Jed Meyer explains how Nielsen DigitalPlus' new set-top box measurement initiative will benefit interactive advertisers.
Global information and media powerhouse The Nielsen Company recently announced the formation of Nielsen DigitalPlus, a service that will essentially integrate a broad range of existing Nielsen data sets with the raw information being gathered by set-top boxes. DirecTV is only the first that has been announced of several partners for DigitalPlus' proof-of-concept testing.
Jed Meyer is SVP of Nielsen DigitalPlus, a service that brings together Nielsen's monitoring capabilities with cable and satellite systems.
In an effort to understand DigitalPlus' expectations regarding the new insights it hopes to provide advertisers, and how it expects these insights will help with both their integrated and interactive campaigns, we sat down with Senior Vice President Jed Meyer.
IMC: Why don't we start with an explanation of Nielsen DigitalPlus, and how it plans to differentiate itself from other data providers?
Jed Meyer: Simply put, DigitalPlus pulls together our assets and our strategy around digital set-top box data, and offers new ways to use this data and to integrate it with other Nielsen assets.
The Nielsen Company, recently rebranded from VNU, includes product usage information from ACNielsen, and modeling information from Spectra, and BASES. We have others, too, but these are the first three we're focused on.
Our strategy over the past many years and specifically during the past 18 months has been to develop our internal infrastructure to support analysis of these large volumes of data, including the data available from set-top boxes. We've taken a lot of time getting ready to process and integrate this data for our clients. We've also taken experts from our methodology area, our stats area, our analytics area, and they are now under the DigitalPlus umbrella with the charge of integrating all this data and computing power, as a way to create new insights for our clients.
IMC: So where will you be concentrating your resources?
Meyer: Our first three priorities include expanding electronic measurement in support of Nielsen's A2M2 initiative (Editor's Note: Last year, Nielsen announced an Anywhere Anytime Media Measure program, dubbed "A2M2." It involves innovative technology such as the company's Go Meters and Solo Meters, which people can carry with them and which can pick up the sound of video in public settings such as sports bars and airport lounges to provide audience tracking. The company can also research and provide custom reports about other viewing habits, such as those of viewers in hotels, which can be important but which tend not to be part of the everyday currency used by advertisers.). We're going to be following video wherever it's appearing and measuring viewership, whether it's on the TV in your living room, on mobile devices, or anywhere else you're consuming video.
Second, we're providing metrics for targeted advertising on the new advertising platforms, and there are a lot of them from vendors like ComCast, OpenTV, VisibleWorld and InVidi, who are rolling out trials for these platforms. The advertising community needs metrics for these new platforms so they can evaluate their effectiveness and begin to include them where warranted in their media plans.
Third, we're providing a deeper understanding of commercial activity, that is, the actual exposure of consumers to specific advertising messages.
They may seem like new initiatives, but actually these announcements are consistent with our history. We've been working on cutting edge measurement for many years. For example, we worked with TimeWarner on its "Q" system back in the 1980s. And there have been other examples.
Next: The DirecTV deal