ORLANDO, FL: Procter & Gamble's "patience has run out" with the absence of common measurement standards – a problem which is reducing the amount of time brand custodians can spend on the more important task of driving creativity.

Marc Pritchard, Global Brand Officer at Procter & Gamble, discussed this subject at the Association of National Advertisers' (ANA) 2016 Masters of Marketing Conference.

And he suggested that the manufacturer of Tide detergent, Pampers diapers and Crest toothpaste – and, indeed, the world's biggest advertiser – is currently forced to expend too much energy on issues surrounding metrics.

"Frankly, our patience has run out. It's time to insist that all media partners adopt common, transparent measurement standards and accept third-party verification," said Pritchard. (For more details, read Warc's exclusive report: P&G seeks to end the measurement debate – for the sake of creativity.)

Expanding on this argument, he suggested that the outsized effort required to address measurement reduces the time available to generate breakthrough creative.

"Beautiful craft requires time. And we have a problem, because we're spending too much of our time on [the] measurement of advertising versus the quality," Pritchard said.

The need to move on from insular debates about metrics, and instead focus on delivering ads worthy of consumer attention, is brought into stark relief by several trends observable in the digital ecosystem.

Examples of these shifts include the surging popularity of ad-blocking software, as well as the habit of fast-forwarding through TV commercials and skipping pre-roll messages whenever possible.

"We're fiddling with measurement debates while consumers are blocking our ads. Measurement is not going to make crappy advertising better," Pritchard reported.

"We need to stop wasting time on measurement transactions, and invest in what's really important, which is elevating the craft of our work."

And focusing on craft, he continued, can help marketers foster much deeper relationships with consumers. "The consumers that we serve deserve our very best, and it is the key to unlocking growth."

Data sourced from Warc