Data Plus Math, Kantar Announce Strategic Partnership To Unite Brand And Performance Optimization

Combined efforts will focus on development of solution for media buyers and sellers to enable optimization for both short- and long-term success

BOSTON — Data Plus Math, a leader in television attribution, ROI and conversion metrics, and the Insights Division at Kantar, the world’s leading data, insight and consultancy company, announced a partnership to develop advanced analytics for enhanced advertising measurement that will enable greater media optimization for both short-term sales and long-term brand building.

“This partnership comes at a perfect time. As marketers have increased their use of advanced analytics, television has too often been thought of only as a top-of-funnel branding vehicle”

The partnership will focus on combining measurement tools from the two companies to develop a complete solution that unifies brand and conversion objectives while delivering more meaningful and prescriptive optimization recommendations. The aim of the collaboration is to provide U.S. TV networks, MVPDs, agencies and marketers with full funnel advertising measurement.

Through the combined efforts, the Insights Division at Kantar will use its Brand Lift Insights and CrossMedia solutions to measure both the short-term and long-term impact of advertising campaigns on upper funnel brand metrics such as awareness, favorability and intent. Data Plus Math will use its MediaFX™ platform to measure the short-term campaign impact on mid- and lower-funnel marketing outcomes like website visitation, product sales, and foot traffic.

Kantar’s Brand Lift Insights solution evaluates the branding impact of digital and traditional ad campaigns across all formats, including TV, Connected TV, social and mobile. Kantar’s CrossMedia solution is the global industry standard for measuring integrated media campaigns.

Data Plus Math’s MediaFX platform, which is currently used by more than a dozen of the largest U.S. media companies, including national programming networks and cable operators, measures the effectiveness of TV advertising in driving marketing outcomes across a broad range of advertiser verticals.

“We know Hulu drives both upper and lower funnel metrics and in partnership with Data Plus Math and Kantar, we are now better positioned to create solutions that can bring that to light in one unified approach. Through the work that they have pioneered, we will have a deeper understanding of the true impact of premium video advertising on sales outcomes,” says Julie DeTraglia, Head of Research at Hulu. “We are excited to be able to quantify the effect that our advertising has on building brand equity and conversion.”

“We partner a lot with both Data Plus Math and the Insights Division at Kantar and having an integrated measurement system between the two will help us further drive our clients’ business and manage our branding and performance efforts for them,” says Rick Watrall, Chief Analytics Officer, Horizon Media. “Combining brand and lower funnel performance measurement in one platform is an exciting development for us. The combination of Data Plus Math and Kantar’s measurement approaches will help us further manage and maximize our clients’ media ROI and increase their business outcomes. No longer will we have to rely on separate analyses to understand how media drives brand and performance. The combined offering allows us to deliver an integrated analytic approach for managing and improving our clients’ return on their media investment.”

“This partnership comes at a perfect time. As marketers have increased their use of advanced analytics, television has too often been thought of only as a top-of-funnel branding vehicle,” says John Hoctor, co-founder and CEO of Data Plus Math. “The reality is that television drives both long-term brand lift as well as short-term product sales. Companies must utilize solutions to understand the relationship between Brand Marketing and Performance Marketing and find the magic equilibrium between them for sustainable financial success.”

“Marketers are increasingly governed by short-term metrics. But this short-term focus often comes at the expense of long-term viability,” says Stephen DiMarco, Chief Digital Officer, Insights Division at Kantar. “This is an existential challenge for incumbent brands because they are being disrupted by attacker brands who are evaluated in a different context. By bringing sales and brand analytics together, we can create a complete solution to plan, buy and optimize their media for both short and long-term success, benefitting not only marketers, but media companies as well.”

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About Data Plus Math

Data Plus Math is a media measurement company that helps connect advertising exposures to real-world outcomes. Powered by millions of households of cross-screen viewing data, the company’s TV and Video attribution platform is used by cable operators, national programming networks, agencies and marketers to measure which components of their advertising campaigns are driving results. Data Plus Math’s investors include Comcast Ventures and Greycroft Partners and the company is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

About Kantar

Kantar is the world’s leading data, insight, and consultancy company. Working together across the whole spectrum of research and consulting disciplines, its specialist brands, employing 30,000 people, provide inspirational insights and business strategies for clients in 100 countries. Kantar is part of WPP and its services are employed by over half of the Fortune Top 500 companies. www.kantar.com.