Sweden’s cross-media measurement initiative unveils industry standard for media buying

After two years of extensive collaboration with Sweden’s largest advertisers, agencies and media owners, the Association of Swedish Advertisers (Sveriges Annonsörer) has gone out with new standards for media buying to help advertisers plan, combine, compare and evaluate their advertising campaigns across channels more effectively.

It was developed as part of the project, Cross-Media Measurement (CMM) Sweden, led by Sveriges Annonsörer in conjunction with McDonald’s, Telia, Google, TV4, JCDecaux, Polarsken Consulting, media agency Scream, measurement firms MMS (TV), Kantar (print, display, radio, podcasts) and Outdoor Impact (OOH), the Swedish Association of Media Agencies, IAB Sweden and other industry stakeholders.

CMM Sweden is aligned with the principles laid out by WFA’s global cross-media measurement initiative and aims to address the lack of common standards and definitions for media buying and measurement across different channels and develop new solutions and tools for the Swedish ad industry.

Hanna Riberdahl, CEO of Sveriges Annonsörer, said: “The new standard is the map and compass that advertisers were lacking, and we are convinced that it will contribute to a better and more transparent advertising market.”

The new guidance consists of “The Advertising Value Chain” framework and ad reporting fact sheet, which provide a comprehensive overview of where, when and how ads are seen across the media value chain, as well as guidance on concepts and definitions. CMM Sweden also unveiled an audit report conducted in 2021 that mapped out measurement and reporting definitions and methods used in several cross-media campaigns of eight major Swedish advertisers. The audit also looked at where third-party verification is present, broken down by media type. 

Peter Mackhé, Media Expert at Sveriges Annonsörer and CMM Sweden initiative lead, said: “The audit clearly shows that there is great confusion about how ads are delivered and reported… The absence of clear and common definitions makes it difficult for advertisers to evaluate their cross-media campaigns”.

Next steps include the development of education tools and resources for Swedish advertisers and the wider industry later in 2022.

Download The Advertising Value Chain framework HERE and the audit report in English HERE.

For more information, contact Sveriges Annonsörer.