|
|
| Research | |
|
|
|
| Research | |
actually sees billboards First round of data is out from TAB’s Eyes On project Jun 3, 2009 For years media people have been clamoring for a better way to measure out-of-home media, specifically billboards, the most widely used medium. They had a rough idea of how many people passed by their ads. There was basic traffic data for that. What they didn't know was whether those passersby actually saw their ads and--of no less importance--who those people were. Now they do know, or they're about to get a lot better idea. More than five years after the project’s inception, the Traffic Audit Bureau’s Eyes On Out of Home Media Measurement has its first set of ratings out. The ratings, released Monday, provide previously unavailable demographic information about the country’s nearly 500,000 audited billboards. That's data on each individual board, and for the first time it allows for targeting by demographics. “What is really interesting is the demographic characteristics of the audiences,” says Joseph C. Philport, president and CEO of the Traffic Audit Bureau for Media Measurement. “The medium can be used to effectively reach demographic groups of, for example, men 25-54 as a mass medium. “But it can also be used to target upper-income households, those making $150,000 or more, or used to target by race and ethnicity, African Americans and Hispanics. Under the old system of measurement, it was really impossible to get to this level of information.” Another problem under the old system was that there was very little differentiation between billboards in the same market. For example, a similar number of views would be attributed to a billboard on an interstate and one posted at an underpass. But in fact, very different groups of people were seeing those signs. Eyes On allows media people to differentiate between those groups, looking at demographic data for each individual billboard. “The best thing is you’re gaining a better understanding of who the out-of-home audience really are,” says Dana Burleson, Northeast manager for Wilkins Media, an out-of-home agency. “With that comes more accountability for the medium.” Previously, Burleson points out, media people relied mainly on government traffic counts based on census data. Eyes On takes those into account but also incorporates additional methods of data gathering. The first is visibility surveys conducted with drivers and pedestrians in the markets giving a thorough rundown of what billboards they noticed. The second is travel surveys conducted with more than 50,000 people in 15 markets designed to cull very specific information about the travelers and their trips. And finally, modeling is employed to extrapolate the results across each market. Ratings will be released twice a year, with the second batch due this fall. Philport says TAB is recommending that the initial Eyes On data not be used for buying and selling, saying that the fall numbers will be out in time for 2010 use. Burleson says that it will likely take some time for the buying community to get comfortable with the new numbers, but perhaps by the end of 2010 the numbers could be used for buying and selling. “It’s going to depend on the degree of acceptance and whether the advertising and media planning community embraces the numbers as valid and wants to use them,” Burleson says. "There’s a lot of utility. I can see them being thrilled with what’s being promoted as available.”
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
© 2009 Media Life Privacy Statement |
