Request for Information - Cross Platform Measurement

I. Background

The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) is a group of content providers, buyers and sellers formed to promote innovation for Television, Internet, Mobile and cross platform audience measurement in the United States. To facilitate this ongoing effort CIMM intends to initiate, fund, and evaluate a number of pilots with relevant parties and publish research findings.

Members of CIMM include AT&T, Carat, CBS, Discovery, GroupM, MediaBrands, NBC Universal, News Corporation, Omnicom Media Group, P&G, Starcom MediaVest Group, The Walt Disney Company, Time Warner, Unilever and VIACOM.

II. Prologue

As buyers and sellers of advertising-supported media, we are concerned that media measurement is not keeping pace with urgent business needs. The media landscape is changing dramatically, and the television marketplace is changing with it. We are shifting from a TV landscape to a multi platform video landscape with a currency that only measures television.

We want to be clear that we are not only looking for better or more robust versions of current media metrics. We need a clear path toward the results-based metrics that are clearly, and rightfully, being demanded by advertisers. We need metrics that reflect return-on-investment (sales or other appropriate business metrics), and do so accurately and on a sufficiently granular level to follow the fragmented media vehicles that are now emerging. “Opportunity to see” is an important metric, but only the beginning.
Among our specific concerns two stand out. We anticipate that set-top-box tuning data will offer very large samples (approaching census) that can deliver granularity and reliability at low cost. We are requesting information from the media measurement marketplace that can illustrate how STB data works today, and how in the near future it can be part of the results-based metrics the marketplace demands. A separate RFI addresses our interest in gathering insights into such measurement.

A second concern is cross-platform measurement. We need reliable, granular, results-based metrics that can be applied consistently across all the major video platforms, to fuel the burgeoning interest in multi-platform video advertising plans. This RFI addresses our interest in gathering insights into such cross-platform measurement.

III. Information Sought

CIMM is seeking to investigate the current and future potential of cross-platform – Television, Internet and Mobile – media measurement.

The following outlines the issues and questions we are using to frame our information request. We are soliciting entities that are currently capable of producing real cross-platform data and analytics. Because this is a nascent area, we recognize that not all parties may be able to measure all three platforms. We are interested in working with entities that offer both a total solution as well as those that may have expertise in a part of the larger, more comprehensive initiative. Entities are welcome to partner and work together to deliver a more complete solution to CIMM’s needs.

Instructions: For each question, respondents are requested to please provide a description of their capabilities. We expect that respondents will currently posses some or all of the capabilities; this should be noted explicitly.
1. Metrics and Methodologies

A. From which media platforms (e.g., television, Internet, mobile) will you source data?

B. Describe typical users of your data and how these individuals or organizations typically use your data?
What changes in user types or their uses of your data are planned? Please describe how you plan to execute such changes.

C. Television-specific data:

i. What television data elements do you currently measure? How do you obtain this data? What plans do you have, if any, to expand what you measure in the future?

ii. How will you determine what programs / commercials are being played or watched at any moment, for live, delayed and VOD viewing? What are the challenges associated with this? How will you overcome those challenges?

iii. How will you be able to ingest network logs? How will you identify content that is not coded or for which logs are not provided?

iv. How will you measure VOD, VCR, DVD and DVR viewing data? On both a national and local market basis?

v. With respect to DVR data, how can you account for time-shifted viewing? At what level of granularity? How will you account for viewing on standalone units vs. DVRs built in to a STB? In-home single-unit DVRs vs home-network DVRs? Remote-server DVRs (i.e., Cablevision's proposed implementation)?
vi. How will you distinguish between SD and HD networks? If so, how is this accomplished? What are the challenges?

vii. How will you enable users to overlay advertising schedules on your data?

viii. How do you envision using sales-based, behavior-shift and/or attitude-shift data? What are the challenges?

D. Internet-specific data:

i. What Internet data elements do you currently measure? How do you obtain this data? What plans do you have, if any, to expand what you measure in the future?

ii. How will you determine what content, including advertising, is on a user's screen (in particular, video vs. non-video)?

iii. What Internet video technologies (e.g., Flash, WMV) can you currently measure and will you be able to measure? What are the challenges with measuring these technologies? How will you overcome these challenges?

iv. With respect to Internet video, how will you measure video starts and duration?

v. What types of Internet video will you measure (e.g., full programs, minisodes, clips, commercials)? How will you distinguish between video advertising and non-ad video content?
vi. How will you determine when a user is engaging with content? What are your edit rules meant to determine "active" Internet use and exclude inactivity?

vii. With respect to portable Internet-connected devices (e.g., Wi-Fi enabled laptops), please describe how you will determine the "home" locations for these devices, and how you will report their locations when connected via away-from-home networks?

