Home » ThinkTV Partners With Leading Academic On World First Lab To Test TV Advertising

17 October, 2016

ThinkTV Partners With Leading Academic On World First Lab To Test TV Advertising

ThinkTV is proud to announce the formation of an independent laboratory to carry out cutting-edge research into the performance of TV advertising, in partnership with leading international media academic Professor Karen Nelson-Field (pictured above) and Media Intelligence Co.

The laboratory’s forthcoming two-year research program will help advertisers and media agencies get the best out of TV by providing robust evidence and greater clarity about how multiplatform TV advertising delivers business results.

The ThinkTV Smart Lab is directed by Karen Nelson-Field, Professor of Media Innovation at the University of Adelaide and CEO of research joint venture, Media Intelligence Co. (MIC).

The purpose-built facility will examine TV’s impact on brand and advertiser performance and will use artificial intelligence technologies to remove human error and bias.

It is funded by ThinkTV but remains independent to ensure research rigour and credibility. It will comprise an oversight committee that will include ThinkTV representatives and broader industry partners, including marketers and media buyers.

“There has never been a more important time for the media industry to take the measurement and effectiveness of video advertising seriously and our partnership with MIC shows just how serious Australia’s TV industry is about it,” said ThinkTV chief executive Kim Portrate.

“Karen is a world-renowned media academic with impeccable credentials for her work and independence. The lab’s findings will play an important role in evaluating TV’s credentials for advertisers who are under more pressure than ever to spend their dollars efficiently and effectively.

“The outcomes from the Smart Lab, the first of which Karen will present at our ReThinkTV marketing forum on November 30 in Sydney, will give marketers and media buyers new and retested evidence on which to determine the efficacy of multiplatform TV advertising.”

Professor Nelson-Field has carried out work with a diverse range of clients including Mars, Unilever, Google and Unruly/News Corp. She previously worked for University of South Australia’s Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for 10 years after a marketing career in the commercial sector.

“We decided to call it a ‘Smart’ Lab due to the fact that, ‘smart’ technology, and in particular artificially intelligent measures, will operate as the foundation of all research methodologies,” she said. “Plus every output of the Lab will be based on ‘Smart’ empirically grounded evidence, not transient case study type best practice.

“Where existing knowledge is dated, or where knowledge does not already exist, the Smart Lab will undertake research that includes using machine learning and new computer vision technology. It reduces human error, subjectivity and bias, and data is collected passively and in real-time. It is certainly more future-ready than old school biometrics.”

The ThinkTV Smart Lab will support a number of internships for University of Adelaide undergraduates, to foster new talent across the marketing and media sector.

The Smart Lab follows ThinkTV’s announcement that it has commissioned a $1 million, world-first research project, “Payback Australia”, to prove the value and return on investment of television for advertisers.

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