TouchPoints: Vision Vs Practice
At yesterday’s IPA morning seminar, TouchPoints: Vision Vs Practice, presentations were given on how the current system is being used by the industry and where the initiative will be in the future.
Industry luminaries from media agencies, media owners and advertisers spoke of how they are using the current system to aid their media processes in-house. Most demonstrated their use of the hub survey as opposed to the integrated planning database.
In May, Lynne Robinson announced at MediaTel Group’s ‘Future of Media Research’ seminar that the database is currently being reconfigured to make it more relevant to users (see TouchPoints Database To Be Reconfigured For Usability), stating that the original integrated planning database was a “great example of people not being able to tell you what they want until they got it in front of them, and it actually wasn’t that.”
The database is being re-released in the next couple of weeks, including the ability to drill down to station level for radio stations with weekly reach greater than 250,000, currently 92 stations. Stations with reach below this are grouped by genre.
Rounding up the presentations, Bob Wootton from ISBA made a rallying cry to media agencies and owners to avoid “TGI syndrome” where the system would be used to justify a course of action rather than inspire a course of action, stating that TouchPoints must be used differently.
He added: “It is too good to be used as a way of justifying a planner’s hunch.”
Belinda Beeftink from the IPA took the opportunity to highlight new developments for the initiative. The next incarnation, TouchPoints 2, is currently finalising funding, new sponsors have been signed, and TNS is working with the IPA to finalise the hub survey questionnaire.
New data is also being mooted for the second version, with TNS and RSMB looking into ways of integrating TNS World Panel data, plus discussion regarding the integration of the TGI survey – which could allow an element of brand information to be included in the TouchPoints 2 system.
TouchPoints 2’s new hub survey will be launched in early 2008 with the integrated database due to be launched by the end of Q1 2008.
From today, MediaTel subscribers are able to see snapshots of TouchPoints data through a short media quiz, illustrated with examples derived from TouchPoints data.
Have a go now to see how much you know about media as top scorers have the chance to win a bottle of champagne by the end of June – subscribers click here.
IPA: 020 7235 7020 www.ipa.co.uk