Havas Media pairs with DG to “bridge” gap between online and TV measurement

DG’s roots are in broadcast TV ad distribution, which later broadened to include online following the acquisition of ad technology firm MediaMind in 2011 for $414 million.

The move will see Havas Media integrate its data management network Artemis with DG’s MediaMind online products and VideoFusion TV products, with the view to providing more comparable metrics to assess TV and online campaigns.

Thomas Bremond, senior VP of EMEA, DG, said the goal is to provide comprehensive reports for both TV and online using data and methodologies both online and TV buyers can understand.

“In the UK TV measurement centres on BARB data and using GRP as the core metric, but that metric perplexes online buyers….no one is looking at holistic data. We want to match all data sets to provide a single view of a campaign. We will feed back data to agencies to provide a one-stop shop for them,” he said.

Stephanie Marie, head of digital operations, Havas Media Global, said: “DG’s continued effort to bridge the gap between online and TV allow us to present clients with a shared vision that meets consumer demand for more meaningful connections.”

DG will use a mix of its own data management, along with Nielsen’s single-source measurement service Online Campaign Ratings (OCR), which combines server and demographic data with cross-platform panel homes.

Bremond said it will also look to incorporate social data into its planning tool further down the line. “It’s about pushing some of that digital expertise back into TV. It’s a new world of second-screen TV audience measurement and we are seeing a lot of new data sources which can be applied across screens,” he added.

Although DG has nowhere near the majority share it has in the US, it is continuing to grow its UK business. It can deliver synchronised TV and second-screen online ads, having worked with brands including O2 and Channel 2 in the UK.

In 2011 O2 ran a successful dual-screen campaign on Channel 4 ‘s multiplatform live entertainment show The Million Pound Drop. The mobile operator launched its biggest ever online-TV synchronises campaign on a TV gameshow as part of its wider Thinking of You Campaign.

The campaign comprised a three-minute music video fronted by British rapper Tinnie Tempah which ran on YouTube. Viewers of the show and players of the accompanying online game were then directed through to YouTube to watch the video. The video was a one-on-one gig with an O2 customer, who had applied along with hundreds to other entrants to be part of the music video via the artist’s Facebook page.