A new Sublime Skinz report — The Viewability & Brand Metrics Study — confirms increasing commercial use of viewability but also reveals measurement shortcomings including failure to incorporate non-standard ad units and a lack of more robust brand metrics. Sublime Skinz, a global provider of skin-based advertising, in partnership with Theorem, a digital media and global services company, announced the results of a new study that reports that 56% of marketers are now using VCPM (cost per viewable impression) to assess the success of their ad placements. While the majority of respondents reported that this new benchmark is a sufficient baseline, at the same time the study revealed that there are still significant limitations to the current measurement standards and more progress still needs to be made. The study, conducted by Theorem for Sublime Skinz was able to quantify the commercial importance of viewability based on a survey of its panel, which includes executives at both agencies (buy side) and publishers (sell-side). A View From the Page More than half of the panelists reported that they now use viewability as a key metric for campaign measurement. However, 52% of those surveyed also cited a lack of consistency of viewability measurement across vendors as a key challenge to the further development of the marketplace. Specifically, the report found that current metrics are not yet able to consistently capture viewability for non-standard ad units – units that panelists said were among the most effective for brand campaigns. 75% of respondents said it was important to address the lack of measurement for these units and that they are reluctant to invest in more innovative creative executions because they are not included in current standards. Some of these same non-standard executions also tend to be the ones that are the most effective for branding campaigns. The study found that a combination of low intrusiveness and high impact—with executions such as skins– yielded the best results for marketers. These units however, while scalable, are not currently measured consistently. Looking Beyond Viewability Furthermore, participants in the study maintained that, while viewability was an important start, it was only the beginning of measuring key brand campaign metrics. 86% of panelists believe that the market should be placing as much focus on other brand metrics, including engagement, brand lift and brand recall as they do on viewability. Respondents also stated a need for those campaign metrics to align with core branding KPIs. Jerem Febvre, Co-Founder and COO, Sublime Skinz (pictured top left), commented: “Momentum behind viewability as a trading metric is accelerating and the need for consistent standards to measure this across all vendors and ad formats is essential to propel the marketplace forward and drive further innovation in brand campaigns. Moreover, we’ve learned that some of the units with the greatest impact are not yet properly measured and brands—and the marketplace–will be stymied until a wider set of metrics that aligns with true brand KPIs is adopted.” About Sublime Skinz Sublime Skinz is the first platform of its kind to provide skin-based advertising, working with advertisers, publishers, media agencies, media trading desks, and ad networks to drive efficient campaigns at scale. Sublime Skinz provides actionable statistics and transparent insights in real time, allowing brands to capitalise on the most impactful format with the greatest coverage across multiple websites. Sublime Skinz works with a clear objective to maximise revenues and optimise return on ad investments. Founded in 2012, the Paris-based company has developed an international reach with offices in London, San Francisco and New York, and boasts an impressive network integrated with more than 3,000 websites worldwide. Sublime Skinz was honoured as the ‘audience favourite’ winner of the Launch: Silicon Valley World Cup Tech in 2014. About Theorem Theorem is a full-service digital media and marketing services company that delivers an extensive range of flexible, tailored solutions to help organizations plan, scale, manage, and optimize their digital media initiatives. Theorem serves more than 200 leading agencies, publishers, networks, technology providers, and brands. The company works with best-of-breed leaders in all categories of the digital advertising technology landscape, including ad networks, exchanges, trading desks, supply-side platforms, demand-side platforms, social and data management platforms, and the technology innovators that fuel online advertising. Serving clients by blending domain specialty and digital best practices, Theorem underpins the digital program successes of such companies as Rocket Fuel, Salesforce, Hearst, Pandora, and Advance Digital. Headquartered in Chatham, New Jersey, Theorem has offices in New York, London, India, and the Dominican Republic.
Measurements of ad effectiveness are missing important metrics such as brand lift, engagement and brand recall as they focus on viewability, according to a study by Sublime Skinz and Theorem. The study, which was published in the Journal of Marketing Research, found that brands with higher levels of perceived quality were more likely to be seen by users who had high trust for brands.