Make way for “the first reach and frequency analyzer based on time-spent surveys.”
The news comes from Telmar, which hints at a potentially very important role in political campaigns.
“(This) capability from Telmar makes it possible for marketers to analyze reach and frequency across media channels using only time-spent surveys — foregoing such long, expensive processes as TV diary keeping, thumbing through magazine issues, and online behavioral tracking,” according to the company. “The RFT (reach-frequency-time) methodology creates a powerful new utility for media planners and extends reach and frequency capability to custom and emerging market situations which lack the data that traditional processes require.”
It’s a fine-tuning option that’s sorely needed in the marketplace.
“We’re solving a growing problem for marketers by improving planning capability around the world,” said Corey Panno, president of Telmar. “Telmar RFT covers a gap in audience analytics, where advertisers don’t have access to currency media data. Now marketers in Africa, Asia and South America can do accurate channel planning and media allocation. And marketers anywhere can do faster reach and frequency analysis that holds up to standards.”
Interestingly, Telmar did some RFT testing using the presidential election campaign.
“As proof of concept, Telmar applied RFT to a 10-12 minute online survey (2,259 registered voters) on candidates in the 2016 Presidential election, then analyzed reach and frequency across 75 channels,” explains the company. “Among the findings, Democrats will score on smartphones while Republicans friend on Facebook, and the battle for independents will be best waged on midday and late night TV.”
And that’s not all Telmar discovered.
“Clinton and Carson will fare better than Sanders and Trump at getting their online ads seen, because fewer of their adherents use ad blockers. And Hillary will find her fan base on LinkedIn and Instagram.”
Telmar execs are pumped about the possibilities.
“This is a giant step forward for brands in the age of global planning,” said Paul Gold, VP/Strategic Data Operations at Telmar. “Imagine if Coke found that its drinkers used their smartphones 20 percent less than Pepsi drinkers in a part of the world where no media planning data existed. That would have a huge impact on their ability to evaluate alternative media investments in the market. That’s what we saw when comparing the supporters of various candidates.”
More information on RFT is here.
