Outdoor 94 – The Way Forward, Conference Report

At the Outdoor 94 Conference in Sorrento the Henley Centre released its latest research into outdoor. This revealed the significant increase in vehicular traffic over the past ten years, and therefore the increased value advertisers get when using outdoor.

The number of licensed cars has increased by 30%; this means 5 million more private cars on the road. Britons are becoming increasingly mobile, with a 26% increase in all forms of travel between 1983 and 1990, with most of this attributed to the motor car – a 50% increase in miles travelled by car.

Also high on the agenda of discussed topics was OSCAR and OSCAR II. By Spring of 1995 OSCAR II will provide accurate measures of OTS, coverage and frequency and methods of identifying and measuring visibility or impact factors.

The Outdoor Advertising Association is to set up a new Oscar Bureau, to develop, manage and market OSCAR II. There will be regular meetings with JICPAR and other industry groups to discuss the development of OSCAR II and progress reports will be published throughout the full development period. OSCAR II will mean that individual sites will possess valid audience analysis.

The Conference also called for a new Joint Industry Body to discuss commercial issues which have an impact on day-to-day business. This idea has the support of the Outdoor Advertising Association providing that other sectors of the industry are prepared to give its representatives authority and support.

Advertisers represented at the Conference called for valid competitive purchase data. The media owners welcomed this, so long as the advertisers themselves were keen to see it released. This, together with the intention of the new OSCAR Bureau to publish coverage and frequency audits of bought campaigns will improve the testing of performance of outdoor purchases.

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