Can research place a value on context?

Speaking at the Future of Media Research conference, Paul Goode, SVP strategic partnerships, comScore, discussed a subject that is beginning to generate much interest in adland: what is the value of context in advertising – and can research quantify it?

In the online world, programmatic systems are increasingly used to buy a targeted audience irrespective of the context in which the ad is viewed. Speak to many in the business, and they argue that it’s damaging both publishers and brands.

It’s a two-way problem, that when taken to its worst extremes has seen premium publishers grow frustrated that inappropriate ads are featuring alongside their content – and quality brands being featured alongside compromising content.

As one anecdote doing the rounds puts it: If a posh brand like Rolex was to follow the audience-buying logic in the real-world, it would target City-boy traders in the urinals of the boozer. Clearly something the brand would never consider.

In the short view interview above Goode also looks at the new skills media researchers will need to evolve the discipline and the challenges they face in an increasingly digitised, fragmented and data-rich media market.