A new framework aimed at giving advertisers a far greater understanding of their ads’ reach and frequency across all media is to be road-tested in the US and UK, the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) has said.

Accurate cross-media measurement has been a long-standing challenge within the industry, and the WFA has teamed up with global advertisers and platforms to put together both a framework and a technical solution.

This, it is hoped, will help brands ensure their ads are only seen the right number of times, wherever consumers are consuming content, and will stop consumers being excessively bombarded by the same ads. At the same time, advertisers will get a more complete picture of how and where ads are viewed.

The WFA has worked with national advertiser associations during the 18-month project in order to create the framework, which identifies advertisers’ cross-media measurement requirements along with principles that advertisers believe all solutions should be bound by.

Alongside the framework, the WFA is also publishing a technical proposal for cross-media measurement, which meets the principles outlined in the framework, including those covering transparency, neutrality and auditing.

The proposal, which was developed in partnership with digital platforms, including Facebook and Google, will now be tested in the UK and the US. Central to the proposal, says the WFA, is that it acknowledges that measurement is a local business and needs considerable local governance alongside the need for some global (or “common”) components to drive consistency and scale. Any parts of the proposal that need bespoke technology will be open sourced, says the WFA.

“Cross-media measurement is viewed as the ‘holy grail’ for marketers – as it optimises marketing decision making for driving business and brand growth,” said Bob Liodice, President and CEO of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA).

“Cross-media measurement is a global topic that needs to be answered locally, as every region has different starting positions and demands,” he added.

Stephan Loerke, CEO of the WFA, commented, “Advertisers have long struggled with poor quality data that doesn’t allow them to properly assess how best to invest their ad budgets across multiple platforms and media.

“This body of work provides a blueprint to build a cross-media measurement solution that responds to advertiser needs,” he stated.

Sourced from WFA