US advertisers body ANA introduced a new cross-media measurement initiative
A new entity, Aquila, has been established by the ANA to govern, operationalize, and execute a CMM system in the U.S., which will support a broad range of use cases for planning, optimizing, post campaign reporting and outcome measurement.
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The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) announced significant progress and new milestones reached in its desire for a Cross-Media Measurement (CMM) solution. Improving advertiser decision-making for its members by enabling unduplicated reach and frequency at the campaign level is a strategic priority for the ANA.
A new entity, Aquila, has been established by the ANA to govern, operationalize, and execute a CMM system in the U.S., which will support a broad range of use cases for planning, optimizing, post campaign reporting and outcome measurement. Aquila’s leadership includes a founder’s coalition of ANA member advertiser companies, and platforms including Google, Meta, Amazon, and TikTok.
Aquila will apply a principles-based approach to deliver a privacy-by-design, neutral and transparent technical solution. It will leverage a suite of privacy preserving technologies and is a top priority for advertisers. Aquila joins ISBA Origin and WFA’HALO’s concerted efforts to deliver U.S. and U.K. market CMM systems.
The Media Rating Council (MRC) serves as an independent advisor to the CMM initiative and was not part of the selection process of solution partners. The panel and solution infrastructure will be designed to achieve MRC accreditation.
“After sufficient testing and validation, Aquila is moving the CMM initiative to the next phase of bringing a scaled CMM solution to the U.S. This will unlock substantial value for all stakeholders and deliver an improved ad experience for all audiences and segments through transparent measurement,” said Bill Tucker, President of Aquila. Tucker will be overseeing the CMM efforts.
“The ANA’s progress is a step in the right direction to unify the industry to achieve a deduplicated reach and frequency cross-media measurement solution that will enable marketers to deliver a better consumer media experience while avoiding unnecessary waste,” said Kanishka Das, Senior Director, Global Media, Analytics and Insights, at Procter & Gamble. Das also serves as the Marketer Chair of the founder’s coalition of the CMM initiative.
In addition, Aquila has engaged with two organizations to support this initiative:
Aquila has contracted with Kantar Media to build a single source cross-media calibration audience panel in the United States. The panel will be used for calibration purposes and as a core component of the service.
Aquila is working with Accenture on an upfront phase of planning for the rollout of the CMM solution and the definition of its technology requirements.
“Meta remains committed to supporting the ANA in solving one of marketers’ biggest challenges, which is having access to consistent, always-on cross media measurement,” said Erik Hawkins, VP, Global Partners, Meta. “We are very pleased to see the ANA’s recent progress and their ongoing commitment to an open, privacy-first approach.”
"Google is committed to delivering accurate, comparable, privacy-centric cross-media measurement to improve ad performance and consumer experiences" said Gaurav Bhaya, VP & GM, Ads Measurement, Google. "Aquila is a promising initiative to deliver on this, and we're proud to support the ANA on this endeavour."
"Marketers need trusted, durable, privacy safe cross-media reach measurement to make informed decisions about their ad investments," said Paula Despins, VP Measurement at Amazon Ads. "We're happy to support Aquila's efforts to deliver an impactful solution that helps address this gap for both brands and consumers.”
“The ANA’s marketer-led CMM solution is moving our industry in the right direction,” said Jorge Ruiz, Global Head of Marketing Science, TikTok. “We’re thrilled with the progress we’ve made and our commitment to moving this initiative forward.”
The CMM initiative is supported by the ANA board, and the ANA’s 600+ global CMO Growth Council and the ANA’s Media and Measurement Council. It is estimated the endeavor will eliminate fifty billion dollars in waste due to excess frequency over a 3-year period and deliver improved media productivity and an elevated ad experience for audiences through transparent measurement.
