Origin: Cross-Media Measurement
Origin is an advertiser-led UK cross-media measurement service created by ISBA. It provides marketers with privacy-safe, de-duplicated reach and frequency metrics across channels, including mail, to provide omnichannel measurement.
Background
As media consumption fragments across channels, platforms and formats, advertisers have faced a long-standing challenge: understanding how campaigns perform as a whole, rather than in separate silos. Origin, ISBA’s advertiser-led cross-media measurement initiative, has been developed to address this gap by giving brands and agencies a clearer view of campaign reach and frequency across multiple media environments.
De-duplicated audience measurement
Origin is designed to provide de-duplicated audience measurement, showing how many people have been reached by each channel and where exposure overlaps. This matters because duplicated reach and excessive frequency can create media wastage, frustrate consumers and make planning less efficient. By using a single-source, privacy-safe dataset, independently audited data and cross-industry collaboration, Origin aims to support more confident, media-neutral planning decisions.
For advertisers and agencies, the initiative promises a more joined-up understanding of how channels work together. For media owners, it creates a route to demonstrate contribution within the wider campaign mix. Ultimately, Origin is intended to improve campaign effectiveness, reduce avoidable spend and help the industry build a more transparent measurement ecosystem.
JICMAIL pilot
A significant step in broadening Origin’s scope is its pilot with JICMAIL, testing how mail exposure can be captured within the platform. The pilot combines JICMAIL’s mail measurement expertise with Origin’s cross-media capability. In the study, 50 Origin panel homes record mail received over one week and track interactions for 28 days, while JICMAIL provides advertiser mail campaign data for multi-channel planning and evaluation.
The pilot was designed to support JICMAIL data to be integrated into Origin, helping advertisers assess mail alongside TV, digital and other channels. That would give the industry a fuller view of media impact and strengthen mail’s role within evidence-based, cross-media planning.
