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Away-from-home TV networks at
retail, restaurant and transit locations got a boost this week when
Nielsen released its first quarterly audience report on the medium.
The report detailed the size and demographics of people who saw ads on the
"fourth screen" -- fourth following TV, computer and mobile screens --
using standardized Nielsen methodology for the first time.
It's a big deal because the digital out-of-home marketplace needs a
standardized measurement system to better compete for TV advertising
budgets -- something it's been trying to do with marketers like
Schering-Plough. But digital out-of-home is currently bought and sold
based on custom research studies that don't always paint the full picture
of how each network fits into the larger industry context.
Nielsen's inaugural "Fourth Screen Network Audience Report" studied ad
exposure among adults in 10 major out-of-home networks in movie theaters,
bars and restaurants, health clubs, gas stations and hotels over the last
four months of 2009. Those 10 networks generated 237 million monthly
exposures among adults, according to Nielsen, 54% of whom were men and 46%
of whom were women. Roughly half of those impressions were among the
coveted 18-to-34 demographic.
Lucrative alternative
David Leider, CEO of Gas Station TV, a network that delivered 44% of its
21.3 million impressions to adults 18 to 34 in the Nielsen study, said
that many networks like his own have been positioning their metrics as
alternatives to cable network or local-TV buys for some time. "As we see
our integration coming out of TV budgets, we rank consistently as a top 10
show when you compare our weekly audiences to television," he said. That's
helped win increased spending from automotive, financial services,
consumer packaged goods and wireless marketers, he said.
But it may prove particularly helpful that the TV industry's standards
bearer is providing the new digital out-of-home measurements -- and on a
basis comparable to TV ratings. National CineMedia and Screenvision, the
top two cinema ad companies, delivered a combined average of 61.7 million
monthly impressions, for example -- which Nielsen pointed out was the
equivalent of about 20 prime-time commercials over a typical monthlong
campaign.
"Clients are recognizing it more because it's being measured in exposures
that clients are familiar with," said Ray Rotolo, exec VP of Aegis Media's
Posterscope. "If Screenvision or National CineMedia is getting the
equivalent of 3 million viewers in prime time, this gives us a stamp to go
to our clients and say this is truly accountable media."
And as A-list TV producers like Mark Burnett look to digital out-of-home
as a new venue to create original programming, the need for more accurate
data will only be more crucial for marketers considering more spending in
the emerging space.
Greater insight
"For the first time, ad buyers and sellers have a single source to
evaluate digital place-based advertising networks in reaching key age and
sex demographics, and compare these to other video sources such as TV,"
said Terrie Brennan, senior VP for new business development at Nielsen, in
a statement accompanying the new measurements. "This syndicated report
provides the insight necessary to understand the impact of advertising on
these networks with television and Internet as well as other cross-media
campaigns."
Traditional out-of-home media such as billboards have also been trying to
improve their metrics, the better to compete for marketers' ad dollars.
The out-of-home industry is also eyeing areas beyond the new metrics.
Nielsen's measurement system resulted from audience metrics guidelines
created in 2008 by the Digital Place-Based Advertising Association, but
that wasn't the only goal of those guidelines, according to Suzanne La
Forgia, president of the DPAA.
"While a common audience currency is tremendously important to the
acceptance and growth of this medium, it is but one facet of what the
association works on for the industry," Ms. La Forgia said. "DPAA will
continue to advance the adoption of the guidelines as they move towards
standards, as well as tackle other key issues like creative best practices
and ad format standards and consumer insights and engagement factors."
Source: AdAge, 04/14/2010 |