P.R.I.S.M.

It looks so cool in all caps with periods and stuff huh... Pioneering Research for an In-Store Metric. Did the acronym just work out that well? But I digress...

As a part of the consortium (another fun word), I can't really talk about the details of what's going on. However, I did want to comment on the experience overall. Its a massive undertaking from a logistics standpoint alone. Its interesting how much pure thinking and pre-planning needs to go into setting this thing up; test design, coding, metrics, outputs, etc... Its amazing to see how many research, agency, brand and retail people it takes to screw in a light bulb.

My biggest thought is that technology feels like a double edge sword here. While it facilitates the process immensely, it also creates the assumption that this thing should be perfect. Think back to TV; it was first measured with a small sample of households self-reporting their viewing habits into a diary. Hell, diaries are still used in many markets. We (retail folks) are a victim of post internet metrics. The web was so trackable, we measured everything to the point where most of the metrics were useless.

The hope with this is to find a nice middle ground of useful metrics for planning and auditing purposes, while also maintaining accuracy beyond counting on someone to tell me they think they watched Law & Order last night on NBC but they can't remember which permutation.

Either way, its very cool to be a part of the beginning of something this big. One day, when my grandchildren tell me they generated 2 unduplicated impressions in the produce section of Safeway, I'll be able to say that I was a part of that.

Have a Good 4th everyone!