Data fusion in the spotlight at the Pamro conference 2023

The importance of fusion, how it works, and its advantages was one the highlights at the recent 2023 Pan African Media Research Organisation (Pamro) conference.

Held at the Sofitel Hotel in Casablanca, Morocco, the conference theme of “Resilience & Innovation: Navigating the media landscape in Africa” was made possible by DStv media sales, Nielsen, Borderless Access, Ipsos, Ornico, Plus 94 Research, E-Tabs, Intergrate and Arena Events.

Nielsen SA’s MD Terry Murphy and media consultant Peter Langschmidt presented their paper “Fusion” that covered all the principles of fusion, unpacking how it works as well as its inherent advantages over classic single-source surveys. 

Murphy explained that data fusion is the process of integrating multiple data sources by using common variables to match two or more data sets and create one unified database.

“Fusion reduces the cost and technical difficulties in capturing all the data of interest in a single-source survey. It combines disparate media assets for the most granular view of people’s behaviour across media platforms and product consumption,” said Murphy.

“The fragmentation of media has widely felt implications. As platforms and purchase journey complexity continues to explode, single-source surveys can’t capture this complexity, making it impossible for them to provide a pervasive measurement.”

Langschmidt said: “We would need many more questions to understand the complexity,” adding that the increased burden would lead to fewer respondents per question and a poorer quality of responses. 

The solution to this dilemma, he said, is fusion, which offers existing depth with huge longitudinal data while being about a third cheaper. 

Nielsen pioneered fusion in Africa. In 2018, the research company fused two studies: PAMS and CPS. Fusion 2020 comprised four studies while Fusion 2022 consisted of five studies. It is now the most comprehensive media study ever produced in SA, with 50,000 respondents providing a 360-degree view of customers. 

The presentation also included case studies and examples from projects that have been done in SA with the PAMS hub survey, and TV, radio, digital as well as brands data donor survey. 

The second day of the conference kicked off with a panel discussion focused on advertising regulation. 

In 2022, the do-it-yourself approach undertaken by Azerbaijan was presented at Pamro. Fast-forward a year and the service has been successfully launched and well received by the media industry, agencies, broadcaster and government bodies in the country.

Irada Sultanova, MD of Marsa and Renata Uhlarikova, a founding partner at Pure X Media, discussed clients’ reactions to the new rating service and the impact the service has had on the industry while also illustrating how a robust audience measurement system positively contributed to the performance of the media market. 

Other presentations at Pamro included a paper titled “Overcoming memory bias: a non-invasive methodology for tracking digital behaviour in Morocco” from Integrate’s Mehdi Aman and Siham Malek. 

Matt Angus-Hammond, GeoPoll regional director for West Africa, shared how the company conducted the biggest media audience survey in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and what insights it revealed about this crucially important but poorly understood market. 

Closing off the conference was a presentation by Ultimate Media’s Ian Walker, a consultant and broadcasting station owner who discussed the next generation of radio and TV measurement.

Radio has demonstrated that campaigns linking creative features to advertising effectiveness have been built on how audio can communicate and influence behaviour even when heard passively.

Unfortunately, however, radio measurement has failed to provide brands with effective return on investment. Walker’s presentation illustrated how passive radio measurement, harnessing consumer data points, can close the attribution loop. 

This article was sponsored by Pamro.