Microsoft and ComScore to develop digital media planning technology

Microsoft Corporation is collaborating with comScore Inc. to develop a digital media planning solution, Reach and Frequency Planner (RF Planner), which will allow brand advertisers to predict reach, frequency and audience composition at the ad placement level.

The RF Planner uses a hybrid audience measurement method that combines Microsoft's ad serving data with demographic information from comScore's panel. It will forecast reach and frequency for online advertising campaigns and comScore's post-buy reporting to show how closely the campaign performance tracked to the prediction.

The tool represents the ability for brand advertisers to conduct the complete front-to-end media buying and planning process in the digital environment, using metrics similar to those existing for traditional media.

The collaboration between Microsoft and comScore represents a substantial effort to develop digital audience metrics to help advertisers and publishers plan and track branding campaigns. This hybrid approach is a prime example of how ad server and panel data can be combined to deliver the audience metrics brand advertisers expect.

''The perception that traditional branding metrics are not possible or meaningful for digital media is misguided,'' said Scott Howe, corporate vice president of the Advertiser and Publisher Solutions group at Microsoft. ''We believe online advertising won't maximize its appeal to brand marketers until the basic metrics they've relied on for years are available in digital media plans. This requires the cooperation of digital publishers and panel measurement organizations, which our collaboration with comScore will accomplish.''

The RF Planner will generate a series of optimized digital media plans that forecast target reach, frequency and gross rating points (GRPs) at the ad placement level. This will allow digital brand marketers to determine whether the impressions delivered by one group of ad placements are likely to be more valuable than those on another when the goal of the campaign is reach and frequency to a specified audience.