By teaming their assets, the two companies believe that they can deliver an offering that ties TV ad exposures to in-store visits, giving marketers a more complete picture of their advertising ROI. Fast food outlet Subway will be one of the first brands to take advantage of the combined offering and plans to measure TV campaigns running throughout the autumn and into the holiday season.

Looking to explain the rationale behind its decision to enter into the agreement, Foursquare noted that so far in 2018, more than 90% of consumer spending still happens offline and that if you consider that more than $70 billion was spent on TV advertising in 2017, the ability to measure the impact of linear TV advertising on driving in-store customer behaviour is the ‘holy grail’ for marketers, However, it argues that this ambition has always been a challenge for marketers, made more difficult die to the fact that marketers and agencies currently do not have the time to solve this problem.

To address these issues, Attribution by Foursquare is designed to measure the effectiveness of linear TV ads at driving consumers to stores, restaurants and other key retail locations. It brings together opt-in TV viewing data with a location technology platform. The end result is said to be a new product offering that gives marketers a more complete picture of their advertising ROI when it comes to real-world behaviour such as measuring audience affinities, to visitor loyalty and optimal exposure frequency.

In its use of the new technology, Subway will be measuring TV campaigns running through the fall and into the holiday season, looking for insights on a wide variety of creative campaigns and broadcast partners. It particular it is measuring the effectiveness of its ‘Raising the Steaks’ campaign, across various programmes, networks, channels and dayparts.

“We’re excited for the new and innovative measurement capabilities we can leverage thanks to Foursquare,” said Subway director of media Melissa Sutton. “A deep understanding of how TV commercials can drive incremental visit lift is so crucial for our industry. As a brand, we’re focused on integrating fresh, new technology to help our franchise owners across the country to be successful. Integrating this tool into our marketing efforts and the ability to accurately thread together the impact of digital ad exposure and linear TV exposure with restaurant visits is a game changer for us.”