Harris Interactive Links Multi-Platform Engagement To Brand Equity With MediaAmpSM

Harris Interactive® (Nasdaq: HPOL), a leading global custom market research firm, today announced its new insight tool, MediaAmp, which augments traditional media buying and selling with brand equity and program engagement. This is engagement 2.0, which connects two externally validated Harris Interactive developed and tested metrics -- brand equity and emotional connection -- within a single, comprehensive vehicle, providing a window into the relationship between what viewers watch and the brands they love.

Historically, program engagement and brand equity have been measured independently through separate surveys; however, combined, these metrics are validated predictors of future purchase behavior. “Those who are the most engaged with a given television program across multiple screens are also much more likely to be engaged with the commercials that sponsor that program. Since we know that people who are most likely to purchase a product are those who are the most positively disposed toward the brand, identifying program opportunities that yield high engagement activities and behaviors is key to advertisers benefiting from these multi-screen halos,” stated Jeni Chapman, Executive Vice President, Global Brand & Communications Consulting at Harris Interactive. “Currently, most media-buying decisions are based primarily on audience size and standard demographics, not on brand affinity. Yet current research clearly suggests that engagement with brands and programs is a media buying and selling utility that takes size and simple demographic makeup to the next level. That’s the level that differentiates, not just the program, but also the brand experience.”

MediaAmp has demonstrated how programs and networks provide exceptional value to their advertising partners and sponsors through advertising, product placement, websites, mobile applications and social networking. “Such partnerships are setting the standard as content providers and advertisers seek to provide meaningful branded experiences for the consumer in the rapidly changing digital media landscape,” continued Chapman, “and MediaAmp uniquely offers a strategic tool to measure such value to advertisers’ brands.”