A delay on the release of MOVE 2.0, the Outdoor Media Association's (OMA) new audience measurement system, was disappointing but not unexpected, according to media agencies.
Regional OOH player GAWK’s co-founder and director, James Course, said “it’s understandable that the review and refinement of the platform takes a little longer than expected" considering the sheer amount of assets that will be quantified.
And Yahoo Australia’s head of strategy, Keren Homan, said the delay was anticipated due to the complexities involved in developing such an advanced system.
“The key now is to continue educating the industry on the growth and adoption of Programmatic Digital Out-Of-Home (pDOOH) as a channel, and by doing this, we can build momentum and ensure the industry is ready to leverage the benefits of the system as soon as it becomes available,” she said
MOVE 2.0, scheduled to have launched this year, is based on data for more than 100,000 signs nationwide, including regional sites, and builds on MOVE 1.5, announced at the start of early 2022.
Enigma’s MD of media, Justin Ladmore, said that MOVE 2.0 is a “big job” and the OMA needs to get it right.
“The delay means we just need to lean on our outdoor partners, alternate measurement tools, and data sources, he told AdNews.
“We have a lot of experience planning outdoor and have tested different weights and formats, so we have a bit of a formula and know works for each of our clients that spend in the channel. Once MOVE 2.0 is available we can thensense check or quickly adapt strategies and plans.”
The Media Store’s trading manager, Mollie Cross, said that while the delay wasn’t a surprise, she is “very happy” to see the OMA is not rushing the process, as ensuring the inputs and outputs from the tool are accurate must be the primary objective.
“Our hope is that, once released, MOVE 2.0 will add more robust support to our planning process by unlocking additional insights, spotlighting opportunities, and enhance our recommendations to drive client business outcomes. Until then, MOVE 1.5 will suffice, and we’ll continue to find creative solutions to bridge the data-divide,” she said.
OMA CEO Elizabeth McIntyre told AdNews that "necessary extensions" to the rollout timeline were encountered given the ambition, scale, and enhanced nature of MOVE 2.0.
"The time we are taking is consistent with a project of this unprecedented scale. As we work through this process, we have not decided on the launch date, but we are working towards being able to provide one,” she said.
The platform is being built using mobility data from one of the largest surveys in Australia, by MOVE and Ipsos Australia.
It is intended that by integrating this syndicated audience research and consumer product data, providers can improve the accuracy of their offering by integrating currency-level MOVE 2.0 OOH data with existing datasets.
It's also intended that media planning and buying software vendors can improve the utility and functionality of their products by integrating MOVE 2.0 OOH data onto their platforms.
Advertising revenue in outdoor media exceeded expectations in the June quarter, rising 6.7% to $305.4 million, up from $286.2 million for the same three months in 2023.
Digital OOH (DOOH) revenue made up 74.4% of total net media revenue year-to-date, up from 71.9%.
The latest SMI numbers are also positive, as outdoor media was the only major media reporting growth in May with total bookings up 1.6%.
UM Australia’s head of media planning, Michael Mellington, said that while the agency is eager to see what MOVE 2.0 brings, it doesn’t see this delay being a factor that would slow the performance of the channel.
“OOH has more levers to pull than ever - those who are willing to learn how will certainly benefit their clients, and with MOVE 2.0, this is supposed to bring with it enhancements in measurement, accuracy, granularity and better understanding across a wider range of formats,” he told AdNews.
“This type of improvement can only be a good thing, however if its not ready and launched without being 100% it could be damaging too, so while we are eager for its arrival, better the devil you know until the new solution is water tight.”
Awaken’s CEO Chris Parker, said the postponement of MOVE 2.0 is “disappointing” as the data and insights that OOH operaters were all promised would have been “hugely beneficial”.
“However, the recent SMI data shows that out-of-home is up year-on-year. As we approach summer, this delay is unlikely to change investment levels, as we have been effectively working with existing metrics to make investment decisions for years,” he said.
“While the delay is frustrating, especially given the long wait and high promises, it won’t realistically change our channel mix or scheduling. We will continue to trade programmatically and invest in high-impact placements because we know they work.
“I do wonder if the delay is due to overpromising a total measurement, but we will see when it is eventually rolled out.”
Yahoo’s Homan said that MOVE 2.0 will make the OOH industry more data-driven, transparent, and effective, as standardisation will enable consistent planning and measurement, leading to a better understanding of campaign effectiveness through consistent data on audience reach and behaviour.
“It will also include indoor panels such as those in retail settings, crucial for current pDOOH strategies,” she said.
She did caution, however, that it does not fully integrate with digital and traditional media channels, complicating the creation of cohesive, omnichannel strategies.
“This makes it challenging for advertisers to create unified campaigns that seamlessly combine OOH with other media formats,” she told AdNews.
“Additionally, it doesn't completely solve the challenge of attributing ROI to OOH within the broader context of integrated campaigns. Accurately measuring the impact of OOH in relation to other channels remains a hurdle.”
Half Dome’s head of strategy, Adrian Cosstick, said that while MOVE 1.5 was “a great step” for planning and quantifying the impact of formats across static and DOOH sites, he believes the industry is still yet to get the measurement of DOOH right.
“The biggest challenge we face is share of time,” he said.
“Digitisation divides a finite audience by more digital panels each year which should be offset by being able to buy more audiences at scale via programmatic out-of-home. Yet, we continue to see digital out-of-home panels underperform in many brands’ ROI models.
“It’s a measurement problem rather than a channel problem and it needs to be addressed in MOVE 2.0. With the decline of linear TV, out-of-home is in a wonderful position to help brands fill the gap on TV delivery.”
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