• The World Federation of Advertisers has unveiled an advertiser-centric Framework and Technical Proposal for a unified approach to cross-media measurement
  • Canada’s Association of Canadian Advertisers participated in the creation of the Framework

September 24, 2020: The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) has unveiled an advertiser-centric Framework for cross-media measurement accompanied by a proposed solution, designed to give advertisers a much greater understanding of the reach and frequency of their advertising efforts.

The Technical Proposal was developed in partnership with digital platforms, including Facebook and Google, and will now be tested by the UK and US, with ISBA and the ANA respectively leading local efforts.

This approach has been supported by the whole WFA membership but the initiative has been steered by several prominent advertisers and advertiser associations, including ACA (Canada), ANA (US), ISBA (UK), Union des Marques (France), OWM (Germany), Deutsche Telekom, Mars, Mastercard, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, The Coca-Cola Company, Unilever and others. The Media Rating Council (MRC) has also been involved in this work throughout.

The WFA has worked with national advertiser associations over the past 18 months to create the Framework, which identifies advertisers’ cross-media measurement needs as well as a set of principles by which solutions should be bound.

Alongside the Framework, the WFA is also publishing a real-world Technical Proposal for a cross-media measurement solution, which meets the principles outlined in the Framework related to transparency, neutrality, auditing and other issues.

Critically, the Proposal acknowledges that measurement is a local business and requires considerable local governance alongside the need for some global (or ‘common’) components to drive consistency and scale. Any aspects of the proposal that require customized technology will be open sourced.

The Proposal was tested via an international open comment and peer review exercise earlier this summer, involving several hundred of the industry’s most prominent measurement professionals.

In the UK, ISBA’s cross-media measurement group, ‘Origin’, and in the US, the ANA will now independently explore how the components in the Proposal can be adapted to suit local stakeholder needs, ahead of implementation in their respective markets. Both initiatives will focus on ensuring the needs of both advertisers and broadcasters are met, while taking into account the changing digital media landscape.

In Canada, a cross-media measurement steering committee is being formed by the Association of Canadian Advertisers (ACA) to work with industry stakeholders to support and align with the Framework.

Download the Framework and Technical Proposal.

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