Nielsen to deliver IAB Australia's new digital measurement blueprint 

SYDNEY: 13 October 2014 – Nielsen has been chosen by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB Australia) as the preferred supplier for the digital measurement currency that is used for the planning, buying and reporting of digital audiences in Australia. Nielsen is currently the preferred supplier and this selection extends this existing relationship to 2018.

Monique Perry, Head of Nielsen’s Media Industry Group, said: “We lined up alongside 23 other companies who requested the RFP and we knew that IAB Australia would simply not accept status quo. In response, we developed a blueprint for a measurement revolution.” 

Perry confirmed that the team at Nielsen was incredibly committed to retaining the digital measurement currency. “The entire team here at Nielsen fought hard for this: we knew we had to think differently and we left no stone unturned in preparing ourselves for the tender. We are committed to locally-lead, innovative product development, have an incredibly passionate client service team and strong technical support. We are absolutely thrilled to be chosen.” 

The cornerstone of Nielsen’s tender proposal is the introduction of significantly enhanced digital audience measurement reporting which will be managed in partnership with IAB Australia and rolled out in stages over the next three years.

“The Nielsen blueprint is bold and will ultimately change the way digital is measured,” revealed Perry. “We will deliver overnight audience data which will move 12 deliverables to 365 per year, provide a solution with sample scale to finally represent long tail audiences, fill the mobile gaps of smartphone, tablet and application measurement and deliver data APIs to support better integration for both agencies and publishers.” 

“This was without doubt one of the most complex briefs that we have seen at Nielsen and something we have come to expect from a market as sophisticated as this one. The entire tender process was rigorous, comprehensive and engineered by a broad range of publishers and agencies. IAB Australia has produced from this process, what we believe, will be a world-class digital audience measurement solution.

“We want to thank the IAB Board and the Technical Review Group especially, for their investment of time and effort reviewing the tender submissions. We look forward to working closely with this team and the broader digital community to deliver on each stage of the blueprint. 

“Quality currency data, supported by the industry, helps increase advertiser confidence and drive digital advertising investment – this is a real revolution and one that publishers and advertisers will be delighted with. The IAB has overseen substantial growth in the online advertising industry and we are confident the blueprint chosen will help further cement Australia’s position as a global leader in digital measurement,” concluded Perry.

IAB Australia called for submissions for a three-year preferred supplier agreement for a digital audience measurement solution in April this year. A total of 23 organisations initially responded to the RFP and were subsequently reviewed by the IAB’s Technical Review Group against detailed and extensive technical and business requirements. A short-list of four was announced in mid-July and included ComScore, Roy Morgan, GfK and Nielsen. This was further reduced to just GfK and Nielsen early last month before the final decision was made to select Nielsen as the successful tenderer.