Where spot monitoring may be headed

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I could not help but to respond to your article regarding “Spot Monitoring”. I work for Ad Results Advertising, an agency based in Houston TX. We specialize in Live Radio Endorsements working with hundreds of Radio Personalities across the US in any given week for various clients. We started utilizing Media Monitors a few years ago to confirm among other requirements that 1) Our Live spots were running 2) Running correct creative & offers 3) Placement of our spots were in premium position within show content. We soon realized that one of our biggest clients had ongoing contracts with other companies to monitor the occurrence levels in their competition. A light bulb went off and being that we had been utilizing Media Monitors for the above reasons, we realized we could provide coverage in more markets and stations for our client then they currently were being provided and with much more detail. Working with the audio and occurrence level from Media Monitors and their permission, we created a system on steroids in which we use to uniquely identify down to the creative level each individual spot to a very granular level.


See Excel charts for a small sample

0705_07072011_Lowe’s_HomeDepot_AR_radio_GM.xlsx
0627_07032011_FastFood_AR_radio_GM_Data.xlsx
Auto_July.xlsx

When I read your article I could not help in thinking that one of the directions this Spot Monitoring is heading will have to include what we are doing right now. One of our current clients uses this data to enter into a modeling database that includes different media to best understand the competition, price points, products, etc so that they can have the most up to date information in planning and implementing their upcoming media buys. Part of this service that we include is an alert feature for new creative or “pokes” (A competitor referencing our client in a spot), being that we have to listen to new creative occurrences we provide our client with the newest creative and pricing coming from designated competitors so that our client can react accordingly as it happens in real time. Another client came to us so that we could verify that their spots were actually airing similar to “Proof of Play” but different in which a client in the Auto business gave us their invoices to verify the spots aired accordingly (Auto July). These were live spots but we have also verified recorded generic spots by creative across the US for a national syndicated show in which they came to realize that not all of their affiliate stations were correctly airing the spots and in some cases not airing the spots at all.

These services we have done for the radio media but we can also do for the TV/Cable media as well. Moving forward, this data broken down to the most granular level for analysis/verification/what ever the need may be, has to be part of where Spot Monitoring needs to be heading along with what to do with the data which I feel is the missing link in this industry. Thank you for allowing me to share some insight in the Spot Monitoring world.
 
–David Prado, Operations Manager
Ad Results Advertising
Houston, TX  77055
713-783-1800
[email protected]