According to the panelists, the data is here and largely available. The discussion now revolves around how much to use and how to parse all the reporting.

Incremental lift: “The great thing with data, said Betsy Rella, VP, research & data, at New York Interconnect, is “it’s giving you that window into your campaign, from planning to attribution… Consumers are everywhere, the advertiser needs to be everywhere, and we need to be measuring everywhere.”

TV + digital = lift: When TV and digital video show up together, “Typically we see an increased lift with the two,” Rella said. “TV drives awareness and things like reach, and digital is great for gathering data and being able to look at outcomes. Ideally you want there to be that stair-step effect.” There’s “almost always incremental audience,” said Kelly Kokonas, EVP of global data, technology & analytics at Starcom. “And that total audience is so important to track. Looking at those incremental audiences, we are seeing a couple different analyses, some changes and shifts in where we can pick up unique reach.”

Progress over perfection: “There’s no such thing as perfection; what we need is progression,” said George Musi, EVP of marketing sciences at Publicis OneTeam – Citi. “We have a good understanding of what information exists. The trick is to say, At what point do we stop pulling information? When is the juice worth the squeeze? Sometimes the more information you add, it gives you wrong guidance. There is a point where too much data can throw you.”