E. Mobile-specific data:

i. What mobile content-related data elements do you currently measure? How do you obtain this data? What plans do you have, if any, to expand what you measure in the future?

ii. What cooperation with mobile carriers is necessary for you to measure content on their handsets? How will you achieve this requisite level of cooperation?

iii. How will you determine what content, including advertising, is on a user's screen? How will you do this for on-deck (i.e., carrier walled-garden) content? For off-deck (i.e., mobile web) content?

iv. What mobile video technologies will you be able to measure? What are the challenges with measuring these technologies? How will you overcome these challenges?

v. With respect to mobile video, how will you measure video starts and duration?

vi. What types of video will you measure (e.g., mobisodes, clips, commercials)? How will you distinguish between video advertising and non-ad video content?
vii. How will you determine handset location? What location-based analysis are you planning? How will this be achieved?

F. Cross-platform data gathering and metering:

i. What methodological research have you conducted to validate your data? Please be specific by platform.

ii. What methodological issues do you acknowledge with your data or analysis? How do you plan to overcome these issues?

iii. For streaming media (e.g., video, animation), what level of precision will you measure (e.g., second-by-second)? To the extent you have plans to improve precision, how will you accomplish such improvements?
What metrics will you provide on an:
i. Aggregate basis across platforms and devices?

ii. Individual platform basis?

iii. Individual device basis?

iv. Individual user (human) basis?
G. How will you analyze individual user usage across media devices / platforms?

i. How will you address measuring brand integration across platforms?

ii. How will you provide insights on differential impact by platform?

H. How will you exclude certain place-based devices (bars, hotels, libraries, small sets, etc.) from the data that your company collects?
How will this change in the future? Why or why not?

I. Will you employ a single-source sample, or fusion of different samples?
Please describe the benefits of your approach, and if the latter, how this fusion is or will be implemented?

J. What other "partners" or suppliers would be appropriate to include in your measurement solution (e.g., demographic data suppliers, sales data suppliers)?
How do you plan to collaborate with these partners?
What issues do you anticipate in making this collaboration a success?

K. How will you measure targeted advertising on each of the platforms you measure (e.g., cable TV household targeted advertising)?

L. In your current state, what are cooperation rates (by platform)? How do you plan to improve cooperation?
2. Information Specific to Your Business and Current Capabilities

A. Please provide a brief fact-based summary description of your company (please exclude marketing-style or promotional language). Please address such facts that may be helpful to CIMM in gaining a more complete picture of your business, such as:

i. Ownership structure

ii. Funding / capitalization information

iii. Information about key company leadership

iv. Unique intellectual property and other innovation

v. Key clients or customers (to the extent disclosure is permissible)

B. Describe what “traditional” metrics you currently report and your data collection and analysis methodology.
Describe what "non-traditional" metrics (those not currently used in media buying and selling) you report? Describe your data collection and analysis methodology.

C. Is your current sample drawn from a census or a sample? How does this differ across media platforms?
If a sample is used, explain the sampling methodology.

D. What are known skews of your current sample?

E. How do you deal with devices that are not uniquely addressable or individually identifiable?
F. Can you currently provide second-by-second data for streaming media? If so, for which platforms? Is this on a production basis or a special-analysis basis?

G. What methodological research have you conducted to validate your current data, sample methodology and/or results?

H. Have you conducted any parallel studies (e.g., telephone coincidentals) to validate your data, particularly data (such as demographics) not drawn directly from your sample?

I. What methodological issues do you acknowledge with your data or analysis? How do you plan to overcome these issues?

J. What is the time lag between when the raw data is generated at the source (e.g., user views a particular content element) and availability of your analytics?

K. Please describe your current data delivery system.
What are your plans for upgrades?

L. Can you interface with established third party processors? Please list all and describe how you collect / share data with these processors.

M. What are your plans, if any, regarding engagement with the Media Ratings Council?
IV. Additional Information

More details on the process for submitting proposals will be forthcoming shortly.

In the interim, please submit any questions or comments to:

Alan Wurtzel
President, Research and Media Development
NBC Universal
alan.wurtzel@nbcuni.com
212-664-7565

Request for Information - Cross Platform Measurement

I. Background

II. Prologue

III. Information Sought

1. Metrics and Methodologies

2. Information Specific to Your Business and Current Capabilities

IV. Additional Information