Industry Conundrum—Execs Seek New Cross-Platform Measurement Tools

Advertisers, researchers and TV execs at the 2nd Annual Cross-Platform Video Measurement Summit in NYC Thurs agreed on one thing: it’s still a problem. "Severely lacking" was how Viacom evp/chief research officer Colleen Fahey Rush described cross-platform measurement, particularly when it comes to early adopters of viewing content on smartphones and tablets—i.e. Viacom’s primary audience. "More change is needed but it won’t happen overnight."

Experts at the conference presented by the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement seemed to coalesce around TAXI, the advocacy platform for the adoption of Ad-ID and EIDR coding of video assets in order to track media across platforms. On Thurs April 18 CIMM, Ad-ID and EIDR announced the results of a 2-year study with 28 media companies—including NBCU, Viacom, Turner, Hulu, Fox and others—estimating that additional ad dollars and improved workflow animation could add $2.5bln to the bottom line. The key, however, is getting the industry on board. And cable and broadcasters will not go without their advertisers.

"We have over 500 different ways our advertisers send copy to us," said NBCU vp, commercial ops Brad Epperson, with as many as 3 different naming conventions for the exact same commercial. The industry’s legacy infrastructure will take "the most horsepower" to change, said Dave Kohl, advertising sector leader, media & entertainment advisory services, Ernst & Young. "On the cost side, broadcast and cable will make the larger investments," he said.

Ad-ID chief growth officer Harold Geller said step 1 is getting advertisers to register assets. "We need a firm identifiable code that’s built with a hierarchy," said Janice Finkel-Greene, Magnaglobal evp, director of buying analytics. Said Epperson: "Everyone knows now we can take the next step," which is defining "the business case to push it forward… We want to evangelize TAXI as a more elegant method of workflow… but we need advertisers on board, too."

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story originally appeared in CableFAX Daily. Go here to subscribe.