• by Erik Sass , March 17, 2010

  Digital out-of-home networks are vying with each other in the measurement arena. Now Adspace is adding data from Scarborough to the ad rate card for its Digital Mall Network. Scarborough will serve as Adspace's third-party traffic measurement provider, in a partnership that Adspace hopes will offer greater flexibility to advertising clients and agencies.

In particular, the Scarborough data will provide greater comparability between mall foot-traffic figures, which are currently measured in various ways by different mall operators. It will also provide data that describes individuals' repeat visits over time, allowing Adspace to calculate reach and frequency figures for advertisers, broken down by DMA.

Adspace executive vice president ad chief marketing officer William Ketcham explained that "as the network is integrated into more mainstream media plans that include TV and radio, our audience data must support reach and frequency planning models."

While the Scarborough data actually resulted in a downward revision of total mall traffic for the Adspace digital network, with a 9% drop, this is more than outweighed by a big bump in the number of mall-goers who actually look at the screens -- up 30% from 2007-2009, according to a separate Nielsen study. On this basis, with inventory prices remaining stable, the CPM fell from $4.89 to $4.12, according to Adspace.

Measurement strategies have taken center stage in the DO market over the last couple of years, including the formulation of measurement guidelines by the Out-of-Home Video Advertising Bureau in 2008.

With these guidelines in place, DO networks have been maneuvering for competitive advantage by augmenting the basic metric with more precise data on their audience characteristics and the impact of contextual factors, like venue and location, on receptivity to advertising and brand perception.