ORLANDO, Fl — The cross-media measurement unit announced by the ANA this summer is preparing to launch, by building out a panel.
In June, the ANA announced Aquila, an effort to “govern, operationalize, and execute” cross-screen measurement.
In this video interview with Beet.TV, Bill Tucker, Group EVP of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and CEO of Aquila, said: “Kantar Media is building a calibration panel in the United States. We’re at almost 500 homes right now, and we’ll be at a thousand by the end of this year, and the target is 5,000 by the end of next year.”
Aquila Building Up
Aquila was established as a separate company, owned by the ANA, and will be offered to those members, but potentially others.
“That calibration panel is really important because it trains the privacy-preserving technology, or virtual ID, that enables the de-duping (of media screen measurement) to happen,” Tucker said.
“Accenture Technologies is our partner in building the software and the platform that will enable the end user to have the post-campaign data on their desktops.
“We will have APIs that enable data feeds to (the) third-party market mix modelling suppliers of our members, whether they’re in-house or outside suppliers, and integration with the planning tools that members and their agencies are using to build go-forward media plans.”
Tucker said Aquila has its own governance plan and has brought in executives to deliver the product.
“It’s also a platform solution for reach and frequency that will … advance outcomes,” he added.
Measurement In Focus
Cross-media measurement, which aims to accurately measure how many times a consumer is reached by an ad campaign across all media, has been a top priority for the advertising community for the past few years.
The practice depends not only on seeing a swathe of consumer media behavior but also adequately deduplicating that behavior across the same user or household.
Advertisers could gain a 10% productivity boost from implementing cross-media measurement, according to Tucker.
He said Aquila’s product has go-to-market launch planned for late 2025 or early 2026.
“It’s a team sport,” Tucker said, speaking at the ANA’s own Masters of Marketing Conference in Orlando.
The solution requires participation from leading U.S. advertisers as well as the ANA itself. Major platforms like Meta, Google, Amazon and TikTok are also supporting the initiative.
“It allows for reinvestment into strategic areas versus excess frequency, which frankly annoys consumers quite a bit,” Tucker said. “So there’ll be a better consumer experience when we implement.”
You’re watching “The CMO’s Guide to CTV Advertising in 2025 & Beyond”, a Beet.TV Leadership Series at ANA Masters of Marketing 2024, presented by Innovid. For more videos from this series, please visit this page.
