Elevating Creative Effectiveness with ACIF -- Watch the Video

As the media ecosystem has fragmented, advertising campaigns have become increasingly complex to execute, measure and optimize. 

A major barrier to achieving cross-platform advertising nirvana is the lack of universal ad identification adoption, resulting in ineffective tracking of creatives running across disparate media platforms and channels – from TV networks to streaming services, digital publishers and beyond. 

XR is working with AD-ID and IAB’s Tech Lab to solve this issue by helping form the Ad Creative ID Framework (ACIF). The goal is to standardize operating procedures for ad registries across the globe to be used across platforms and channels, now covering linear TV and digital video.

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5 Things to Know About the Ad Creative ID Framework (ACIF)

1. The "F" in ACIF stands for Framework

ACIF is not a “new creative ID” that replaces previously used IDs, such as AD-ID. ACIF is an open-source framework that standardizes the way IDs operate across linear AND digital platforms. ACIF was established to drive greater adoption of persistent creative IDs, solving complexities in cross-platform advertising and industry challenges associated with tracking and managing every asset as it moves through the campaign lifecycle.

2. ACIF addresses key industry pain points

The lack of clear, consistent standards and widespread adoption of creative IDs across linear and digital media has been an industry problem for many years and has been further exacerbated by the proliferation of media channels and platforms. 

ACIF solves some of the industry's pain points related to:

• Ad frequency and brand suitability: A stable unique ID helps drive contextual relevance, inform competitive separation and brand suitability, and enables greater visibility into ad frequency.
• Cross-platform measurement: One persistent creative ID enables accurate counting with deduplication across linear and digital channels.
• Creative Reconciliation: A single source of truth for every ad eliminates time spent tracking down ad creatives, aggregating disparate datasets and validating campaign information.

3. ACIF creates a win-win value exchange

Advertisers are shifting more dollars to digital and need a common ID to track and manage creative across all channels and platforms. Without this, it is nearly-impossible to accurately measure and control ad frequency, and requires an immense amount of time reconciling data across platforms. 

Agencies have experienced increased complexities when launching, managing and measuring cross-platform advertising. A universal creative ID will enable agencies to reduce time spent managing ads across platforms, speed up time to launch and deliver greater effectiveness for campaigns.

Publishers want to provide a single view of advertising across their linear and digital properties and deliver optimal experiences to their viewers. A persistent creative ID enables publishers to solve for ad frequency, enabling frequency capping based on the accurate tracking of unique ads. With a unique creative ID, publishers can also better understand the characteristics of an ad to drive greater brand suitability and deliver on advanced audience targeting, improving content experiences and publisher reputation.

Measurement Partners supporting ACIF will enable all data flowing downstream to reporting engines to be consistent and validated, producing more accurate cross-platform campaign measurement for customers. 

4. ACIF is not an audience ID

ACIF is a framework that supports a universal ID for the creative! While audience IDs help solve for who saw an ad, a persistent creative ID can now provide accurate information so marketers can track which ad was seen. This is about giving every creative a unique ID so that regardless of the platform, device and channel it airs on, it can be tracked and managed across brands, agencies, media and measurement partners.  

5. XR Is leading the charge

XR is at the intersection of creative and media and is uniquely positioned to enable consistent data flow as creative moves from one partner to another. By establishing a direct partnership with AD-ID, all registered ads will automatically include the updated VAST tag, ensuring that IDs and the metadata consistently flows downstream, providing transparency and control across the campaign lifecycle. 

At XR, we start with the creative asset, capturing ads prior to media distribution and enabling an ID that can be tracked and managed across the campaign, regardless of the channel or platform. 

We are proud to make persistent creative IDs a reality – find out how you can get started today!