ANA launches Measurement Division

The ANA (Association of National Advertisers) announced the creation of a new division dedicated to ensuring that the industry’s measurement systems are aligned to the business and measurement agenda of marketers.

The announcement was made by ANA CEO Bob Liodice at the 2019 ANA Data & Measurement Conference, which kicked off yesterday and runs through September 11 at the Ritz-Carlton, Naples.

Liodice said the new unit, called Measurement for Marketers, is designed to level the measurement playing field and hold the industry accountable. A key goal will be to enable better decision-making by marketers in their continuing efforts to fuel growth, and to advance critical industry measurement priorities through the lens of the marketer. It will also deliver measurement-oriented products and services to ANA members and unify the various siloes that currently exist behind marketer objectives.

“This highly ambitious and historic action by the ANA puts the marketer’s agenda at the center of industry measurement,” Liodice said. “In the past the ANA and its members have relied heavily on joint trade association initiatives and on agencies and media sellers to drive the measurement agenda, but the missing piece has been the lack of dedicated ANA resources to get behind initiatives. As a result, the voice of the advertiser has been inconsistent.”

Liodice said the new division is needed because the marketplace demands it; he cited a 2019 survey by Integral Ad Science in which 47 percent of respondents said the need for consistent media measurement was their No. 2 priority, behind data privacy concerns. He added that measurement and accountability are key strategic priorities of the ANA Masters Circle and that the ANA Board of Directors has strongly endorsed the initiative.

MFM’s 2020 goals are to:

•     Build, communicate, and advocate marketers’ immediate and long-term measurement agenda with the industry in a safe environment for consumer privacy.
•     Lead an industry cross-platform media measurement initiative in the U.S.
•     Support the building and adoption of future standards by Media Rating Council to ensure that a complete, transparent, and unbiased measurement system continues to evolve.
•     Activate a measurement movement among marketers that includes encouraging the development and adoption of new solutions and approaches to measurement.
•     Retool existing ANA assets devoted to measurement to ensure their full potential and create new services to highlight measurement and promote networking and engagement.
•     Educate marketers on ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their advertising spend and help them require vendors and content providers to comply with measurement standards and best practices.

The ANA is already working globally with the World Federation of Advertisers on the building of cross-platform measurement principles.

An important aspect of MFM will be to further strengthen the ANA’s existing relationship with Media Rating Council, which has served as a trusted and neutral governing body for building standards and accrediting both measurement companies and solution providers for viewability, IVT, brand safety, and audience measurement.

With the creation of MFM, the ANA will work with MRC even more actively on common goals, and will center on their alignment, speed, and focus. The two groups have a dedicated vision to work collaboratively to achieve a complete, transparent, and unbiased measurement system for all parties. The partnership is rooted in subject matter expertise on standards, transparency, verification, and understanding how vendors within the measurement system operate.

MFM will be headed by ANA Group EVP Bill Tucker, who is currently assembling a dedicated team to run the new division, which will be fully operational by January 2020. Tucker added that a Measurement Advisory Board will also be created, comprised of measurement executives from ANA member companies, to help establish the MFM’s agenda and vision.