My parents have no idea what I do for a living. Do you?
Opinion
Think you know OOH? Think again. Route’s new research chief explains the robust measurement that underpins the medium.
I’ve been in the media and research business for over 20 years. And for the exact same amount of time, I’ve been trying to explain what I do to my parents. Alas, to no avail.
A change of career seemed like the perfect opportunity to have another go. So let me start by explaining my story to you, an audience of industry professionals. I’m expecting furious head-nodding, but there might be some things you know, well, no better than my parents.
I joined Route, the joint industry currency for OOH advertising, in May. Having previously worked agency side at EssenceMediacom, I thought I knew a fair bit about OOH. But three months in, I’m fast learning just how complex and nuanced it is — and how these complexities shape how we measure it.
It’s very far from a one-size-fits-all approach. Route currently measures 14 OOH environments, including ones that move!
What’s more, it’s a passive medium. People aren’t choosing to engage with OOH in the same way they choose to watch a TV show or scroll through social media. All of this means the methodology behind measuring OOH needs to work much harder.
Explaining OOH measurement… to Dad
One of the trickiest challenges in my first few weeks? Explaining my new role to my parents.
They live in a village on the outskirts of Doncaster — not exactly a hotbed of premium OOH inventory — so the whole concept was a bit foreign to them. First, I had to explain what OOH advertising is. Then why it needs measuring. Then how Route measures it. Then what I do.
I thought I’d cracked it — until we were driving along a quiet country road. Dad spotted a flyer for a local pest control man tied to a fence and said: “So you measure that?”
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Proximity doesn’t equate to visibility
Educating my parents may be a lost cause, but I hope that for media industry folks, I can shed some light on one of my biggest learnings so far: the difference between proximity and visibility when it comes to OOH measurement.
In my role at EssenceMediacom, I spoke to suppliers about their campaign measurement offerings and regularly heard geo-fencing described as the gold standard for measuring exposure to OOH.
It felt logical — if someone’s phone has been in a certain radius around an OOH site, they’ve likely been exposed to the ad, right?
What I now know, thanks to Route’s visibility research, is that being in the area doesn’t necessarily mean you see the ad. Our research shows that two-thirds of people within that 360-degree radius won’t be able to see the ad because they’re behind or to the side of it!
Route doesn’t use a 360-degree circle. We use a 120-degree visibility cone, reflecting the actual angle at which the average person can see the ad.
Reflecting real-world viewing
Once you understand the role of visibility, you start to realise how many other variables come into play:
• Ad size: Is it a massive 48-sheet billboard or a six-sheet at a bus stop?
• Distance: How far away can someone see it?
• Speed of movement: Are they strolling by on foot or driving past at 60mph?
• Line of sight: Even if you’re in the visibility cone, a building (or other immovable object) might be blocking your view.
Route factors all of this into its audience measurement. It’s a level of detail that gives planners more confidence in the numbers they’re working with because the numbers reflect real-world viewing conditions.
How does Route do it?
Then there’s the environment itself. OOH isn’t always outdoors — ads appear in shopping centres, train stations and deep underground.
These locations present a whole new layer of complexity: standard mobile tracking methods often struggle here due to poor or missing signal in indoor environments.
But people in those spaces are still being exposed to ads. So how do we account for that?
Route’s travel survey participants carry a custom multisensor tracking device. It combines with a barometer, accelerometer, thermometer and compass, meaning we can still detect movement even when the GPS signal drops indoors.
One of the things I’ve quickly come to appreciate at Route is just how much rigour underpins the audience figures. The more you understand that rigour, the better-equipped you are to interrogate other methods of measuring OOH advertising.
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Looking ahead
When I told people I was joining Route, there were a few raised eyebrows. Joint industry currencies have a reputation for being traditional, slow-moving, a little dusty.
From the inside, that couldn’t feel further from the truth. The ambition at Route is huge and the pace of thinking, to keep up with developments in technology, is quick.
Route doesn’t sit still and it is — along with Ipsos and Adwanted UK, parent of The Media Leader — developing a new solution that will be more dynamic and provide far greater granularity.
Being part of that development is hugely exciting. We’re not just refining the existing solution; we’re building the next generation of OOH measurement.
My time with my parents always gives me a healthy sense of perspective on the media world. Whenever I hear myself complaining about having to prepare a presentation, I give myself a good talking to.
As dedicated teachers, my parents had to give four or five hours of presentations every single day, then go home and prepare the same for the next day. And also find time for marking homework, searching hedgerows for things to go in a classroom nature display, serving hotdogs at the school fair and all the rest of it.
I know I’ve got it easy in comparison.
Ruth Chalisey is director of research at Route