Outdoor Advertising Strives for Stronger Measurement

by Rhonda Oloffson

One of the biggest complaints about traditional forms of media (t.v., radio, print, outdoor) is that they aren’t as measurable as new media like online advertising.  Now, the outdoor advertising industry is striving to address some of those concerns with a new measurement system called EYES ON.

EYES ON is an audience measurement system designed to replace the “opportunity to see” methodology of the past with “actually noticing” research. For the first time ever, outdoor will offer media planners and buyers demographic information similar to other media that they never had before. Now, we can better determine demographic breakdowns of gender, age, ethnicity and household income levels, allowing advertisers to maximize the ROI of their outdoor media buys.

This new system will replace Daily Effective Circulation (DECs) as the industry’s premier method of measurement.  DECs aren’t as adequate due to the following limitations:

  • DECs were NOT a measure of audience and were heavily discounted by buyers.
  • Demographics were the same for all boards.
  • The system could not distinguish between in-market and out-of-market travelers.
  • The system did not consider the impact of travel patterns and the geographic dispersion of displays in a campaign on its reach and frequency.

EYES ON addresses each of these limitations and provides a much more accurate measurement system. Some quick points about EYES ON include:

  • The new ratings system takes the measurement from an “opportunity to see”, to a measurement of “actually noticing.”
  • This literally provides a measurement of the number of people that will see a given ad.
  • Eyes On Impressions (EOIs) replaces DECs.

The Traffic Audit Bureau performed its research to determine how drivers were engaging with billboards in terms of:

  • Display format
  • Display size
  • Side of the road
  • Angle to the road
  • Type of street
  • Distance to the road

EYES ON will make it easier for planners and buyers to assess Out of Home media when used in combination with other media, but most importantly, EYES ON will provide a new level of accountability.

Now buyers and planners can feel more confident in their purchasing decisions.  This is a huge change for the out-of-home advertising medium and the full transition to EYES ON will take some time.  It can be anticipated that the complete transition may take up to a year, perhaps more.

If you find that Outdoor Advertising Strives for Stronger Measurement is something that your company would like to know more about, feel free to contact Central States Media at info@centralstatesmedia.com or on the phone at (309) 693-2345.