Nielsen's One Cross-Media Measurement to Enable Marketers Make Informed Media Choices

Audiences are fragmented across channels. Between linear TV, connected TV, mobile, and desktop, it’s hard to get a single view of audiences.

Nielsen One Ads has now announced a cross-media measurement solution that empowers marketers to plan, optimize, and measure cross-channel campaigns with confidence. Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, data, and analytics, will make the first module of its Nielsen ONE Ads platform available market wide on January 11 in the U.S.

This exclusive cross-screen measurement platform lets advertisers track deduplicated audience reach and frequency counts across screens based on Nielsen’s panel data and ID resolution system.

In addition to its standard metrics across platforms, Nielsen ONE Ads will also introduce impact data for more granular linear television reporting. It will enable calculating audiences at the second-by-second level rather than just by minute. This will provide the industry with greater comparability across linear and digital platforms.

With this new solution, Nielsen aims to provide an unparalleled view of the audience at each step of the media journey-from who viewed an ad campaign to the actions taken by them and how each campaign was delivered.

Nielsen aims to achieve effective cross-measurement by combining the scale of big data with granular insights from their people-based panel assets. Ultimately, Nielsen ONE will allow advertisers and publishers to plan and transact using a single metric across linear and digital that is reliable, independent, and standardised across the industry.

A single source of truth like Neilsen One allows marketers to spread their ad dollars because they have a 360-degree view of the audiences who are seeing their ads. For all the enthusiasm around Nielsen One, it’s only a starting point.

Several ad federations are making a move toward implementing cross-media measurement frameworks, including the Association of National Advertisers, the World Federation of Advertisers, and more. Besides, global companies such as Kantar, Google, etc. have already released cross-screen planning and measurement tools. That means the competition is fierce, and Nielsen may have to keep adding innovative features to stand out.

In the first phase of Nielsen One, its focus on unique reach and granular linear TV reporting in particular is notable. This can aid brands validate audience reach and optimize ads across digital and linear platforms.

According to recent studies, nearly 40% of digital advertising budgets are wasted on the wrong audiences, and unique reach is a strong indicator of ROI performance.

While Nielsen One cannot be a direct replacement for third-party cookies, it can definitely enable cross-screen identity resolution to an extent. Furthermore, it can propel the importance of cross-media audience measurement in a multi-screen world.

Marketers can now better evaluate CTV inventory’s unique reach and frequency in conjunction with their entire linear-TV buy in a comparable and comprehensive manner. They can reduce waste and help ensure that relevant ads are delivered to the right audiences across devices. The release of Nielsen One indeed brings us one step closer to making the cross-screen measurement framework a reality for marketers.