Nielsen launches first person-level TV DMP powered by Gracenote smart TV viewership data

Marketers can directly engage Smart TV audiences across linear TV and digital media to improve omnichannel marketing ROI

New York, NY – Oct. 31, 2017 – Nielsen (NYSE: NLSN) announced today that it will leverage Gracenote’s Real-Time Smart TV Data to enhance the audience targeting, consumer analytics and measurement capabilities of Nielsen Marketing Cloud’s Data Management Platform (Nielsen DMP). The Nielsen DMP connects Gracenote viewership data to a wide spectrum of Nielsen, first- and third-party consumer data for person-level consumer insights, as well as hundreds of integrated paid and owned media platforms for marketing activation. As a result, brand marketers and advertisers have an unprecedented view of what audiences are watching across local and national markets on linear TV, on-demand and DVR.

Gracenote, a Nielsen company, gathers Smart TV viewership data in real-time using its patented Video Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) technology, which is implemented in more than 27 million Smart TVs across eight global consumer electronics brands. Gracenote ACR technology identifies TV programs, movies, advertisements and video games being viewed in real-time and provides valuable insights including how long consumers engage with content and what they tune in and out of. The addition of Gracenote Smart TV data brings the industry one step closer to standardized audience segments across linear, advanced TV and digital, making inventory more valuable as demand for a consistent addressable currency for advanced audiences continues to grow.  

Nielsen has moved beyond household-level viewership data to create the industry’s first person-level TV DMP. With Gracenote Smart TV data integrated with the existing Nielsen person-level TV exposure data, the Nielsen DMP delivers enhanced individual viewing patterns to help media planners, creative professionals, digital marketing leads and data analysts further personalize advertising and content, control exposure frequency across linear and addressable advertising and more accurately measure sales impact. Additionally, this comprehensive person-level TV viewing data is combined with Nielsen’s expansive set of audience data spanning consumer demographics, personalities, digital behavior, credit card spending and specific product purchases to give clients the most in-depth and comprehensive view of consumers available.

“Gracenote ACR technology is bridging linear TV with the marketing and measurement capabilities that we’ve come to expect from the digital world,” said Kelly Abcarian, SVP, Product Leadership for Nielsen. “This is the first time that we are making Gracenote Smart TV segment data widely available to marketers and media owners who are looking for a deeper understanding of TV viewership across all platforms and services so they can seamlessly optimize and activate buying across linear TV and digital video and provide a more accurate measurement of ROI.”

“We are connecting Gracenote’s real-time Smart TV viewership data to the entire Nielsen audience data universe that lives in the Nielsen Marketing Cloud,” said Damian Garbaccio, EVP – Nielsen Marketing Cloud. “This helps our clients better understand individual consumer behavior across media touch points to improve marketing and sales impact across traditional and digital channels. It also strongly supports our growth in the addressable TV market.”

Nielsen DMP clients will be able to activate Gracenote Smart TV Segment Data in real-time (200 milliseconds) across dynamic personalization, content management, programmatic, search, social, email, video, mobile and over-the-top (OTT-TV) platforms. Clients can target pre-built Gracenote Smart TV segments or create custom audience combinations with more than 60,000 Nielsen Marketing Cloud segments.

As an example, a viewer exposed to a brand awareness campaign on their Smart TV while watching a specific program at night could be re-engaged with a direct response mobile advertisement while commuting to work the following morning. Consumer engagement with these cross-channel, sequenced messages can be tracked throughout the path-to-purchase with Nielsen’s In-Flight Analytics and Multi-Touch Attribution (MTA) solutions.

Nielsen is the only measurement provider that can accurately turn device-level consumption data into person-level insights, connecting 9.5 billion devices on which people consume media and shop across the linear TV and digital worlds. This reinforces Nielsen Marketing Cloud’s position as a leader in the DMP and marketing cloud space.

ABOUT NIELSEN

Nielsen Holdings plc (NYSE: NLSN) is a global performance management company that provides a comprehensive understanding of what consumers Watch and Buy. Nielsen’s Watch segment provides media and advertising clients with Total Audience measurement services across all devices where content—video, audio and text—is consumed. The Buy segment offers consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers the industry’s only global view of retail performance measurement. By integrating information from its Watch and Buy segments and other data sources, Nielsen provides its clients with both world-class measurement as well as analytics that help improve performance. Nielsen, an S&P 500 company, has operations in over 100 countries that cover more than 90% of the world’s population. For more information, visit www.nielsen.com.

*This article originally appeared on Nielsen.com.