Before 2013 closed out, I
was able to attend a great X Series IAB session about metrics here in
Toronto. It was standing room only at
the Windsor Arms Hotel where attendees gathered to hear from a fantastic roster
of speakers from thought leading organizations like Google. Ipsos Reid,
AdKnowledge and PHD Canada.
The event kicked off with the
latest Canadian Media Usage Study (CMUST) results delivered by Rob Young, Sr. VP
Director of Insights and Analytics, PHD Canada, which as usual, were incredibly insightful and detailed. Here are the key takeaways that were shared around
the study’s theme “Unearthing Internet Time”.
I’ve re-ordered these slightly from what was provided in the
presentation – hope this doesn’t upset anyone.:
1. The
Internet medium, unlike the traditional offline media, has been growing both in
terms of reach and time spent.
2. A
PHD review of Canadian and US data sources produces a total, all device
estimate of 1,735 minutes per week of time generated by Adults 18+ within the
Internet medium – the “unearthed Internet time. This time level slightly
exceeds total legacy TV time.
3. A
very large proportion of the “unearthed” Internet time (47%) is generated
through mobile devices.
4. Video
is the primary content genre within the Pure Play category and Adult 18-34 year
old consumers are particularly attracted to online digital video. This
demographic group represents the “engine” for the Internet’s future rates of
growth.
5. ComScore,
the measurement body of record for the Internet medium, currently provides
minutes based data for PC device only (Media and Video Metrix). On this basis,
Adults 18+ spend 701 minutes per week per capita with the Internet medium, well
below the Radio medium’s time spent level. Internet time is overdeveloped
against 18-34 year olds and those with above average household income levels.
Quebec now matches total Canada’s Internet time per capita.
6. The
rapid growth and large weekly minutes per week counts are driven by ever
increasing penetrations of OTT (Smart TV), Mobile and Game Console Internet
access devices.
7. Co-branded
Internet time represents a small proportion of total Internet time spent by
adults but PurePlay makes up almost 50% of Internet time. PurePlay time could
be considered a “consumer media marketplace” that represents a source of growth
for co-branded media vehicles down the road.
Major implications from the report
included the knowledge gap the industry is experiencing on where consumers are
truly spending their online attention.
The Internet, to date has not been measured across platform and channel
to piece together a full and complete consumer profile. Sellers as well as planners are having a hard
time measuring macro consumer attention and as a result are challenged to
justify media values.
Ad revenue against heavy hitting
online video and mobile consumption is still trailing actual usage
numbers. There’s work to be done all
around.
The good news is that in late
summer 2014, ComScore and their new multi-platform measurement system will be
able to measure total Internet time and reach in Canada offering planners and
sellers a more reliable quantification to help stimulate ad revenues.
Young’s presentation had
some great take-aways and as always, it’s so refreshing to get pure Canadian
data to use heading into 2014 planning.
As IAB President Chris
Williams was introducing the next speakers from Google and Ipsos Reid, he made such
a great point that I thought captured the industry’s sentiment extremely
well. He said that the Canadian industry
is hungering for actionable Canadian data.
He went on to explain that countless times, as we are presenting
strategy to clients, there is without fail, that awkward moment, when a client
points out that the data used to support a point in actually US.
Stay tuned for my next post
where I cover off the Google and Ipsos Reid’s November 2013 Study findings
around the Multi-Screen World in Canada and its impact on the consumer purchase
funnel. The other presentations will
also be covered over the coming days.
