BVOD Planner enhancements with optimiser 8 March 2021 Barb, the UK television audience measurement currency, has today launched upgrades to its BVOD planner to improve functionality and user experience. These improvements are the first in a series of changes planned for 2021 that will provide buyers and sellers of advertising with a multi-platform optimiser. The BVOD planner, first released in June 2020, is designed to help agencies and advertisers plan advertising campaigns across Barb-reported commercial broadcasters’ linear channels and VOD platforms. The BVOD planner enables agencies and advertisers to forecast the unduplicated reach and frequency* delivered by advertising campaigns on Barb-reported commercial BVOD services** over multiple screens (TV sets, PCs, tablets and smartphones). Users can forecast BVOD reach for impressions planned against specified target audiences, as well as by service. The tool can be used to plan standalone BVOD campaigns, or in conjunction with a linear advertising campaign. Improvements to the tool now enable the user to more effectively plan campaigns by optimising budgets across linear and BVOD platforms. Planners also now have the ability to plan campaigns delivered on specific devices. These enhancements have been developed in conjunction with feedback from existing users and we look forward to adding further modifications in the future. The planner incorporates Barb’s gold-standard panel and census data, alongside BVOD and smartphone viewing data independently collected and reported by IPA TouchPoints. The modelled output also uses ad impressions data provided by broadcasters. Barb’s BVOD planner was developed by RSMB for Barb and is available through TechEdge’s K2 module. Barb is delighted that it has now been adopted by majority of UK broadcasters and media agencies to support their BVOD planning. Justin Sampson, Barb’s Chief Executive, said: “Buyers and sellers of advertising need to know how linear and BVOD advertising work together to reach consumers effectively. Since launching beta, our BVOD planner has started to meet this need by providing pre-campaign planning tools based on viewing data that have been independently specified and collected. We are now providing unduplicated reach and budget optimisation and have more changes in the pipeline as we build a multi-platform planning tool.”