has to be a commitment to "real change” and the resources needed to overcome past barriers to sound measurement.
5. New measurement standards must be “open to all,” regardless of the size of the media spend.
