FAST, Data, and Tracking Diverse Audiences
Given that traditional media measurement companies have always underrepresented diverse audiences, minority-owned content companies targeting multicultural audiences face unique challenges in tracking those audiences and leveraging the data to monetize their channels, as Publicis Media EVP Cultural Investment & Innovation Stephen Paez explains in this candid discussion with media universe cartographer Evan Shapiro at Streaming Media NYC.
The advantages of FAST channels not being dependent on third-party data
Shapiro says that he believes the data currently available in Free Ad-Supported TV (FAST) is not as good as it should be since there is not yet a universal tracking source, along with the use of monthly active as a measurement reference. But he says to Paez, “You feel like that you're able to target your audiences, track them through the lifecycle of the impression-based campaign, and then get real performance data on the other side of it. Do you mind talking about how that experience looks like from your end of things?”
“We know that traditional measurement companies have always underrepresented diverse audiences,” Paez says. “So going in, you have a deficit already. If you're a multicultural property, you either don't have the ‘scale,’ and I put that in quotations because the traditional media measurement companies don't tend to it, or you have an opportunity to underdeliver because the panel isn't representative of an audience. Where I think the opportunity is, from a FAST channel perspective, is that you, as a publisher, can be very honest in terms of what you can deliver. You're no longer dependent on a third party to be able to tell you your audience went from 1 million to a hundred thousand because there weren't two people watching TV. So if you are honest with yourself as a publisher and say, ‘I can deliver X amount of impressions, and you deliver that in full me as a buyer, I will go back to you because you have that ability. Whereas, traditionally, what we see from minority-owned or minority-targeted platforms, there [has been] a significant amount of liability because it's dependent on a third party.”
Why data transparency is essential for FAST channels
Paez emphasizes transparency with media buyers is crucial for FAST channels with diverse audiences. “I think it's better you can deliver a hundred and deliver a hundred, rather than saying you can deliver a thousand and only deliver a hundred. So the onus is now on the media company to be able to be like, you know what? I'm going to deliver the audience that you want in the content that is relevant to them. But this is the amount of inventory I have.”
The importance of media companies delivering relevant content to diverse audiences
Shapiro says, “It sounds to me, at least based on what I am reading and talking to people about, is that we're moving much less towards an ‘impressions based on pure demographic buy’ to one that is based on outcomes, of likely buyer types, and then tracking them through [to] last touch attribution, but even further than that, all the way through the funnel. You're sitting at a big organization. Are you feeling that trend moving that way? Is that reflected in your move towards things like FAST because it gives you a level of new sources of information?”
Paez says that tracking data, especially for diverse audiences, is becoming more difficult because of data privacy laws. “KPIs are extremely critical when you're thinking about diverse audiences because they might not be in the same place as your general market consumer since you haven't been speaking to them or haven't been as relevant to them as long. So understanding that business challenge that you're trying to overcome, then marrying that to the KPI can be critical, but no matter what, always, if you can get closer to that KPI in a very objective way, I think that that's where we're always leaning towards from an innovation perspective.”
Paez further highlights the responsibility of media companies to deliver relevant content to the desired audience and the importance of understanding the unique challenges of individual audiences. “Because your KPI from a general market perspective can be conversion, but if from a Hispanic perspective, they're not even aware, how will you measure them on the same playing field? You can't measure the same. So if you don't have a clear understanding of what your challenges are for the individual audience, that's where it gets really [problematic].”
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