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Media planning is facing new challenges. Traditional media does not provide results that offer accountability and its reach and popularity among youths are sliding drastically. However, shifting more budgets to digital brings uncertainty to marketers that prefer less risk. Is there another way to use new media that allows marketers trial digital platforms in a safe environment? This is a big issue perhaps many in the industry continually ponder.

To illustrate, let’s use TVC on web video and TV as an example. While the format is the same, user habits on both platforms are different even though they consume similar content. Under this circumstance, online video seems like a good option offering content that can be repurposed on multiple platforms. If there is a common currency to access effectiveness, this will bring huge opportunities. However, is it so easy?

The first hurdle to overcome is: How do you establish a standard of assessment across traditional and digital platforms? Can GRP, the standard rating for TV be easily adapted to CPM, the digital currency for Internet? Assuming that TV has 50 percent of the target group and the Internet has 15 percent, can we simply add these two figures to 65 percent when the audiences are so diversified? There are more questions confronting us. How do you leverage and integrate these two platforms? Streaming TV programs on the web or broadcasting online content on TV? Does integration mean launching a campaign to collect a list that includes GRP from TV and CPC from the web? It seems to limit the potential that new media is capable of from interactive to social.

To achieve online integration, we need to consider how to maximise the individual platforms for web and TV and how they can complement each other. The Internet is interactive, viral, and measurable, while TV provides high coverage rate, advertising exclusivity, and a fixed habit of using the media, etc. In the process of integrating TV and Internet, we will need more time to attain a complementary rather than independent development.

What are some possible ways of doing so? Here are a few ideas that could offer better results.

Better integration of TV content: Apart from broadcasting TV programs on the Internet and vice versa as well as pre-roll advertising, are there ways to allow more interactivity with the audience when the content is shown? In addition, online activities of TV programs being aired are encouraged. This can include commenting, Q&A, real-time voting, and customised programs to bring fresh experience to viewers. For example, take the shows Super Girl or Super Boy offering SMS voting: are there any other new ways to engage audience?

Setting a cross-platform currency: My agency together with Millward Brown is working to establish MixReach, an evaluation system that will offer a common metric for both TV and the web. Like all established assessment criteria, it’s not easy to make progress in the beginning, but don’t we all have to start somewhere? Just like other independent third-party measurement companies, this will allow both platforms to interact and avoid disagreements among netizens.

Analysing marketing objectives: When there is a unified standard, it will allow a better assessment of your marketing objectives. If your campaign objective is to raise awareness, what should the proportion be for TV and online? What is the most effective way to integrate media planning? When interacting with consumers, what kind of content will bring the most return of investment? For advertisers, using innovative ways to achieve desired results and at the same time allow more flexibility for media planners will bring mutual benefits for both parties.

Integrating TV and online media poses a challenge to integrated marketing. How will the different metrics, habits, and operations impact marketing? And what repercussions will this bring? Perhaps this method of measurement will become a standard topic of discussion in the near future.