Big media's new research coalition's mixed message

It's not an academic exercise. No, it's a research foundation. It's a competitor to Nielsen. No, it's not a slap at Nielsen at all.

Confused? We are too. The conference call detailing the media industry's creation of the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (see our earlier post) sent out a few mixed messages. Let's hope their efforts to develop new and better ways to measure ratings are a little clearer.

NBC Universal Research President Alan Wurtzel opened the call, saying the coalition  was "neither a trade or academic organization" as all the members have "skin in the game" and it's "time to take our future into our own hands."

Pretty tough talk. Yet a few minutes later Wurtzel went out of his way to say the purpose of CIMM was not to build a better Nielsen.

"This is not about establishing a competitor to Nielsen," Wurtzel stressed. In fact, he added, this was "never really about Nielsen."

So lets get this straight. A group of media giants including News Corp., NBC Universal, Walt Disney Co., CBS, Viacom, Time Warner and Discovery are getting together with Procter & Gamble, AT&T, Unilever and several major advertising agencies to do research on how to better track media consumption -- and it's not about Nielsen?

CBS's Dave Poltrack said the purpose of this organization is to "support innovative research," but that if anything is actually developed for commercial use, that would be done independent of the coalition. 

Missing from the list of industries involved is new media (no Google, no Yahoo), which is interesting because one of the things this organization stressed is that it wants to find a better way to measure media consumption online and on mobile devices. That doesn't mean the group won't be adding new members who are able to pony up the entry fee. The companies involved would not say how much they have raised in funding but indicated it was in the seven figures. The entry fee to be part of CIMM is not seven figures, however. 

This is not the first time there have been efforts to build better systems to measure audiences, and it certainly is needed. Nielsen has had lots of issues over the past few years with its measurement systems, and if a bunch of big companies getting together can help encourage them to shake things up, that's not so bad. In fact, CIMM is not against having Nielsen join its efforts if it wants to apply for membership.

A Nielsen spokeswoman said the ratings firm "shares all of the objectives" of the coalition and "has always worked closely with clients to bring innovation to the industry." The company said it looks forward to working with CIMM and would like to hear more about its plans. 

So would we.

-- Joe Flint

Photos: Top right: NBC's Alan Wurtzel. Credit: NBC Universal. Bottom left: Dave Poltrack of CBS. Credit: CBS

Comments

[Jonathan Anastas, Strategic Advisor to the Office of the CEO, Mercury Media]

Once again, the traditional ad industry is a day late and a step short in reacting to shifts in consumer behavior and client expectations. While the Council for Innovative Media Measurement’s goal to sum viewership across platforms (television, mobile, web) is important, they making an error in positioning: continuing to think like media stakeholders, not business stakeholders. Focusing only on what consumers are watching and where they are watching isn't enough. We need to understand what people do in response to our messaging and what combinations of media platforms succeeded in generating a response. Without this, we won't be taken seriously by the CEOs, CFOs and purchasing. The Direct Response business was built on response metrics - it’s a key reason that we’ve continued to grow in today’s marketplace. Every day, clients shift dollars away from “expenditures” and into “investments.” Out of traditional media and into measured media. Isn’t it time that traditional and direct response advertisers worked together on creating this new math?