Nielsen appointed BARC India's primary digital measurement partner

After the exit of TAM from television measurement business in India, one of its patent companies Nielsen has made a major breakthrough in the digital measurement service being launched by BARC India, the audience measurement company set up by three industry bodies – Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA). Nielsen India has been appointed as primary digital measurement partner for BARC India’s soon-to-be-launched digital measurement service under the umbrella brand EKAM.

Nielsen is expected to fuse its global experience with India-specific adaptations to meet the unique needs of the Indian market. 

The process of identifying a digital measurement provider was kick-started with a RFI (Request for Information) sometime back, which was followed up with a Request for Proposal (RFP) from interested companies last year. A rigorous Proof of Concept (POC) testing was conducted with three shortlisted companies across three to six months following which Nielsen was selected on the strength of its demonstrated capabilities. BARC India's digital products will be powered by Nielsen which will help integrate the TV and Digital service eventually. 

The EKAM suite of products will enable comprehensive video measurement, i.e., all video (ads and content) played across TV and Digital platforms. BARC India will be rolling out its first EKAM product (Pulse), which will measure Video Ad Campaigns to enable daily evaluation and optimization opportunities on more impactful ROI metrics. 

With EKAM, the industry will be able to transact on a common currency with transparency. The EKAM range of products that will be launched in a phased manner will also address the issue of viewability and ad fraud. BARC India’s offering will ensure consistency, comparability and enhanced ability to de-duplicate audiences across sites, platforms and devices.   

In order to meet the needs and challenges of digital measurement, BARC India has been guided by its Digital Technical Committee, which has representation from all major players in the sector, including Google, Facebook, Hotstar, Voot, Ditto, P&G, HUL, Group M, IPG and Omnicom Media Group. The model is more inclusive rather than exclusive as has happened in most parts of the world. 

“With large expected growth in Digital as well as increased local and global industry demand for robust TV+Digital measurement, it becomes essential that the country moves to a cohesive third party measurement system. With lack of common trusted and transactable Digital metrics, publishers and agencies use differently defined metrics and measures of success of the ad or content being placed on the platform. There is a need for uniformity where all sides of industry are in agreement on the right metrics, measures and definitions. Digital measurement methods are still evolving globally and BARC India is attempting a few things which are a global first,” said Partho Dasgupta, CEO, BARC India. 

"Most Indians who are getting online today are using a mobile device to do so and 92% of the smartphone users are using video streaming services. These consumers will drive digital ad spends of marketers in India, likely to get close to Rs 30,000 crore by 2020. Measuring this explosion and building a currency around this to understand the reach and ROI of the marketer's most important future spend is an imperative. BARC India and Nielsen are on this journey, together," said Steve Hasker, Global President and Chief Operating Officer, Nielsen. 

“Thinking of occasions when we have had an opportunity to be part of truly path-breaking measurement, this would rank amongst the best. Combining BARC India's maverick vision and our expertise in digital measurement, we are helping build an advanced solution uniquely tailored for India," added Prasun Basu, President, South Asia, Nielsen.

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