Experts are optimistic that Eyes On, the billboard advertising industry’s new rating system, will draw dollars into outdoor advertising but the impact will not be apparent until 2011 or beyond. The Eyes On rollout is moving slowly but it will soon replace the current standard of DEC numbers. We queried our network of outdoor advertising experts to better understand how the new ratings system could drive more dollars to the medium.

Eyes On versus DEC: Eyes On is used by some outdoor companies alongside the historical Daily Effective Circulation (DEC) measurement system. DEC ratings multiply traffic data by an estimate of people per car to measure the “opportunity to see” a billboard. Eyes On supplements traffic count and regional demographics with discounts for view obstructions, road type, and ad proximity, size, and angle to measure those “likely to see” a billboard. Eyes On provides a more reliable measure of audience and an improved level of demographic targeting that can be compared to other forms of broadcast media, including TV and radio.

Attract Ad Dollars: PGR experts on the Outdoor Advertising sell-side are cautiously optimistic that Eyes On can tap into new ad budgets that previously spent little on Outdoor due to its relatively unsophisticated measurement system. More dollars stand to be allocated to Outdoor with this deeper integration into the media budget process. After all, Outdoor still compares favorably to TV and radio on a cost per mille basis in key demos. This increasing drive for efficiency and metric driven advertising could lead Eyes On to favor Outdoor.

Expect Lower Ratings: Eyes On ratings, because of the discounts, tend to run approximately 30% lower than DEC ratings and experts note the lower ratings are exacerbated on highway billboards further from the road. While the Outdoor advertising sales process is not done strictly on ratings, one wonders if more accurate ratings could lead to budget shifts away from higher priced boards.

Limited Market Impact: Clear Channel Outdoor is the only company, according to experts, currently using Eyes On.  Some experts have yet to see Eyes On ratings in the market at all. Mom and pops and smaller regional players are likely to be slow to make the transition.

Stronger Outdoor Market: Experts indicate the Outdoor market has begun to see the impact of an improving economy. However enthusiasm in the Outdoor space appears muted, especially when compared to excitement for a rebound in online advertising (display and search) as well in TV advertising - PGR experts report strong 1Q trends and further tightening of inventory and rising prices into 2Q. Outdoor is improving but appears to be lagging other advertising.

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Tags: advertising cost, billboard advertising, cbs outdoor, cost of advertising, daily effective circulation, eyes on, outdoor advertising market, outdoor billboard advertising, outdoor media, outdoor media advertising, trends in advertising

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 21st, 2010 at 3:54 pm and is filed under Author, Lloyd Walmsley, Media & Internet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.