Can't See the Forest For TV: DOH Metrics Must Fulfill Separate Goals

Digital out-of-home video is on the horns of a dilemma, or maybe it has trouble seeing the forest for the trees (choose your metaphor) when it comes to measurement methods.

On the one hand, digital out-of-home video networks have sought to present advertisers and media buyers with a uniform metric that allows them to compare audiences for DO networks to each other -- and, importantly, to television -- in the hopes of siphoning off some of the latter's tens of billions of ad revenues. On the other, the real value of most DO networks lies in their unique context, including location and their place in the consumer's day.

At MediaPost's Digital Outsider Forum on Wednesday, panelists agreed with varying degrees of vehemence on the importance and utility of the new DO metrics released by the Out-of-Home Video Advertising Bureau earlier this year. Tony Jarvis, formerly the executive vice president of global research for Clear Channel Outdoor, averred that "the OVAB metric was a giant step forward" because it makes the medium more accessible and scalable for big advertisers who might move dollars from TV.

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But he added that the OVAB metric should be comparable with the new metric for outdoor advertising in general -- mostly static billboards -- formulated by the Traffic Audit Bureau; this will allow broader integration with other media under the aegis of the TAB metric. "Any of these media are going to be part of an integrated equation, but if the metrics are not comparable, there's going to be a real issue," Jarvis said. "Advertisers might ask for comparability with TV, magazines, newspapers."

Regarding the OVAB metric, Paul Lindstrom, senior vice president of the Nielsen Co., said that creating a consistent metric was the first step. "The second piece is how to get this data into media-mix modeling and creating software that will allow these kinds of cross-media evaluations."

Lindstrom dismissed the concern that the OVAB metric might strip DO networks of their individuality: "We aren't trying to be in a position where every one is different," because the very idea of a metric soon becomes unfeasible. "What we're saying is, as our baseline, there are X millions of people who are exposed to this medium." Once that number is produced, "you have a basic comparison with other networks, and then you have to bring in other kinds of measurement. It becomes the question of, 'why you?'"

Connie Garrido, the president of Chrysalis, confirmed that the value of the OVAB metric is "really in them being adapted, because a lot of what makes digital networks different is also what makes them effective." But she also warned: "You'll also have to deal with networks who aren't OVAB members," making comparison and competition more complicated.

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