Economic Review

Advertising growth is forecast at a year on year increase of +3-4% on current AA figures with Out-of–Home we estimate a +5-6% increase for 2007.

The medium has steadily increased its share of display revenue in recent years which can be attributed to three areas, accountability, innovation and audience. Greater accountability in both the implementation of campaign posting, and reliable audience measurement data through Postar has raised the standing of the medium.

Innovation in format design and location, coupled with advances in production and technology techniques has attracted new categories of advertising into the medium. The ongoing factor for attracting revenue is the Out-of-Home audience. Where digital options in television and radio lead to fragmentation of the audience, for out-of-home new formats, new locations, digital screens all increase the opportunity to reach the customer.

The reasons advertisers use the medium have evolved from simple awareness building to fulfil a range of marketing objectives. Analysis carried out through the IPA outdoor’s DNA study of campaign activity shows driving sales is as equally important as building awareness. Out-of-Home is used for brand maintenance, brand equity building and brand repositioning and becomes an integral part of the communication plan.

All advertising spend is subject to fluctuations in the economy, but with increasing commitment to demonstrate accountability, Out-of-Home will merit a greater share of the advertising across the decade.

Out-of-Home Research

POSTAR — Campaign Accountability

POSTAR is the industry audience measurement research and the senior management of Posterscope are instrumental in its running and development, and have been at the forefront in pushing for inclusion of more formats within POSTAR to give the medium greater accountability. 2006 saw the inclusion of the Underground in Postar but rather than add formats piecemeal the board of Postar have issued a tender for a new more inclusive methodology to take account of the technical advances in data capture of Out-of-Home behaviour.

POSTAR launched in 1996, and by adopting innovative research techniques and applying strict visibility controls instantly became the industry gold standard. POSTAR was the first Out-of-Home measurement system to publish the net audience to a site rather than the bigger gross audience. Traditionally the medium had reported the number of people passing a site, but POSTAR went further and using ‘visibility’ measures only reports those people who have actually seen the site. This change in reporting gave POSTAR its credibility and role in making the medium accountable.

POSTAR provides campaign coverage and frequency on a national and regional basis, gives a comparative measure of site quality through the visibility research studies the VACs (Value Adjusted Contacts) and takes account of the different formats through the DACs (Duration Adjusted Contacts) which reflect the time that eyes fix on panels of different sizes.

The full POSTAR system is available to Contractor and Specialists but a coverage and frequency planning tool POSTARLite is available to media agencies at www.postar.co.uk.

Creative Pre Testing — Increasing Media Value

Posterscope works with all the Out-of-Home contractors measuring how different campaigns deliver awareness. While weight and distribution are key to delivering cover, the layout of the creative idea on the poster is of major importance.

Posterscope’s expertise is not to comment on the creative concept but the elements of visibility and interpretation that influence its success on the street e.g.

• Is the logo big enough?
• Will the copy be legible from 100 metres?
• Is the colour combination going to work on a 96 sheet?
• Is there too much copy for the dwell time?
• Is there a telephone number but no call to action?

Creative Pre Testing allows advertisers to measure the response to the creative from memorability through likeability to action, and make any amendments to the creative before posting. Posterscope will advise and help clients and their agencies fine tune the pre-testing questionnaire to maximise relevance to their creative.

Investment in testing the creative can be easily returned in the extra media value delivered.

Perception & Behaviour Tracking

Posterscope are committed to pushing the boundaries forward to advance the understanding of the Out-of-Home medium within the communications mix, and build a bank of learning that will ensure our staff have the knowledge and expertise to plan and buy the most efficient outdoor campaigns for our clients.

The major Out-of-Home contractors JC Decaux, Clear Channel, Titan and CBS Outdoor all have invested in advertising tracking studies which measure levels of awareness and recognition of the Out-of-Home campaign.

These studies have over time built up norms by category and audience on awareness for the primary Out-of-Home formats, but have also expanded the tracking to cover all media activity to demonstrate Out-of-Home’s contribution within the media schedule.

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Proprietary Research

Understanding How the Consumer Sees Out-of-Home

The industry research systems count heads and provide accountability within the medium and a degree of comparison across media. The proliferation of media communication channels consumers are exposed also increases the need to understand their impact and involvement. What emotional notes does the communication touch, what perception of the brand does the communication portray, either in the environment or format type.