New Metrics in Out-of-Home

Eyes On is the industry’s long-anticipated new audience measurement currency. After five years of development, Traffic Audit Bureau (TAB) released its first Eyes On ratings in 2009, but expects the buying and selling community to start using the new currency by the end of 2010.

The new ratings system measures audiences “likely to see” an outdoor ad, with sophisticated demographic and ethnographic data. This is a significant improvement over the existing measurement, Daily Effective Circulation (DEC), which measures the audience who had the “opportunity to see” an outdoor ad, and lacks availability of demographic data. Additionally, Eyes On will help the buyers and sellers compare OOH with other media more easily.

TAB’s new system combines auto and pedestrian traffic counts with route and destination surveys and in-person interviews to determine ad exposure and recall. Data from in-person interviews is analyzed to quantify the likelihood that a passerby will focus on the ad. Weekly ratings include demographic information about the outdoor viewer’s age, gender, race and income. Advertisers can get specific data at the DMA, county and zip code levels.

If you are not sure if OOH should be a part of your media strategy, consider the following:

• If your brand has a local market strategy, OOH can help provide efficient and effective market coverage with the added benefit of always being “on”.

• If you are using other local media, adding outdoor to the mix can broaden your in-market reach, connecting your brand with light users of other media.

• If you are looking to generate interest and awareness, OOH is a perfect fit.

• If you are trying to influence consumer behavior close to point of purchase, use directional OOH to intercept and impact the in-transit consumer.