Tru Optik, the only audience measurement and data management platform built for OTT and Connected TV, has partnered with Experian Marketing Services to offer a service providing real-time census-level viewer data for over-the-top (OTT) TV programs and ad exposure across all screens. Tru Optik clients will be able to measure and segment content and ad exposure based on lifestyle, demographic and purchase behavior powered by Experian’s ConsumerView marketing database.
Tru Optik has the world’s largest database of OTT media and entertainment consumption. Experian’s ConsumerView is the world’s largest and most accurate consumer marketing database. Together this will allow for comprehensive metrics for valuing advertising on OTT networks and platforms, and close a conspicuous gap in TV audience measurement.
It’s widely accepted that digital is the future of TV. One third of Millennial television viewing already occurs “over the top,” mainly via Connected TV (CTV) devices such as Roku, Apple TV, smart TVs and gaming consoles that stream OTT content to TV screens. While OTT offers the possibility of reaching TV viewers with unprecedented precision, barely one percent of TV advertising dollars flow through OTT.
There are three reasons why advertising dollars are not catching up to viewership:
- No measurement – advertisers have no visibility to OTT ad exposure, and can’t relate it to other media;
- Fuzzy targeting – the advertising industry relies on cookies or SDK’s (device-specific software development kits) to capture consumer data for ad targeting. However, CTV is a cookie-less ecosystem accessible via dozens of devices, rendering cookies useless making SDK’s impractical;
- No attribution – lack of measurement means there’s no way to connect OTT ad expenditures to desired outcomes like purchases.
Tru Optik CEO, Andre Swanston, sums up the problem: “If you can’t fully measure it, you can’t fully monetize it. Tru Optik’s technology and first-party data combined with Experian’s data will enable media companies and advertisers to understand and value audiences for OTT content. In other words, it will provide the currency that is necessary to truly open not only the OTT ad market, but also provide better insight as to the value of product placement and licensing of content to subscription video services like Netflix and Amazon.”
By providing census-level audience measurement and profiling data for programming and ad exposure across OTT platforms and connected devices, Tru Optik and Experian Marketing Services have removed all three barriers to OTT advertising and monetization. Tru Optik and Experian Marketing Services use cookie-less methods that allow anonymous, aggregated behavior and profile information to be connected and protected across all digital devices belonging to the same individuals or households, including CTV. This enables “cross device” OTT and addressable campaign analysis, which is critical for accurate attribution.
“Tru Optik is at the forefront of empowering media companies and brands to harness the power of CTV. By partnering with Experian they are adding a trusted and reliable source of audience and consumer data to enhance their measurement and segmentation ability,” said Kevin Dean, President and General Manager of Targeting, Experian Marketing Services.
Tru Optik is careful to distinguish its offering from traditional audience measurement products. “This is not a panel based ‘ratings’ service,” said Swanston. “With respect to media companies and marketers, your data belongs to you; it is not part of a Co-op.”
“Experian Marketing Services is far and away the industry leader in audience creation for addressable TV, connecting advertisers to 100 percent of the household-level addressable TV operators in the U.S. “ said David Wiesenfeld, Tru Optik’s Chief Strategist. “With Tru Optik already having the world’s largest media consumption database, the addition of purchase, preference, and profiling information from Experian will give clients unmatched insight into their audiences and marketing efficacy.”