AHAA Forms Online Measurement Task Force

In the US, members of the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA) have formed a committee to lead an initiative designed to deliver more precise online Hispanic market research data.

Members of the newly formed AHAA Online Measurement Task Force plan to meet stakeholders and key industry players regarding online measurement of the Hispanic population, and make a recommendation to the AHAA Board of Directors next year.

The team comprises agencies, research companies and online publishers, and includes Marla Skiko, SVP Director of Digital Innovation at SMG Multicultural; Alberto Ferrer, Managing Partner, the Vidal Partnership; Anne Howard, Group Account Director Interactive Marketing, Lopez Negrete Communications; and Matias Perel, CEO of Latin3. Skiko will head the task force and Perel, also a member of the AHAA Board of Directors, will serve as board liaison.

AHAA Chairman José López-Varela says that with approximately 52% of the US Hispanic population online - more than 23 million people - Hispanic-specialized marketing agencies need accurate research data.

'Online is a critical component of many Hispanic-targeted campaigns,' explains López-Varela. 'Ensuring that online research methodology, and the sampling and definition of Hispanics online are accurate is paramount to AHAA agencies.'

López-Varela added that the task force would like to replicate the experience the industry enjoyed with Nielsen during the development of the Nielsen Hispanic-American Television Index (NHTI) - later integrated into the Nielsen Television Index.

'Nielsen was responsive to the needs of our community and recognized the need for quality sampling - the validity of the mechanics to deliver accurate viewer data,' he stated. 'We are anticipating much the same outcome with online measurement.'

AHAA recently joined with a group of minority radio broadcasters known as the PPM Coalition, to ask the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to probe the accuracy of Arbitron's PPM ratings system.

Web sites: www.ahaa.org , www.nielsen.com and www.arbitron.com .