"BARC, IRS, ABC and TGI can be integrated to become a single data source": Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Mediabrands

At the recently held Ad Club Media Review, Sinha spoke about the importance of third party data source for measuring the digital platform.

The Ad Club hosted the Media Review in Mumbai on Thursday, October 13. Shashi Sinha, chief executive officer, IPG Mediabrands and Jonah Goodhart, chief executive officer and co-founder, Moat, in their respective presentations, spoke about the importance of ad measurement in the digital advertising industry.

"BARC, IRS, ABC and TGI can be integrated to become a single data source": Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Mediabrands

Talking about the importance of digital ad measurement, Sinha said, "If digital needs to be measured, it needs to have a big data party to do it. ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulation) has made a foray into digital measurement and that will measure publishers as well as other digital property owners like websites or apps from computer, mobile and tabs."

Speaking about industry looking into the point of a single data source, Sinha added that "IRS (Indian Readership Survey), BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council), ABC and TGI (Target Group Index) can be integrated to become a single data source."

Sinha also mentioned the need to change TV buying from Cost Per Rating Point (CPRP) to Cost Per Thousands (CPT). He said, "CPRP has outlived its utility. It hides real growth for broadcasters and media agencies. Low CPT in India presents a big opportunity to drive growth."

Adding on India's ad expenditure (Adex) and digital growth, he says, "India's Adex is growing and we are evolving faster than people think. This year has been slow for digital growth. Digital will ensure that targeting becomes a norm."

Talking to afaqs! about the importance of digital measurement in India, Goodhart says, "Interestingly when I came to India, I wasn't sure if people over here would be focused on measurement or not and now I find out that everybody is interested in measurement because it impacts the business, it impacts what content is being created, impacts what they buy. To me it seems that the measurement here is the foundation that we need to build."

In the recent past, brands have had an issue with the measurement of the three-second view of Facebook video versus the 30-second view of YouTube video because by the time one might scroll down the video or post on Facebook it would already be three seconds and hence questions have been raised on the transparency.

Goodhart says, "There is not a simple answer to that because I might be on Facebook and for me looking at a post for a second might be a long time. You might look at something for a couple of seconds and for you it might not mean anything. For you it has to be a five or 10 seconds. So the concept of relative attention is really important and the example of YouTube you don't have a choice. You have to watch that ad if you want to get to your content."

He adds, "In the case of Facebook, you have a choice and flip right past it. So we have to ask questions about intent as well as time. Intent is about relative attention and absolute attention is about 30 seconds versus three seconds. I don't think there is one answer because just because I am forcing you to watch something doesn't mean you are interested in watching it but if you choose to watch something for three seconds may be that is more valuable. I don't think there is unfortunately a simple answer but we need to continue to ask such questions."

Have news to share? Write to us atnewsteam@afaqs.com