Out-of-Home Ads Shift From Exposure to Impressions-Based Measurements

In general, traditional out-of-home ad performance has never tried to compete directly with internet advertising directly—until now. The Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA) is updating its guidelines to recommend shifting to an impressions-based measurement system. The goal is to provide forecast and “reconciled-as-delivered” daily impressions, versus the customary method of relying on ad exposure. The proposed framework reflects advertisers’ expectations for greater spending across all media. At the same time, expenditures for OOH are held back. The reason, in part, is due to the absence of a measurement system for OOH campaigns that can be better compared to the impression data typically associated with online advertising. Reversing 2020's declines The move is considered crucial for the OOH space. Outdoor advertising is counting on a comeback from the 2020 declines related to the pandemic, when consumers spent more time in and around their homes. Out-of-home advertising fell by 29% last year, according to IPG’s Magna Global. The category was affected by the decline in consumer mobility, traffic and audience, in addition to the fall in demand from local and national advertisers. “Out of home is forecast to experience a significant uptick in 2021, leading all media in gains, including digital,” OAAA CEO Anna Bager told Adweek earlier this year. The fine print Among performance-marketing categories, OOH experienced significant declines last year. Recovery is materializing as vaccinations rise and businesses report greater economic activity. But OOH isn’t alone in reaching for a return to growth. To compete with other media channels, the space must accept the playing field dominated by mobile advertising. The trade group’s OAAA OOH Impression Measurement Guidelines call for the establishment of a new standard that uses “opportunity to see” (OTS) as the ad category’s core metric. The OTS concept is essentially the same metric used by all other measured media. It relies on combining predictive audience models with the OOH space’s conventional use of “observed audience exposures” at OOH displays. Key measurement and reporting minimum requirements will include the following: ● Daily OOH frame-level forecasting ● Observed daily delivery at OOH frame level ● Reach and frequency measures ● Transparent and validated data sources ● Compliance with all applicable data privacy regulations, now and in the future ● Impression counts made acceptable for use within omnichannel planning and buying platforms, mixed media and multitouch attribution models ● Documented system uptime/reliability standards and monitoring schedules “Establishing a common currency for measurement is a great step forward in meeting advertiser’s need for metrics to quantify exposure to OOH formats in today’s multichannel, data-driven world,” said Kevin Gleason, president and CEO of Adams Outdoor Advertising. Programmatic OOH is here The change points to what Bager’s been working toward since she was named head of OAAA in July 2019. Bager was previously evp of the Interactive Advertising Bureau. Until the pandemic, OOH had experienced a string of unprecedented growth, going back more than 66 consecutive quarters, according to the OAAA. But as OOH buyers and sellers have been adjusting their media plans, there’s been some confusion of how to price these units coming out of the pandemic. The change in metrics could ease those frustrations and accelerate and stabilize the expected gains in OOH ad spending by the end of this year. And as Bager told Adweek in March, “Programmatic in out of home is taking off and is growing a bit more than 100% year over year, even though it's from a relatively small base of spending. So the ability to transact and to use more common digital ad sales methodologies for advertisers in the out-of-home environments is a huge opportunity for the industry as a whole.”