ANA’s cross-media venture hires Google and VideoAmp vets, nears TV measurement deal

Aquila, the Association of National Advertisers-backed cross-platform media measurement venture, is staffing up with three key hires, expanding its research panel to 5,000 households and preparing to sign a TV measurement partner. The moves come as Aquila works toward a beta launch later this year and full rollout next year. The ANA estimates Aquila can eliminate up to $50 billion in waste due to excess frequency over three years, at a time when over-frequency appears to be getting worse due to loss of consumer tracking signals and other measurement issues. NextGen Marketing Summit Join us for a crash course on Gen Z, DTC marketing and the creator economy Register today Aquila has plenty of competition from companies that include Comscore, iSpot.tv, Nielsen and VideoAmp, which offer products claiming to provide cross-platform deduplicated reach and frequency measurement using proprietary ID systems. But a key difference for Aquila is that it’s been built from the ground up with marketer input from ANA board members, said Bill Tucker, CEO of the venture. He added that Aquila intends to make its system inter-operable with others. The calibration panel being built by Kantar Media to help make Aquila work now has reached 1,000 households, with plans to hit 5,000 by year end, the company announced. Aquila is also adding staff beyond Tucker, who is also group VP overseeing the ANA’s data and technology practice. That includes adding Tina Daniels, formerly managing director of agency and brand measurement analytics at Google, as its president and chief operating officer. Daniels started last year in a fractional executive role that’s now become a full-time effort. The company also is adding Jed Meyer, a veteran of Nielsen, Ebiquity, Google and Omnicom, as chief revenue officer and contracting with Josh Chasin, the former top research executive at VideoAmp and Comscore, as chief research officer via his KnotSimpler consultancy. Meyer and Chasin are both working on a fractional basis, Tucker said. Media measurement blog Tracking TV, social and digital updates Click here Adding staff is important as Aquila looks to add more advertiser clients, who pay based on a percentage of their media budgets. “Tina is a wonderful leader and subject-matter expert well known in the industry who’s had big roles at Google and prior,” Tucker said. “She’s accelerating our progress.” Chasin’s role gives Aquila access to “his big brain as a chief research officer on a fractional basis,” he said. And Meyer will focus on cultivating top-200 advertisers, “making sure that they’re exposed to Aquila and understand,” Tucker said. “We’ve got a lot of advertiser ANA members we haven’t been able to hand hold through the process. Jed’s focus is that role.” Aquila also is finalizing a contract with a TV measurement provider, Daniels said, declining to name the company. That move essentially will incorporate TV data, even if the TV industry isn’t on board. While Aquila has buy in from key digital players Amazon, Google, Meta and TikTok, TV networks have so far declined to back the effort. The industry’s trade group the Video Advertising Bureau has cited what it sees as undue influence from digital platforms. “We recognize the critical importance of accurate and transparent cross-media measurement to ensure more of our media dollars meet unique consumers,” said Shenan Reed, chief media officer of General Motors in a statement. “By supporting Aquila, we can collectively drive forward solutions that benefit not only our brands but also the entire advertising ecosystem.”

ANA’s cross-media venture hires Google and VideoAmp vets, nears TV measurement deal

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