MRG One Day Conference: TV Events In BARB 2002
Jeff Eales, e-commerce director of Donovan Data Systems opened the one day MRG conference at the Royal Society of Arts in London yesterday, with an introduction into how the new BARB system will bring greater accountability to TV advertising.
Eales explained that the new BARB contract, due to be introduced early next year (see BARB Presents New Research System), will establish an industry wide standard for identifying and tracking commercial spots more efficiently. He said that 45% of the total number of commercial spots transmitted each month, which now stands at over 700,000 carry no ratings and are as such unidentifiable.
The new BARB contract plans to address this problem, explained Eales, by establishing an organisation devoted solely to the problem of commercial attribution. The organisation, named Attribution, is currently developing a system to allow broadcasters and advertisers to track commercial spots “quickly and efficiently.”
Under the new system commercial spots will be identified by brand rather than by campaign name, which has in the past caused a great deal of confusion. Each commercial also will be given a specific code, which will contain information as to when it was broadcast, at what time and on what channel. The charismatic Eales said that this would represent: “A huge step forward for mankind,” if done properly.
Eales, who was not prepared to accept any questions on the issue of audience measurement, also discussed programme attribution, which he said, had been the greatest problem encountered by BARB.
He explained that the contract for programme attribution, which was awarded to IPSOL RSL, would include daily rather than weekly programme reports and would make average audience ratings for programmes more accurate by discounting commercial breaks, a time when many viewers turn over. He also said that sponsorship and promotional spots occurring during programmes would be tracked for the first time.
Eales admitted that all of the data would not be in place by January and finished his presentation by informing the auditorium that implementing the new contracts had been “a struggle” because the BARB system had remained unchanged for 33 years.
More information about yesterday’s conference can be found on the MRG website: www.mrg.org.uk