Facebook, getting flak from advertisers because some of its metrics were inaccurate, has become the first company to sign up for a new product from Nielsen Catalina Solutions that measures the unduplicated reach and sales generated by campaigns across Facebook and TV.
Nielsen Catalina Solutions and Facebook also conducted a study of consumer packaged goods brands to understand how Facebook and TV advertising can work together that was presented Monday at the Advertising Research Foundation’s annual conference in New York Monday.
“Advertisers consistently ask us for better, cross-channel sales effect measurement,” said Leslie Wood, chief research officer Nielsen Catalina Solutions. “To reach this common goal, it will take more than the efforts of individual media companies. It will take the entire industry, collaborating together and with independent, trusted third parties. We’re excited to be working with Facebook towards achieving this goal.”
The report showed six CPG campaigns. For two, TV had the bigger sales lift. For four, Facebook had the bigger sales lift. But in all cases, the two media together added more lift.
“CPG advertisers want to know how their Facebook, Instagram and Audience Network campaigns are performing in combination with their other advertising, including TV. NCS’s latest cross-media addition to their Sales Effect suite provides those insights,” said Fred Leach, director of marketing science at Facebook. “Advertisers already know that Facebook and TV advertising work well together to drive sales—the research from Nielsen Catalina Solutions quantifies that.”
The report concluded by saying that Facebook is the first publisher to work on this cross-media solution, but the methodology can support more publishers. The study determined that a combination of TV and digital ads drove higher sales productivity for most campaigns.
“Measuring offline sales impact of TV and Facebook campaigns is now possible,” the report said. “It’s just the beginning of a robust test-and-learn agenda.”
