iSpot has debuted a new generation of its outcomes-based measurement product, creating a standardized data feed that promises to quickly deliver advertisers and publishers insights and attribution metrics for how TV and streaming video ad campaigns are driving key business objectives and results, at scale. Notably, Paramount Global has signed on as its first partner at launch and will integrate iSpot’s Outcomes at Scale offering into its ads sales and advanced audience platform.
The move comes amid an increasing desire to prove worth of TV video media spend and impact on lower-funnel metrics, and a related shift towards favoring outcomes-based measurement that gives advertisers measurable data points and insights that their investments are working or allows them to make changes to campaigns if needed.
“The ability to provide outcomes in an automated fashion across platforms is incredibly transformational” said Travis Scoles, EVP of Advanced Advertising at Paramount, in a statement. “Legacy metrics such as reach and frequency are important but in many respects they are proxies for impact, delivering proof of performance at scale is a blueprint for where the industry is going to move.”
And research shows marketers are keen on performance and attribution capabilities.
In Mediaocean’s 2H 2024 Market Report of marketing professionals, asked what advertising capabilities and media investments are most critical amid current macroeconomic conditions, the majority (70%) said performance-driven paid media was No. 1. The third highest-ranked was measurement and attribution capabilities, cited by 53% of marketers as most critical.
And Paramount isn’t the only publisher taking notice of iSpot’s outcomes and attribution measurement with Stuart Schwartzapfel, EVP of Media at iSpot, telling StreamTV Insider that the vendor expects further uptake.
“We are seeing significant interest from other networks from this initial launch, so our expectations are to continue growing our offer and meet the demand,” Schwartzapfel said via email. “iSpot has high hopes for adoption just by the initial investment from major players who know how essential it is to understand attribution in an always-on environment that can inform campaigns in near real-time.”
Some examples of insights on metrics that publishers and advertisers can get from the new data feed product from iSpot include reach, impressions, exposed conversions, exposed conversion rate and exposed converters.
They can also get outcomes insights, which varies by advertiser in terms of what they want to understand. At launch, the product will be able to deliver against first-party conversions (pixel-based web conversions) and place location-based attribution (via partner PlaceIQ). The measurement vendor is currently working on making CPG sales (Circana) and credit card sales (Affinity) attribution metrics available and expects to make others, including auto (Polk) and movie tickets (Fandango), available later this year.
Being able to deliver attribution for those types of sales metrics from streaming and linear TV campaigns is another step towards helping publishers show advertisers their TV investments are worth it and driving results, as other digital channels like search and social have done well and helped them to attract ad dollars. Attribution metrics related to sales are important to advertisers, as a December study from Advertiser Perceptions illustrated. In the firm’s survey of US advertisers, one in four said they define ROI of advertising based on sales directly resulting from an ad campaign, while 17% said a combination of factors is at play.
Paramount’s Scoles told StreamTV Insider that he views outcomes-based measurement as “critical for the future of advertising.”
“Advertisers are increasingly looking for more granular insights into the actual business impact of their campaigns, not just traditional metrics like reach and frequency,” Scoles said, via email “Paramount sees this as a response to changing consumer behavior and the increasing demand for advertisers to measure the direct outcomes of their investments, whether it’s web conversions, retail foot traffic, or CPG sales.”
He also expects broader uptake for metrics focused on outcomes, opening the door for not only large advertisers but those with smaller budgets as well.
“We expect a growing adoption of outcomes-based measurement metrics across the TV ad industry. There is a clear push towards democratizing access to these metrics, making it available to more advertisers, not just the biggest spenders,” Scoles commented.
Another goal iSpot’s tool helps Paramount make traction on is delivering campaign measurement outcomes across platforms, as it’s applied to all of the publisher’s traditional linear and streaming ad inventory.
“This is part of a broader effort to provide advertisers with scalable attribution measurement, regardless of whether the ad campaign runs on linear TV, streaming, or both,” Scoles said. “The aim is to provide a holistic view of how well the different types of inventory are performing across all platforms.”
And while the EVP said Paramount is committed to providing advertisers with outcome data on their campaigns to prove the efficacy of advertising with the company’s audiences, Scoles doesn’t expect outcomes to be part of transactional structures – such as transacting on outcomes-based metrics for Upfront deals – in the foreseeable future.
Standardized feed, fast reporting
iSpot started work on an outcomes-based measurement tool in 2017, but a major difference with the new debut is that the insights aren’t delivered in a dashboard, platform or report (as with previous products), but instead through a standardized feed that the company said is not only fast and persistent, but scalable and can share to more advertisers through network partnerships. It’s also delivered to partners through their own pipes and plumbing, an iSpot spokesperson noted, which the vendor agrees upon when onboarding with partners using a common schematic.
Another important aspect is that publishers and advertisers can get the attribution metrics and campaign insights quickly. Previously, attribution metrics could be a time intensive and expensive process. For example, when iSpot launched attribution capabilities in 2017, clients wouldn’t get the actual deliverable until the campaign had concluded. Now they can get the campaign metrics in a quick, digestible and scalable way across linear and CTV, showing attribution insights throughout the duration of campaign.
Actual delivery with iSpot’s Outcomes at Scale depends on the outcomes clients want measured, but a spokesperson confirmed a feed is delivered weekly, roughly – representing about 3-4x faster than the market is used to for post-campaign reports.
Scoles emphasized that attribution metrics offered by iSpots help but TV advertising better on par with what’s available in other digital ad spaces, while calling out the rapid reporting nature as a main benefit.
“This tool provides a significant step in aligning TV advertising with the available outcome data in the traditional digital space. The key benefit is the ability to deliver in-flight reporting and allow advertisers to adjust their strategies during the campaign, not just after it ends,” he told STV Insider.
In terms of how iSpot is able to measure outcomes, it works with attribution partners which provide data that allows the measurement vendor to identify and match actions made by households after ad exposure through certain attribution windows. It involves working with internal data teams and external attribution partners, such as PlaceIQ for example, and through cleanrooms for those that are privacy-centric.
Attribution metrics are more common and readily available to marketers in other digital ad realms like search and social, but advertisers also want to know that TV investments are working or worth doling out for. And publishers and vendors like iSpot are aiming to help make traditional linear TV and streaming more performant as well, in part enabled by the digital nature of CTV and new types of ad formats, advancing data and measurement capabilities, and technology like automation – opening the door for smaller brands and advertisers in addition to large.
Scoles highlighted how iSpot’s tool helps premium TV video be more competitive with digital like search and social.
“By providing automated, scalable, and standardized attribution and outcome data, this solution allows TV advertisers to measure performance similarly to how digital advertisers measure success,” he told STV Insider. “This helps TV advertisers demonstrate the real business value of their media spend, making TV more competitive with digital platforms, which have historically had the upper hand in performance-based advertising metrics.”
Schwartzapfel, meanwhile, noted benefits for smaller brands used to metrics from digital advertising.
“Linear attribution traditionally does not work the same as digital as it requires more resources and sophistication to develop media mix models, which is normally slow and expensive,” Schwartzapfel said. “Through Outcomes at Scale, publishers and brands can increase transparency in a way that small-medium brands are used to getting in their digital investment, but at a much more cost-effective rate than what wasn’t always in reach before.”
Updated with commentary and quotes from Travis Scoles, EVP of Advanced Advertising at Paramount.