igrp yougrp wegrp What You Need to Know About ONLINE GRP Copyright 2013, Inc. All names and logos are P1
Digital video advertising is projected to grow 41% in 2013. What You Need to Know About Online GRP Gross rating points (GRP) have long been a common currency for TV buying. With the booming demand for digital media and the increasing popularity of online video, the demand is growing to establish online media buying standards for the industry. One of the popular discussions focuses on if online GRP (or igrp) can be applied to video planning and measurement, similar to the traditional TV GRP process. This paper intends to answer common questions about GRP as well as to provide a roadmap on how GRP should be applied and interpreted by the online industry. Each component of traditional TV GRP will be outlined and how they can be applied to the online world in the most transparent and simplistic way. Overview Digital video advertising is projected to grow 41 percent in 2013. 1 With a digital audience of 235 million 2 spending 856 billion minutes on the Internet 2 each month, an increasing number of advertisers are taking another look at online video to engage their audiences and, consequently, are shifting a portion of their advertising budget online. However, with different formats, pricing structures and measurements available, buying online advertising is not as straightforward as buying TV. As the leading video advertising company in the industry, already partners with the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and the Media Research Center (MRC) to build standards for online video. In addition, to make buying online video as easy as buying TV, is advocating the use of online GRP as both planning and measuring tools for the industry. Copyright 2013, Inc. All names and logos are P2
Where Did GRP Come From? While the original rating point system was developed to evaluate the popularity of TV programs, advertisers were early GRP adopters for its use as a common currency when buying and measuring TV advertising. In the beginning, advertisers went through a painstaking, manual process of multiplying the number of insertions with each rating point and then adding all of this together to calculate GRP. Later, smart media planners developed a simpler formula using reach and frequency to calculate GRP. GRP = rating points x frequency Rating points = number of households (HH) tuned in to a program / total TVHH x 100 Frequency = number of times the audience has the opportunity to see a commercial Nielsen National People Meter (NPM) extended the rating that was based on HH level to individual, further allowing rating points to be assigned to different demographic groups. For example, a television commercial that reaches 40 percent of W25-54 (a.k.a. 40 rating points against W25-54) at a frequency of five times equates to 200 GRPs. How to Think About Reach & Frequency Would you rather reach 100% of the people and convince them 10% of the way, or reach 10% of the people and convince them 100% of the way? -WILLIAM BERNBACH, FOUNDER DDB Copyright 2013, Inc. All names and logos are P3
The Evolution of Online GRP Following the birth of TV and the adoption of TV ratings, GRP soon became the common currency for media planning and reporting. Online video is often compared to TV commercials leading to a growing demand to apply online GRP (a.k.a. igrp) to new media. However, there is a fundamental challenge: Unlike TV, there is no rating for online content, so how is online GRP calculated? igrp Builds on the Basic Model of Reach x Frequency Traditional GRP: igrp: UVs* UNIVERSE FREQUENCY Impressions UVs igrp Impressions Universe X 100 *Unique viewers exposed to video ad The calculation is straightforward and in line with TV GRPs. Does this mean that TV GRPs and online GRPs can be added together and then used for cross-platform delivery? If only it were so easy. GRP me Copyright 2013, Inc. All names and logos are P4
The Big Players For the past decade, comscore has been the leader in digital analytics and introduced one of the first reputable tools for online campaign tracking and reporting. According to comscore, its Campaign Essentials (CE) is comprised of one million unique viewers including an average of 250,000 who contribute to demographic projections on a monthly basis. In 2012, comscore built on CE and released Validated CE (vce) that incorporates impressions served to PCs, in-geo (country) as well as viewability and outlier activities into its reporting. 3 While the vce JavaScript solution is not applicable across the board, especially for pre-roll video due to its limitations with iframe, the comscore CE/ vce is widely accepted as the trusted third-party reporting for impressions in target, UVs in target and average frequency all components for calculating online GRPs. On the other hand, since Nielsen owns the TV rating, Nielsen can be viewed as the founding organization of TV GRP. However, as shown earlier, TV ratings were developed to evaluate TV programs and the panel of NPM is not designed to evaluate online campaigns. The company launched its Online Campaign Rating (OCR) system in 2011 leveraging Facebook registrations calibrated with the Nielsen multiplatform home panel (10,000 HH) for demo reporting, rapidly gaining popularity among advertisers and agencies. In early 2012, Nielsen announced its OCR 2.0 with the addition of placements and geo reporting. Later in the year, Nielsen released its adjusted universe factors as a result of known flaws with Facebook registrations. Although Nielsen started later than comscore for online reporting, its strong tie to traditional media planning makes OCR a highly demanded tool for online GRP measurement. igrp Copyright 2013, Inc. All names and logos are P5
The Universe Paradox Traditionally, TV ratings are based on TV households (TVHH). According to Nielsen, the estimated total US TVHH in 2012-2013 will be 114.2 million 4, equating to approximately 289.4 million UVs. 5 However, the universe for online reach is not yet an agreed upon metric. It is still an industry debate whether to use total online population as the universe or, as Nielsen OCR and comscore vce are doing, use the total US population to calculate online GRP. Just as there are different shades of gray, there are variations in the numbers that constitute the US population according to different sources. Nielsen and comscore both use the total US population as the universe for online GRP, yet as shown below, their total population numbers differ. The reason may be that Nielsen and comscore started with different sources and then further applied their own models in order to project current population numbers. US Population % COMP UNIVERSE Nielsen 6 comscore 7 Nielsen comscore Total US pop 2+ 298,315,476 303,318,091 100.00% 100.00% P18-49 131,846,305 136,489,745 44.20% 45.00% W25-54 62,549,366 64,351,409 20.97% 21.22% M18-34 35,180,859 36,491,180 11.79% 12.03% igrp Copyright 2013, Inc. All names and logos are P6
