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 A NEW LOOK AT Ad-ID When The Ad-ID system of ad identification was introduced by the Association of National Advertisers and the American Association of Advertising Agencies in late 2002, many of us understood that this system was entirely new in virtually all respects, and that it would completely replace the “old fashioned” ISCI system then in place. We’ve since learned that Ad-ID is actually built on the base of the ISCI code system, which was invented by a forward-thinking agency executive named David Dole in the early 1970’s and sold to the ANA and the 4A’s in 1992. In fact, advertisers remain free to continue to use the same ISCI prefixes and self-administered code systems they’ve used in the past of TV commercials under the former ISCI system. The Ad-ID people tell us they will apply the 4-letter, 4-number protocol that was used for ISCI code assignment. Instead of losing past TV commercial data organized by ISCI code, Ad-ID is what its managers call “back compatible”, in that it will allow the uninterrupted use of ISCI-based TV commercial data systems. The Ad-ID system has been field tested and modified, and is now being used by a number of advertisers. Several important improvements in the system are evident in its present version, Ad-ID 2, which was introduced last November. As a practical matter, Ad-ID is here to stay. And, at this point in time, it is the only industry-managed coding system available to new advertisers. Furthermore, as television is now recognized by most sophisticated advertisers as just one of a wide array of available media options, a standard system to identify ads for all media seems like a good idea. While ISCI is for television only, Ad-ID provides this increasingly useful multi-media capability. Some of the benefits of Ad-ID may not be immediately evident, but could become indispensable for marketers of the future. The first of these, as mentioned above, is the coding of ads for all media. Among other benefits, this can assist marketers in the ad effectiveness measurement necessary for ROI analysis and for media selection and budgeting purposes. Another advantage is the added capacity of Ad-ID’s 12-character numbering system to accommodate more ads than its eight-character predecessor. This enhancement will be especially evident to brands that make multiple versions of ads to personalize them to specific consumers or to particular markets. Still another benefit is the metadata information about the ad that can be imbedded in Ad-ID’s computer data base. This data may be seen on the web via a privacy code. We believe this will be a big help to new brand management people and to advertising managers worldwide in multinational companies. We think another useful feature is the built-in link that this metadata can provide to another designated web address – say, one that allows the visitor to actually see the ad in a digital asset management system of some kind. BBS believes it is now time for companies to gain experience in the practical application of Ad-ID to their businesses by trying the system and learning what would be involved in the eventual adoption of Ad-ID for all their ads. Here are three ways that users of Ad-ID can help assure that the system works well and is conscientiously maintained: • First, they should insist that the ANA and 4A’s be attentive to the needs and suggestions of the people who produce, traffic and pay talent for their ads. Establishing a standing advisory panel of such persons- and listening to their recommendations- would be a good start. · Second, the costs to users of Ad-ID should be thoughtfully controlled by its operators, particularly as the system evolves from ISCI, which came essentially free of charge. • Last, Ad-ID needs to be faithfully policed to be sure that rogue ad-makers don’t simply help themselves to Ad-ID- type codes, as they have in recent years with ISCI-type prefixes and codes, thereby raising the specter of unauthorized code duplication and data contamination for those who are properly using the Ad-ID system. • We’d like to hear from you. Please click here if you’d like to know more about advertising coding or to share your views on this subject. |
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 Bird Bonette Stauderman Inc. 49 Riverside Avenue Westport, CT 06880 T 203.454.8781 F 203.454.947 BBS Europe Rua Ten. Gomes Ribeiro, 57/116 Sao Paulo, SP 04038-040 Brazil T 55.11.5083.1838 F 55.11.5083.4402 BBS Australasia Pty Ltd. 1804, 70# of Mei Lin Street Mayland Garden,Yuan Cun Si Heng Road Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, P.R.C. 510655 T 86.13.632356168 |
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