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MRG Meeting: Defining And Measuring Ambient Media

Last Tuesday night’s MRG meeting saw Posterscope’s Glen Wilson and David Gordon tackle the tricky issue of ambient media- how exactly can it be defined and measured?
A new division at Posterscope called Hyperspace is hoping to shed some light on the issue, but as the speakers pointed out, the first problem with ambient media is deciding what it actually is. Space on supermarket trolleys, banners and building wraps and washroom are all very different types of media, but all count as ambient, and many more ideas for advertising space are being marketed all the time.
Defining what ambient media does can also cause problems. Shop or forecourt based ambient such as petrol pump ads or trolley space can be seen as providing a final prompt before the consumer reaches the point of purchase. Likewise, EPOS information can go some way to measure these methods’ effectiveness. But a other ambient media, such as building wraps, may be more about generating publicity and creating awareness, and as a consequence, its effects can be harder to measure.
Further problems with measuring ambient were pointed out by Gordon, who noted that POSTAR does not cover bus, train or underground advertising and that outdoor is currently measured in net rather than gross terms, making comparisons with the rest of the media mix hard.
However, as we are likely to spend more of our waking lives “out of home” than “in home” on any given day, it makes sense to target audiences where there is no competition from in-home media such as TV.
The solution presented by Posterscope is to alter the way we regard out-of-home or ambient media. It’s not going to build brand values, but it can bring immediate awareness. Its diversity can also give rise to some highly targeted marketing. The example cited was Royal Sun Alliance’s “Lucky the Dog” campaign for its new More Th>n service. As well as the “Where’s Lucky” posters on trees and the more conventional media campaigns, watercooler cups were used as space for Lucky ads, in the knowledge that most places of work with watercoolers also had access to the internet – a website address was included on the ad. The campaign produced 41% awareness among ABC1 Adults.
In fact, the speakers concluded that, just as it was impossible to give a generic shape or definition to the ambient industry, so a common measurement currency was unlikely. Instead they urged advertisers to look further into the effect that this kind of advertising can have.
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