SMI and Big Datr expand partnership to offer new ad spend detail

Standard Media Index (SMI) and the independent advertising monitoring company Big Datr have unveiled a significant expansion of their Brand Media Value dataset to now integrate all SMI product categories.

Big Datr has been creating brand-level ad spend estimates utilising SMI’s exclusive media Agency ad spend database for a number of key product categories including – Automotive, Banking & Finance, Telecommunications, Insurance, Superannuation, Travel and Education – over the past four years.

But recent additions to SMI’s product category data and further improvements in Big Datr’s ad monitoring technology – mostly due to increased use of automation technology along with all new algorithms – has enabled Big Datr to broaden the joint venture service to all of SMI’s 40 Product Categories.

“For the first time, we can now provide advertisers with access to competitor ad spend across all major media and media sectors for all of SMI’s 40 main product categories,” Big Datr co-founder and director Avrill D’Costa said.

“This also makes our service very attractive to marketers that demand more digital visibility and media companies as they can access more accurate ad spend estimates for any brand in all major media in market.’’

To create the ad spend estimates, SMI provides Big Datr access to its premium category ad spend detail, giving them real market sizing for category ad spend across all major media and media sectors, including digital sectors such as Social, Display and Search.

Big Datr’s core business is advertising monitoring, with its service able to track where – and how often – brands are advertising across all major media, including digital. Big Datr then overlays this onto the SMI data to create more accurate brand level ad spend detail.

SMI AU/NZ managing director Jane Ractliffe (pictured) said the expanded service was an improved data source for media and marketing stakeholders requiring competitor-level ad spend insights.

“There’s always a need to improve the brand-level ad spend data in the market and we believe that by providing Big Datr with an accurate base from which to derive the brand-level estimates we’re delivering a more robust market solution,” she said.

“And now that Big Datr can deliver the brand-level detail for all of the SMI product categories even more companies will benefit from these improved competitor-level insights.”