MRG Conference 2009: Industry updates for the year ahead
The Media Research Group’s one day conference offered an insight into what the industry is planning in 2010, with updates from all the leading industry currencies including POSTAR, UKOM and RAJAR.
POSTAR
POSTAR is set to launch an all-new comprehensive measurement system for out-of-home advertising in 2010. James Whitmore, POSTAR’s managing director, explained that the new measurement tool will include a multimodel map, a GPS travel survey, a database of advertising frames, a traffic intensity map and additional inputs.
More than 11,500 consumers have been given a new GPS device and asked to carry it for 6 days at a time. The system tracks every trip they take and even monitors second by second timings as well as how quickly they are travelling
The new GPS survey will cover 90,000 travel days data in the first year alone, according to Whitmore.
POSTAR’s developments will also see its coverage reach 450,000 outdoor units, including airports, buses, leisure centres, the tube, national rail sites, roadside sites, shopping centres, supermarkets and taxis, as well as a number of other outdoor ad sites.
However, Whitmore hopes the new system will focus on people, not just sites. POSTAR, he said, is going to look at how people behave on a normal day, to see what adverts they encounter. POSTAR even hopes to include views from windows, such as what people see while sitting on a bus.
In addition to the new system, the out of home advertising body is also working with TNS to compare the impact of various ads, such as illuminated and un-illuminated displays, moving ads, ads on buses, digital ads and how ads appear differently in the day compared to the night.
Whitmore said the “completely new” system, which is due to launch in the middle of next year, will have more information, be flexible and readily accessible.
IPA – TouchPoints
The IPA also plans to launch a new system in mid-2010 – TouchPoints 3. Belinda Beeftink said the IPA’s key aim for next year is to turn TouchPoints into a “must-have” tool for the industry.
The revamped TouchPoints is set to include gaming, watching films – as well as downloads and blu-ray film data – social networking sites, mobile internet use, VoD-viewing and the internet, including magazine portals.
Beeftink also unveiled plans for a Word of Mouth metric. The new metric will potentially encompass WoM data, 20% of which is stimulated by advertising, according to the IPA.
2010 will also see the IPA integrate TouchPoints with UKOM and POSTAR’s new system.
UKOM
Guy Phillipson, chairman of IAB, took to the stage to tell delegates about UKOM – the UK online measurement company – and its plans for 2010.
UKOM, which officially launched in October this year, has joined forces with The Nielsen Company to develop a new industry-governed Audience Planning System (APS), which is “flexible for the UK market,” according to Phillipson.
The APS, which will allow advertisers and their agencies to plan online campaigns that target specific audiences through reach and frequency metrics (from a panel of 35,000 consumers across home and work PC locations) is due to launch in January 2010, with first data available in February.
UKOM will roll-out further additions to the system as the year goes on, with ad network reach available from April 2010 and online video measurement available from June 2010.
RAJAR
RAJAR plans to spend next year developing an online diary, which is being thought-out to act as a dual system with its paper diary. The online diary promises to be “easy to use” but Christel Lacaze said “it will be months before we know if we’ll be able to incorporate it into our data”.
The online diary, which would allow users to upload their radio listening habits via the internet, is currently in the early stages of development but has the potential to include mobile, as a means of updating the diary “on the go”.
In addition, RAJAR hopes to be able to incorporate more listening figures in 2010, widening its focus from radio to all audio, according to Lacaze. This would see RAJAR provide more data, such listening figures for podcasts and downloads, and will act as “one diary to kill two birds with one stone”, Lacaze said.
BARB
BARB officially launch its new 2010 contract to the industry a week ago. Tony Wearn, BARB’s research director, explained exactly what this would involve to MRG delegates.
The new measurement panel is set to take over from 1st January 2010 and will comprise of 5,100 homes with new meters already in place (which is managed by TNS).
However, there will be a number of changes to the structure and methodology for 2010. One of the main changes is that the two different panels – “terrestrial” and “multi-channel” – have been replaced by one “network” panel, which will be the base for all trading. This means that there will no longer be any overlap between ITV regions.
The new panel will also provide better representation of multi-platform homes, ethnic profiles, metropolitan, urban and rural population distribution, according to Wearn.
In addition, the new meters will provide comprehensive capture of seven day catch-up services on digital cable and Sky Anytime when viewed via TV sets.
However, Wearn warned that the “industry needs to confirm what it wants” from the industry body if it is to move forward.
NRS
The NRS has undergone many changes in 2009, mainly as a result of the incoming chief executive Mike Ironside, who was appointed in December 2008.
Steve Millington talked about the survey’s re-branding, new website, move to electronic reports and also outlined its focus for the year ahead.
The revamped website now offers digital versions of the NRS quarterly volumes for the first time and features eight-year trend graphs comparing NRS and ABC data, as part of a drive by the two organisations to work closer together.
NRS is also developing an e-alert system to keep people informed of survey developments. The new site also offers a members’ forum discussing ideas put forward by the recently established NRS User Advisory Panel.
Another outcome of Ironside’s root-and-branch review of NRS includes a new-look logo, which was designed to reflect the importance of NRS survey data and its place in the media measurement space.
Looking ahead, the NRS wants to continue re-connecting with its stakeholders in a bid to improve its survey, according to Millington. He also said that the body plans to measure different platforms in 2010, although confirmed that a single survey method has been ruled out.