The television sector has launched a two-year project that will use artificial intelligence (AI) to show how multiplatform TV advertising can build brands and return on investment.
The project will be funded by ThinkTV, but independently run by Professor Karen Nelson-Field, a global authority on the use of artificial intelligence in analysing consumer behaviour.
The ThinkTV Smart Lab aims to give marketers, media and creative agencies better insights into consumer behaviour and comes at a time when the market is questioning the voracity of media metrics reported by digital media giants, including Facebook and Google.
To ensure its independence, It will comprise of an oversight committee, including ThinkTV representatives and broader industry partners, such as marketers and media buyers. The project will also use artificial intelligence to remove human error and bias from research findings.
“There has never been a more important time for the media industry to take the measurement and effectiveness of video advertising seriously and our partnership with MIC shows just how serious Australia’s TV industry is about it,” Think TV chief executive Kim Portrate says.
Dr Nelson-Field has carried out work with a range of clients including Mars, Unilever, Google and Unruly/News Corp. She previously worked for the University of South Australia’s Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for 10 years after a marketing career in the commercial sector.
She is currently a professor of media innovation at the University of Adelaide and CEO of research joint venture Media Intelligence Co, which applies AI technology to help marketers, media and creative agencies gain better insights into consumer behaviours.
“We decided to call it a ‘Smart’ Lab due to the fact that, ‘smart’ technology, and in particular artificially intelligent measures, will operate as the foundation of all research methodologies,” Dr Nelson-Field says.
“Plus every output of the Lab will be based on ‘Smart’ empirically grounded evidence, not transient case study type best practice."
Smart Lab follows ThinkTV's recently commissioned Payback Australia - a $1 million project that aims to prove the value and return on investment of television for advertisers.
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