LiveRamp improves cross-screen ad measurement with new TV forecasting tools
LiveRamp is introducing new streaming forecasting tools as well as data sharing and measurement frameworks within its TV platform. The move aims to create greater visibility for media buyers, sellers and programmers alike and improve advertising outcomes.
LiveRamp has debuted a new identity-based solution for cross-channel TV measurement
Data connectivity and adtech platform LiveRamp today announced it is integrating streaming inventory forecasting and data collaboration capabilities into its TV platform. The move enables both media buyers and sellers to better activate and accurately measure the impact of various campaigns across all TV channels, including streaming, linear and digital video.
The company claims its TV platform is the “first and only end-to-end solution” to allow marketers, programmers and sell-side platforms alike to forecast, plan, execute and measure across all TV media types, per a statement released today. LiveRamp has already signed a number of partners to the new platform, including Publica, Scripps and Philo.
The decision to debut a new buying platform was made in response to the challenges that currently exist in the CTV ecosystem, according to LiveRamp TV’s chief strategy officer Jay Prasad: “There is currently no end-to-end platform in the market that enables brands, programmers and platforms to plan and measure campaigns in a coordinated way against a high-valued audience and holistically across all channels. Today, this is done in a fragmented way without a common identity or measurement, and involves multiple vendors and solutions.
“To level the playing field, brands need a new infrastructure to safely and easily unlock the value of their audience data and forge deeper media partnerships, while maintaining complete control and visibility of their proprietary data.
“As a neutral provider of technology and solutions to all parts of the ecosystem, LiveRamp aims to enable TV identity that both marketers and programmers can trust and rely on to power addressable activation, measurement and data collaboration.”
The matter of measurement in connected TV
One of the most daunting challenges of the CTV space today is measurement. As it stands, measurement in the space is hindered by the fact that there is no common currency. Various CTV platforms employ their own identifiers and most streaming services rely on their own proprietary frameworks for measurement. At the same time, countless third-party vendors offer their own measurement and ad verification services. The result is a fragmented landscape with little ability to accurately measure the impact of advertising efforts congruously across platforms and channels.
In an attempt to solve for some of the mismatch that currently occurs with ad measurement across connected TV, traditional linear TV and digital video, the new LiveRamp CTV platform utilizes an identity-based framework called RampID. Adtech firms are increasingly shifting toward identity-based solutions to prepare for the sunsetting of the third-party cookie in 2023. The company says that RampID will not only improve cross-channel ad measurement but also ensures “every touchpoint is privacy-first, secure, sustainable and scalable,” per today’s announcement.
Prasad, for one, is confident that the move makes sense. “The future of all measurement will be rooted in identity and require data collaboration to ensure the requisite data sets for powering all currencies are available,” he says.
The benefits of data collaboration for adtech firms
LiveRamp’s new identity solution will be the driving force behind media planning, execution and measurement on LiveRamp TV. The company says its TV platform offers a number of distinct advantages. For one, it enables brands and media sellers to connect cross-screen data such as impressions, which aims to improve the accuracy and precision of ad measurement and analytics.
It also creates greater visibility and seeks to improve planning by offering forecasting for cross-screen audiences (including those on CTV) for every buy. Additionally, the platform is now outfitted with cross-screen measurement tools that allow advertisers to track important metrics including app installation rates, web visits and sales, giving brands elevated transparency into campaign performance.
Taken together, these offerings produce insights that can be used to optimize media buying and content strategies.
It’s all about timing
LiveRamp believes that the timing for the new integration launch is ideal, thanks in large part to the growth in CTV viewership and advertising over the past year and a half. In fact, between Q3 of 2019 and Q3 of 2020, streaming adoption grew 11% among consumers between the ages of 35-54 and 18% among those 55 and older, per data from Moat, a branch of Oracle Advertising. And marketers have taken note: a recent eMarketer study indicates that CTV buys in the US rose over 40% year-on-year in 2020.
“Propelled by the meteoric rise of CTV viewership, viewer fragmentation and the call for more dynamic and accurate measurement solutions, the television industry is evolving rapidly,” Prasad tells The Drum. “We are setting out to transform the way the industry can collaborate, activate and quantify against high-value audiences across all of TV, including linear and streaming.”