Measuring the effectiveness of a medium has always been a problem for marketers and research firms. And the data provided by current media research companies including TAM Media Research, Audience Measurement and Analytics (aMap) and other research companies such as IMRB, AC Nielsen have been under the scanner several times. Time and again, the sample size, methods of research, etc., of these agencies have been questioned by clients. In a situation like this, a Bangalore based business solutions company, Unicel Technologies,has decided to take a plunge to measure effectiveness of media with its new media measurement tool. In a freewheeling conversation with FE‘s Pritha Mitra Dasgupta, Unicel Technologies chief executive officer Vinay Agrrawal shares the nuances of this new tool. Edited excerpts:

What are your areas of expertise?

Unicel specialises in extending all automation processes to mobile phones, and innovating solutions to reduce turnaround time of organisational processes. We are the pioneers of the virtual number; a ten-digit mobile number which facilitates interactive communication through both pull and push based messaging services. The virtual number enables the users to design various interactive solutions and services like quizzes, two-way communication marketing campaigns, message board solution, conducting market research, etc.

What triggered the launch of your new media measurement tool?

The challenge with any media campaign has always been the ability to measure its effectiveness. Though it is possible to assume the impact of a campaign by tell-tale signs like enquiries, it has always been a challenge to factually measure the same. Text based interactive solution not only enables precise measurement of the effectiveness of a campaign, but also being interactive in nature and reaching out to individuals makes it even more accurate. The contemporary methodology used in measuring different media — TV, print and online and radio — has its own limitations. The implications include the miniscule number of the sample size used for measuring the media effectiveness. There’s a time lag in result consolidation and inter-media effectiveness is not measurable.

In order to counter these shortfalls, we have introduced a solution which is implemented using a virtual number (a 10-digit mobile number which is virtually alive on the mobile network). This initiative has evolved after a systematic study conducted with media buying houses to identify and overcome the problems in existing measurement tools.

How does this media measurement tool work.

We act as a medium or a platform that would enable media houses to conduct the research effectively and in a shorter time frame. The companies can either target a city, a multi-city campaign or at an all-India level. It not only helps them to ascertain the perfect media mix, it adds an additional element of measurability and customer interaction. A pre-determined virtual number is communicated along with each media vehicle along with certain alphanumeric codes and the viewers are asked to SMS the codes to the virtual number. There would be a lucky draw, where the winners could win prizes. The number of responses would help in determining the effectiveness of each media vehicle across the brand funnel. These results could also be used as a benchmark for future campaigns. The name of the solution is MME Solution or Measuring Media Effectiveness Solution.

How is it different from the existing ones designed by TAM Media Research and aMap?

Unicel’s MME compliments the other two methods while making the results more accurate, while measuring media effectiveness on a small or large scale in a shorter time frame on a regular basis, unlike the other two modes of measurement as they cater to a bigger sample size or audience and are more established. There are a couple of key differentiators. It eliminates the time lag in consolidating the results.

It is done on one-on-one basis. As the results obtained are through SMS, hence we can obtain the mobile number, name, gender, as well as the city . It can be measured city-wise. Inter-media effectiveness can be measured. The virtual number would be showcased at various places such as newspapers, TV channels, hoardings, magazines, etc to create 10 different touch bases. A different number would be printed on each of the communication media. For example, on a hoarding it could be printed as “SMS 3 to 99xxxxxxxx and win yourself a gift voucher worth Rs 5000”. For a newspaper it could be written like “SMS 2 to 99xxxxxxxx and win yourself a gift voucher worth Rs 5000”. The user sends the SMS to the virtual number and the answers are stored in the database and the consolidated report is send to the advertiser. So the advertiser understands which particular media the customer has been able to touch base with, and is more effective, thereby enabling media houses to measure the effectiveness of their communication, and identify which medium makes an effective tool for communication for future campaigns.

When do you plan to launch this, in which markets and what is the sample size?

We are already in talks with some of the major fast moving consumer goods companies for the implementation of the MME solution. The markets being targeted are pan-India.

Who are your clients?

Unicel’s solutions are used by large enterprises like H-P (Hewlett Packard), Dell, IBM, Tata Sky, Accenture, ICICI Bank, ING Vysya, The Leela Hotels, Lenovo, AOL, Britannia and others.

What are the challenges?

The challenge faced is to break through the ice of the existing method of measurement.

How do you plan to tackle the problems that the media industry is facing on the measurement front?

There are two big problems in measurement of media effectiveness. One, knowing the end consumer. And second, one-way communication/interactive tools always work on a smaller sample size and extrapolation of the same. A mobile phone, unlike a landline/television, is not common to a household and is more associated with an individual. A mobile phone number can be demographically classified in terms of age, average spend, location, etc. Hence, when a response is received the classification and authenticity of the same is much higher. Also it directly puts you in touch with the end user on a two-way communication system increasing the authenticity and extent of the measurement data. While we can address most of the issues by empowering the media industry with MME, saying that we can solve all of them might be difficult.