(from l.) Carsten Schwecke (CEO Axel Springer All Media), Kerstin Niederauer-Kopf (Vorsitzende der Geschäftsführung AGF Videoforschung), Matthias Dang (CEO Ad Alliance) (Credits: Marina Weigl für AGF Videoforschung)
Frankfurt, 16/06/2021. Beyond TV and streaming: AGF Videoforschung is testing the expansion of its digital measurement to include static display. With the Video+ project, this Frankfurt reach measurement company is to looking into the possibility of measuring static content, in addition to the TV and video content it has measured up until now. With this test AGF is responding to an urgent and frequently expressed market request for the measurement of different kinds of digital content under one roof.
This has been strongly urged and demanded for many years by the national client association OWM (Organisation Werbungtreibende im Markenverband) and especially since 2020 also on an international level by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA). The cross-media measurement of TV and digital is highly relevant for advertisers and media agencies as well as for AGF shareholders and licensees.
“We hope that the expanded digital measurement test, which we are currently engaged in with two measurement service companies, will show to what extent our existing measurement of streaming content can be supplemented by static display,” explains Kerstin Niederauer-Kopf, CEO of AGF Videoforschung. On the provider side, three AGF shareholders are currently participating in the project. They are supplying the first measurement data from the two test series in order to determine the technical feasibility. Subsequently the focus of testing will shift to the methodological integration. “There is room at our table. We will be very glad if the test meets with interest from other providers in addition to AGF shareholders, so that together we can define further requirements and discuss the matter as a whole,” says Niederauer-Kopf.
For the test, AGF is deploying its expertise from streaming measurement. Currently, every day the AGF Desktop panel measures daily viewing by around 15,000 participants, and the Mobile panel measures viewing by about 6,300 participants. The AGF panel that concentrates on TV viewing contains at least 5,400 households, corresponding to around 11,000 panelists contributing to daily reporting. With these panels, this means that currently viewing by some 33,000 participants is being measured every day using effective measurement technology and software. The resulting information also provides the basis for convergent video reach data.
“Getting a picture of the medial reality takes unitary, cross-media and cross-device viewing measurement of all broadcasters and publishers. The market has been asking for this for a long time, and it’s the right instrument for transparent interaction. Cross-media is our business, and in order to be prepared for the future we therefore support all promising approaches. With AGF’s initiative we hope that the process will be accelerated and we can come another big step closer to a real convergent currency,” says Matthias Dang, CEO of Ad Alliance. Ad Alliance markets the broadcasters and offerings of RTL Deutschland, Gruner + Jahr, SPIEGEL-Gruppe, the rtv media group and video and technology specialist smartclip. Ad Alliance is also the service provider for Media Impact.
“We welcome this move by AGF. Media usage is changing rapidly and measurement needs to reflect this across media. It should also include static display, in order to become an open market standard for all market partners. We at Axel Springer want to play an active part in the development of market research towards cross-category digital capture,” says Carsten Schwecke, CEO of Axel Springer All Media (ASAM).
Axel Springer bundles all activities related to the advertising market under the ASAM umbrella. This media and technology corporation owns the journalism brands WELT, with its print, digital and broadcast news offerings, and BILD in print and digital, among others. In addition, before the German elections BILD will start an own TV channel, which will likewise be measured by AGF.
Kerstin Niederauer-Kopf looks ahead at the upcoming months: “Our next steps will be to expand the scope of testing and evaluate the first test results, which should be available in the 3rd quarter, alongside the methodological integration of the measurement project in a panel-based approach. We will subsequently make a decision on the expansion of static display measurement.”
In the context of its cross-media research approach, with support from the market AGF has developed a cross-media planning tool, the AGF REACH PLANNER®, which is currently in successful beta testing and allows for modular expansion.