As part of its promise to champion a transparent and responsible advertising ecosystem, FMCG giant Unilever is calling upon brands, platforms and publishers to join it in developing a holistic measurement system across multiple media channels.
So far, digital ad platforms Facebook, Google and Twitter have partnered with Unilever on the initiative, alongside measurement companies Kantar Media and Nielsen. The company is now working with the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) to “accelerate” the project.
The measurement solution forms part of Unilever’s ‘digital responsibility framework’ announced in February last year, which also saw CMO Keith Weed threaten to pull advertising from the likes of Facebook and Google if they failed to clean up harmful and divisive content across their platforms.
Unilever claims to have made “significant steps” towards building the cross-media measurement model, though further detail remains undisclosed. The intention is to build a system that “puts privacy [… and the] consumer experience first.”
[advert position=”left”]
According to Weed, Unilever’s work with its partners on this initiative represents a “genuine willingness” across the industry to find solutions to shared issues.
“To realise our vision of a more transparent and high-quality digital ecosystem, our partnerships have been, and will remain, instrumental in developing an always on, privacy-safe model for cross media measurement,” he said.
“We look forward to welcoming other leading advertisers and industry associations to the initiative to help address this industry challenge.”
Meanwhile, Facebook’s Carolyn Everson, VP of global marketing solutions, said it is “important” that others join Unilever’s initiative, adding that the finished model must be one that “leverages independent third-party systems, protects privacy, and improves people’s experience with ads.”
