Placed launches TV screen-to-store offline attribution

Location analytics platform Placed (owned by Snap) is introducing TV-to-offline store measurement as part of its broader “Placed Attribution” suite. The new product involves a partnership with Inscape (owned by Vizio) and Kantar.

Last year, Vizio agreed to pay a more than $2 million fine for “deceptive” and unauthorized capture of customers’ TV viewing habits. The company uses a technology called Automatic Content Recognition (ACR). Vizio then sold customer viewing data, appended with other audience information, to third parties for measurement and ad targeting purposes.

Placed CEO David Shim says, as a result of the FTC investigation and settlement, Vizio’s Inscape now has a highly transparent opt-in process that happens when a new user is brought online. The company itself claims to offer “the cleanest data in the market.” And the entire Vizio customer data set is now “100 percent opt-in.”

Shim says that Inscape’s audience is larger than anything comparable in the market, at 8 million viewers. Those viewers’ ACR data is then matched with mobile device IDs to create a more holistic but deterministic view of the customer and whether TV ads are driving incremental lift. Placed is measuring whether a specific ad shown during a particular program motivated store visits.

As part of this announcement, Placed also released data on TV’s impact on offline visitation in Q1. The following are benchmarks based on $3.7 billion in aggregated TV ad spending involving 100 advertisers and 300+ campaigns:

• 35 percent of TV campaigns drive incremental visits.
• Top performing TV Networks (re: foot traffic): Food Network, Golf Channel, OWN, TV Land, NBC.
• Best performing day for QSR dining: Wednesday.
• Restaurant: 6 days after Ad Exposure.
• Telecom: 9 days after Ad Exposure.
• Automotive: 21 days after Ad Exposure.

NinthDecimal, PlaceIQ and others have previously measured TV’s impact on offline visitation or sales. However, Placed CEO  Shim explains this is the first time a syndicated tool measuring TV’s impact on store visitation has been widely available off the shelf. He added that the scale of the Vizio data is also larger than other offerings in the market.

One potentially significant benefit from Placed TV is the opportunity to optimize ad creative or messaging during the campaign. Placed Attribution also includes out-of-home, PC-based digital impressions, mobile, OTT video (via Roku) and addressable TV.

About The Author

Greg Sterling

Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He writes a personal blog, Screenwerk, about connecting the dots between digital media and real-world consumer behavior. He is also VP of Strategy and Insights for the Local Search Association. Follow him on Twitter or find him at Google+.