The Implication of These Parallel Online Universes What do these differences mean for digital video marketers? Depending on the measuring system used, the estimated total impressions needed to reach a target percentage of any particular audience will differ. For example, to deliver 100 online GRPs against a primary target of W25-54, it will take 62,549,366 in-target impressions based on Nielsen s US population and 64,351,409 in-target impressions based on comscore s population number a notable difference of more than 1.8 million. For example, let s say a campaign is delivering 21.22 percent in-target W25-54. In order to reach 100 GRPs, the total campaign impressions will need to be sizably larger. Therefore, to deliver 64,351,409 impressions against W25-54, the total campaign impressions needed will be 303 million, as measured by comscore. Understandably, the differences in percent composition between comscore and Nielsen result in a notable difference in campaign impressions when calculations are conducted as seen below. Nielsen and comscore Benchmarks 100 igrp P18-49 Nielsen 6 comscore 7 In-target imps / % comp 131,846,305 / 44.20% 136,489,745 / 45.00% = Estimate total imps to deliver 298,294,808 301,088,322 Finally, when cost per thousand (CPM) is factored into this equation, it s easy to see how this difference of total populations, in-target impressions and percent compositions affect the cost per point (CPP). In short, it s all a numbers game. So for advertisers, agencies, ad networks and ad exchanges, getting the numbers right is important. Campaign Example: A Look at Targeting and igrp The above example is based on Nielsen and comscore benchmark compositions. However, campaigns that utilize audience targeting and optimization deliver greater efficiency by reaching a higher percentage of impressions in target, thereby reducing total impressions needed to reach the igrp goal. For example, a campaign targeted to P18-49 could deliver 72.4 percent of the impressions to the target, as measured by Nielsen. For this same campaign, 77.6 percent could reach the target audience, as reported by comscore. To reach the same 100 igrp as above, the total impressions needed could be reduced significantly. 100 igrp P18-49 In-target imps / % comp = =Estimate total imps to deliver Nielsen 131,846,305 / 72.40% 182,108,156 comscore 136,489,745 / 77.60% 175,888,847 Copyright 2013, Inc. All names and logos are P7
The Cross-platform Application To fully leverage online GRP for planning and reporting, a true cross-platform measurement that shows unduplicated reach and frequency breakout by platform for the campaign is needed. In October, Nielsen launched Cross- Platform Campaign Ratings (XCR) that tracks TV and online impressions using NPM, OCR and Cross-Platform Home Panel. Two weeks later, comscore announced validated Campaign Essentials Multi-Platform (vce MP), currently in beta testing with advertisers. The comscore vce MP solution utilizes multiple panels, including set-top box data, to report delivery on TV, online, mobile and tablet. It is too early to tell whether the Nielsen single-source measurement will come out on top or the comscore multi-panel, multi-platform solution will prevail. In the meantime, marketers may be wondering if there is a current answer for cross-platform planning and measurement questions, such as: 1. I have a set budget and target, how many GRPs can I buy? 2. I have set GRP goals, what will my budget be? While there is no crystal ball that answers all questions in one shake, developed a comprehensive igrp calculator that incorporates all the various base universes (i.e. online video, total Internet, TV, total US population, mobile and connected TV audience) for a simplistic first-step comparison. Copyright 2013, Inc. All names and logos are P8
In order to enable advertisers to plan and measure more effectively across their buys, the industry needs to provide proven tools that help them evaluate the video universe. What You Need to Know About Online GRP What s Next? Where does this leave us in 2013? expects continued discussions surrounding igrp this year. Given the rapid adoption of digital media by consumers and the opportunities this creates for advertisers, it is now no longer simply about planning and measuring across online and TV. In order to enable advertisers to plan and measure more effectively across their buys, the industry needs to provide proven tools that help them evaluate the video universe for mobile, tablet, connected TV, the unique viewers in-apps vs. browsers and the duplication for multi-screen. With all of these new developments, measurements and validations, it is easy to get tripped up by conflicting numbers. Furthermore, target audiences are more than just a combination of age and gender. Brands can communicate with prospective customers based on behavior, belief, values, lifestyles and more they are not just strictly demo-centric. A demo-based igrp may be a good start, but to be true to the art and science of marketing, we should not lose sight of the overall picture. Solving the puzzle of igrp empowers advertisers to better plan and evaluate the effectiveness of campaign delivery, yet the ultimate goal has to focus on the value of the brand. After all, not all impressions are equal. If igrp is the currency, what we buy with the currency matters. G P i R Copyright 2013, Inc. All names and logos are P9
Sources 1 emarketer, Digital Video Ad Spending, Sept 2012 2 comscore Media Metrix Multiplatform Sep 2012 3 vce is accredited by MRC for its viewability and ad safety but not on the audience measurement 4 Nielsen cuts 500,000 US TV Homes on Census, Web Viewing, Bloomberg News, Sep. 25, 2012 5 Nielsen XCR report Oct 2012 6 Nielsen OCR November 2012 7 comscore vce 2012 (based on census data from the ACS October 2011) About is the largest independent video advertising platform for reaching audiences across web, mobile and connected TV. The company powers digital video advertising for the world s largest brands including 90 percent of the top 50 US advertisers and 17 of the top 20 advertising technology companies. The platform enables advertisers to reach 4 in 5 video viewers online and serves more video ads than any other company. As a result, technology collects and analyzes hundreds of billions of data points monthly enabling real-time decisions that drive ROI for advertisers. Copyright 2013, Inc. All names and logos are P10