The creative on outdoor ads is getting better as a function of data and the decline of print, rather than any particular shift in thinking.
The Outdoor Media Association (OMA) has debuted an update to its MOVE measurement system on its fifth birthday today, saying that the advertising industry would be empowered by the changes.
Among the changes being outlined for media buyers today include new geo-targeting functionality, allowing media owners to build out sub-areas based on geographical information.
John Grono of GAP research, and one of the driving forces behind Move, said better data was leading to more robust discussions about the possibility of outdoor within agencies.
“Five to 10 years ago you'd say to a client, 'we'll put you in out of home', and they'd shrug. But now we can say, this is the audience you're going to get going past your ad at any particular time of day. We can then say you'll get this many pedestrians,” he said at an OMA breakfast this morning.
“You tell them that, and they start thinking 'ooh, I can do WI-FI, QR codes ... it gets exciting. It gives the agency the background and proof they need to make better decisions.”
One of the most common catch-cries within the industry is that outdoor creative is simply print advertising transplanted to a bigger canvas.
However, CEO of JCDecaux Steve O'Connor said more robust data around outdoor meant the conversation within agencies was changing, leading to a changing of the guard.
“Creative is getting better on outdoor not just because of the information provided by systems like MOVE, but now outdoor is a more prominent channel in agencies than magazines,” O'Connor said.
“There was a time when outdoor played second-fiddle to magazines, but now outdoor is more of a lead medium. I think that shift is helping creative get better.”
The OMA also pointed to a fragmenting of other broadcast media such as television or radio as naturally beneficial to the outdoor industry.
Additional improvements to MOVE include mode data - the ability to show how audiences are seeing ads, whether it be by walking, driving or as a passenger; and refreshed, cleaner and easier to read reports.
New map layer options, called dot density, represent the number of contacts that will be made in a campaign, using one dot to represent 100 people. This, overlaid with the existing heat map (percentage reach) function enables users to provide a more accurate visual of the campaign reach.
Meanwhile the OMA said it was closer to automation of inventory trading, but it would still need to collect more data to make that happen.
“MOVE has proven to us that an evidence base is really important and verifying that evidence base is really important. We aren’t going to do something that’s new fangled that can’t be proven,” OMA CEO Charmaine Moldrich said.
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