MUMBAI: When brands can’t measure right, they can’t spend smart. That was the blunt message from Nielsen at the third India Brand Summit 2025, organised by Indian Television dot com, on 19 September.
The summit brought together a heavyweight mix of marketers from leading FMCG firms, advertising agencies, media buyers, policymakers and digital innovators: all focused on rewriting India’s branding playbook with sharper, more cost-effective strategies.
Speaking on the theme “The need for an independent audience measurement system for enhanced reach analysis,” Nielsen, senior director, Mridul Verma made the case for breaking out of siloed metrics. He argued that platform-specific data clouds the true picture of audience reach, causing wasted ad spend and missed opportunities.
To illustrate, he cited a Samsonite campaign that tapped Nielsen one ads to fine-tune in-flight advertising. By applying unified, cross-platform measurement, the brand was able to optimise outcomes across connected TV, mobile and desktop.
Verma noted that such cross-channel clarity is critical in today’s fragmented media environment, adding that independent measurement is no longer a nice-to-have but a necessity for marketers seeking efficient and accountable growth.
With digital advertising spend soaring in India, Nielsen’s pitch for a single yardstick was clear: only a unified view can keep campaigns efficient and effective in a crowded media landscape.