Audience measurement company, Arbitron, has announced plans to work with the US outdoor industry, through the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA), on a research programme that will create the market’s first audience ratings service.
Tests beginning this summer will explore methods that will allow the provision of a ratings system that conforms to the existing standards used by radio, television, magazines and newspapers. Arbitron envisages that the data will carry components including audience demographics; geographic definitions; audience estimates, such as reach, frequency and Gross Ratings Points and frequent periodic reports.
Following the test period in the summer, and based on its results, the company will begin a more extensive test in Atlanta in the autumn. Results are expected in Q1 2003.
Arbitron’s decision to explore the development of an outdoor audience ratings service comes in response to the needs expressed by agencies, advertisers and outdoor media companies, the company said yesterday.
“The development of an outdoor ratings service will be a boon to the industry by providing clear evidence of its strength as an audience delivery device,” said Nancy Fletcher, president of the OAAA.
Arbitron says that agencies and advertisers urgently requested age, sex and gender information for those exposed to outdoor advertising, as well as information on roads travelled in the past week and for data on the shopping and buying habits of consumers reached by outdoor media.
Currently, the US outdoor media industry provides advertisers with Traffic Audit Bureau-audited counts of vehicle traffic. These data detail how many people are exposed to outdoor ads, but not ‘who’ is exposed to the medium.
According to industry estimates, the US outdoor advertising category now accounts for more than $5 billion in adspend per year.
