DMB takes a step toward Philippine digital standards

The Digital Measurement Board (DMB), under the Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines (IMMAP), launched the first-ever Digital Measurement Standard for the Philippines  at the BGC Arts Center. The biggest names in digital marketing and advertising gathered to witness the first step towards having an industry-wide measurement standard that puts clarity and direction on how to evaluate digital marketing and advertising performance in the country.DMB chairpersons Hans Roxas-Chua of the Certified Digital Marketing Program (CDM) and Dennis Perez of Unilever Philippines spearheaded the event that introduced E2 (Exposure x Effectiveness) as the Philippine Digital Measurement Standard framework.According to Perez, the main objective of the Digital Measurement Standard is to help advertisers evaluate the role of digital in driving business results by clarifying the metrics that matter, the benchmarks that define success, and the sources that can reliably provide measurement.“The rapid growth of digital advertising and marketing in the Philippines has pushed the need to create a measurement standard for the industry. This sparked the DMB to initiate a two-year review of metrics and benchmarks across different digital experiences. We are happy to get the support and involvement of almost 30 companies in the Digital Measurement Board,” Perez said.The Digital Measurement Board, founded in 2012 by the IMMAP, is composed of representatives from advertisers, media agencies, broadcasters and publishers, creative agencies, research agencies, and global platforms like Google and Facebook. “Now that the first DMB paper has been released, membership is exponentially growing,” Roxas said.Roxas further clarified that the end goal of the DMB is to have a single currency for measuring digital, similar to TV’s GRP. But before that objective can be reached, a definition of metrics that matter and a single source of benchmarks must be first addressed. Thus, the first DMB position paper focuses on creating a standard for the following: (1) a standard list of metrics for each digital experience, (2) a standard definition for identified metrics, and (3) a standard roster of partners who will publish benchmarks and provide measurement for advertisers.Understanding E2 (Exposure x Effectiveness)The Philippine Digital Measurement Standard is built on Exposure and Effectiveness metrics. Exposure measures the reach of the campaign, the quality of the placement, and the cost efficiencies of the delivery. On the other hand, Effectiveness measures the impact of digital in moving conversion funnel metrics of Awareness, Consideration, and Purchase Intent. Sales Conversion is currently out of scope in E2, but the DMB will cover this in 2018.Exposure metrics covers the metrics that matter for the most common digital experiences. This year’s DMB paper included experiences like Video, Search, Websites, Display, and Earned. In 2018, the DMB will be expanding the scope of the paper by including experiences like Messaging, PR and Influencer Marketing, and Sponsored Content.The second element in E2 is Effectiveness. DMB partnered with the Marketing and Opinion Research Society of the Philippines (MORES) in deriving criteria that will attribute conversion funnel impact to digital. With the help of a number of research agencies, DMB and MORES agreed that Validity (how close a tool measures what it claims to measure) and Reliability (how a tool can produce similar results under consistent conditions) as the Effectiveness criteria across different digital measurement methodologies like Market Research (such as studies by Nielsen, Kantar, Ipsos, and others), Publisher Sourced (like Google Brand Lift and Facebook Brand Effect) and Digital-Based Monitoring (such as social and web analytics). In 2018, DMB will be expanding the scope of the paper to clarify the approach in using Digital-Based Monitoring to measurement digital’s conversion funnel impact.Perpetual-BetaThe metrics, definitions, sources, and benchmarks will constantly be updated to adapt to this ever-evolving medium. As digital is dynamic, DMB will continuously refine the standards to ensure they remain current and reflective of digital’s state in the country. This paper is the first big step towards having one currency, but will be in perpetual beta just like anything digital.The DMB has embarked on a momentous task of providing a measurement framework for all digital marketers and advertisers in the Philippines. Perez stated, “We believe the industry is mature enough for us to question how digital is benefiting our businesses. We hope E2 will provide the clarity everyone is looking for to put digital measurement in everyone’s boardroom agenda.”