MediaVest Signs On to TRA Service

In another sign that agencies are coveting more granular TV viewing data, MediaVest Wednesday (April 23) became the first agency to sign for TRA’s set-top-box-based media and marketing research service. Launched earlier this year, the service matches viewing data from digital set-top boxes with shopping behavior provided by frequent shopper cards.

Several other research firms, including TNS and Nielsen, offer research services based on set-top-box data, but TRA (which stands for True ROI Accountability) claims to be the only research system that provides true advertising accountability by connecting commercials viewed with actual product purchases.

“TRA’s marriage of set-top box viewer data with the deepest level of demographics, psychographics and behavioral purchase data lets us clearly see whether TV advertising drove sales and gives our clients the level of ROI they deserve,” said Jen Soch, vp and director of advanced TV for MediaVest, part of Publicis Groupe.

Currently, the TRA service is based on a panel of 300,000 households in southern California and frequent shopper cards for seven grocery store chains. The research firm expects to expand to a panel of 1 million by the end of the year.

Founded by Mark Lieberman, chairman and CEO and Bill Harvey, president, TRA is backed by investments from Kodiak Ventures, and WPP/Kantar Media Research, among others.