OzTAM and Nielsen have unveiled Virtual Australia (VOZ), a new ‘Total TV’ integrated database.
Total TV will provide advertisers and media agencies with an all-screen picture of the TV content Australians are watching, who is watching, and how they are watching, on all devices.
Progressively rolling out from Q1 2019, VOZ’s “Total TV” database will bring together audience data for Australians’ broadcast TV viewing on TV sets (OzTAM TV ratings) and streamed TV viewing via connected devices (OzTAM’s VPM service).
VOZ will incorporate viewing on 7 million connected devices plus minute-by-minute actual viewing behaviour of more than 12,000 individuals, 24/7/365, in OzTAM TV panel homes.
Together, OzTAM and Regional TAM’s panels make Australia the world’s largest per capita people metered market.
It will allow agencies and advertisers to create media plans for TV inventory on all screens for the metropolitan commercial free-to-air and Foxtel channels, and to manage de-duplicated audience reach and frequency goals in their Total TV campaigns.
VOZ will build on the industry’s ongoing innovation and will ultimately enable audience segments as a currency that advertisers can trade against.
Broadcasters will be able to integrate their own data with VOZ’s independent, objective, cross-screen viewing data to enable advanced audience targeting based on viewer behaviours, interests and needs, in addition to fundamental age and gender demographics.
Nine chief executive Hugh Marks said, “The launch of VOZ by OzTAM is an important milestone for television, that will pave the way for advertisers to harness VOZ to better target audience segments, while making the most of broadcast TV’s ability to quickly build reach across their platforms.”
Foxtel chief executive Patrick Delany added, “TV is the ultimate loud-speaker and continues to hold the crown as the best way to reach the widest possible audience.
“No other medium captures and holds people’s attention in the same way while at the same time being backed up by transparent performance metrics allowing advertisers to measure audiences, fine-tune messages and amplify the impact of their stories.
“Today’s news is the next big step in its evolution as the ultimate marketing medium.”
VOZ will also be continually enriched with the integration of select third-party assets that can deepen the audience profiles and behaviours from the dataset – enabling advertisers to target specific audience segments beyond standard age and sex demographics.
Network TEN chief executive Paul Anderson said, “Television is the only way to reach mass audiences fast – today’s news unlocks the true value of our content and cements television’s position in the marketing mix as the most effective way for advertisers and brands to engage audiences at scale.”
While Seven West Media chief executive Tim Worner said, “The true amount of TV being watched, and the level of engagement when it is, has long been underestimated.
“Today’s announcement gets us much closer to capturing REAL audience numbers and will give brands invaluable insights into how audiences engage with premium long-form video across the many different screens now available to them.
“It is this transparency and accountability, delivered by global leading measurement metrics, that sets TV apart from other mediums, and helps make it the best and most effective platform for advertisers for now and long into the future.”
ThinkTV chief executive of marketing, research and industry Kim Portrate praised OzTAM’s pioneering work and said the move was a further sign of a unified, optimistic TV industry that is moving to meet its audiences.
Portrate said, “As ThinkTV enters its third year, it is wonderful to see that the industry will have access to OzTAM and Nielsen’s VOZ integrated database which combines all broadcast assets across all platforms, supporting cross-screen campaigns and overall reach goals, and enabling advanced audience targeting.”
The announcement comes as four of the CEOs prepare to share a stage for the first time at the inaugural AdWeek Asia-Pacific conference in Sydney at a VIP Dinner for the CEOs of Australia’s largest advertisers on July 31.
