Definition
Media equivalency is an approach to estimating the worth of a difficult-to-directly-calculate media vehicle by calibrating it to other media vehicles which have established worth and similar characteristics.
For example, brand management may estimate, based on previous research and experience, that the impressions generated from an online video post are equivalent in impact to that of an average television ad for the brand when seen by the same number of people. They would then use the calculated average television ad worth as a surrogate for the online video post.
To make the media equivalency assessment as reasonable as possible, the calibration approach may consider such elements as audience demographics, reach and frequency distribution of exposures, and length and type of exposure (e.g. static vs. moving; audio vs. no sound).
References
- Common Language in Marketing Project, 2021.