Clear Channel Succeeds in Capturing OOH Incremental Reach

There have been unprecedented advancements in measuring the effectiveness of an out-of-home ad with Clear Channel Outdoor leading that effort. For Campbell Keller, Clear Channel Outdoor’s Director of Product Development, this initiative is not only best-in-class but also sets a new standard for measuring incrementality and, by extension, attribution.

Incrementality is, according to Keller, the observation and comparison of consumer behaviors from a group that is examined pre and post campaign. It ascertains, as he explained, “how actions changed as a result of the campaign exposure causing new incremental behaviors that wouldn't have been seen as a result of the campaign going live.” It is not simply a lift metric comparing exposed versus unexposed. “It's taking into account other additional attributes that can really paint a picture for a brand where they are actually driving new customer interactions among people that haven't visited the brand before or consumers who were already engaging with the brand but are engaging more so as a result of the media exposure,” he added.

To measure incrementality in an unbiased standardize-able manner, Clear Channel leveraged its RADARProof attribution solution which measures, “offline visitation for a consumer visiting a particular location - what days of the week, what times of the day, how often from a frequency perspective,” as well as online activities such as visits to a particular site or other points of interest. “In thinking about it from an attribute perspective, it depends on what are we trying to measure. We wouldn't model visitation behaviors if the KPI was a tune in, for example. We want to make sure it's customized for each campaign goal.”

The results offer added insights not only for advertisers but also for Clear Channel that prove the value of out-of-home. “There has been higher scrutiny on advertising dollars as a whole and we want to demonstrate how our channel is driving strong outcomes for our brand, especially for new customers, or driving increased number of customer interactions so that we can not only preserve spend but also drive new spend towards our channel,” he explained.

To solidify all insights, Clear Channel has partnered with leading attribution providers who set the pre and post baselines for measuring each campaign and construct the consumer groups. In this way, Clear Channel is not grading its own homework, instead offering advertisers an unbiased study of impact using a range of data and metrics. Keller noted that, “From an upper funnel perspective we've been doing brand surveys,” upper funnel lifts, awareness consideration, intent and where lifts in purchase intent are aligned with an actual lift. “But,” he added, “we're seeing a lot more traction in lower funnel not just on CPG sales lift and purchase panels, but also on automotive purchase and driving spend for new categories like pharmaceutical drug lift as well as sourcing loyalty card data to define pre purchasing behaviors.”

There is also an effort to be able to merge different studies using, “multiple different measurement solutions that drive correlations between two different studies, with two completely different panels,” he stated as well as adding more mobile app based data collections. This is particularly interesting because by using geo location data, it is now possible to match out-of-home exposure with as close to a point-of-sale interaction as possible.

The pandemic has changed old parameters and Clear Channel is pivoting to be able to address new consumer behaviors. “There are now these new behaviors from Covid where individuals might not be interested in sitting in a fast food chain restaurant but actually just picking it up and leaving that location and having that engagement driven through their app,” Keller noted.

With some categories, this pivot has presented some challenges. With credit unions, for example, “the market and consumers have changed. Most new account openings are now happening online versus in person so customizing measurement solutions to be more web based for us obviously has its own set of challenges since you can't necessarily click on a billboard. But being able to showcase how we're still able to drive consumers to a brand new website has been incredibly key for us,” he stated.

When it comes to out-of-home and the use of geo location among other data sets, privacy is pivotal. Keller explained that, “We license aggregated and anonymized persistent location data to understand the consumer movement against our assets. Privacy compliance is at the core of everything that we do. It sets us up for a mobile ad ID that is essentially our currency in the attribution landscape.”

Because of the range of data available, it is possible to glean surprising insights from the results. In a specific case where the advertiser experienced no lift, Keller revealed a surprising takeaway. “We had one particular study where there was no lift at all,” for the campaign. “But we were able to identify that out-of-home did a great job in increasing competitive share for the CPG product. We were able to steal market share from other competitors and we were able to drive new customers.” The surprise was, “understanding that lift does not (necessarily) determine success of a campaign. There are a lot of ways you can tell a story and how effective a campaign is through other aspects of conducting measurement and attribution,” he shared.

Challenges are no different in out-of-home than it is in other platform measurement. “Scale – the challenges of scale and wanting to make sure that the measurement that you're running is statistically significant across the different attributes,” Keller stated. “Those are challenges we're going to continue to face with changes in the location data landscape, where individuals are consenting or not consenting to their ID and location services being shared.” The secret is to monitor the privacy landscape and guarantee that all measurement studies are in compliance with state and federal laws.

For Keller, the goal is, “to continue to offer solutions for advertisers to quickly make decisions, especially among sales channels like programmatic out-of-home that drive strong results,” as well as to increase all measureable touch points and align out-of-home with other platforms on both a national and local level.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com 

Artwork by Charlene Weisler

 

Democratic Debates Strong Out of Home Performance

Viewers are interested in what the Democratic candidates for President have to say. At least that is what the out of home viewership data shows. According to Tunity, the performances of the two recent Democratic debates which aired at the end of July reached millions of viewers and improved over the strong performances of the first debates which took place at the end of June. 

Gains from June Debates to July Debates OOH

Tunity reported that the first set of Democratic Presidential debates (in Miami), which aired across NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo on June 26 and 27, averaged a combined 1.6MM and 2.1MM OOH viewers, respectively.  The second set of debates which aired on CNN on July 30 and 31 in Detroit gained +18.75% on night one and +9.5% on night two averaging 1.9 million and 2.3 million viewers respectively.  

The opportunity to view in home on three networks in June compared to one network in July resulted in an interesting in-home versus out of home comparison. Nielsen reported that in-home viewing of the July debates were lower than in June.  However, it was noted that the first July debate out-rated "America's Got Talent" on NBC, (averaging 7.9 million TV viewers) and the season finale of "The Bachelorette" on ABC, (averaging 7.4 million) in home.

Daypart and Demographic Performances

The July debates boosted CNN’s average prime OOH daypart performance. CNN's 8-11 PM OOH average for July 1-28 was 129,720.  Both debates skewed heavily male 25-54 in the out of home markets. On night one, the OOH viewership was 50% A25-54 and skewed 68% male and 32% female.   On night two, the viewership was 45% A25-54 and skewed 69% male and 31% female.

The July debates were hosted live from the Fox Theatre in Detroit and moderated by Jake Tapper, Dana Bash and Don Lemon.  Over the two nights, CNN’s Democratic debates ranked #1 out of all OOH programs.  The bulk of the OOH viewership for both nights occurred in gyms, restaurants and bars with 42% and 44%, respectively.

This article was first published in Cynopsis

When it Comes to Out Of Home, Venues and Events Matter

Out of home measurement for major events such as the Mueller Report and Tiger Woods’ win on the final day of the Masters Tournament offer insights into what the viewing preferences are for venues such as gyms, offices and bars/restaurants.

Venues matter for time sensitive events. Tunity just released data that shows that in general, peak usage times for viewing are different depending on the venue. Offices and gyms peak from around 8a-11a, while bars/restaurants peak first around 4:30 and again from 8-10p, suggesting that bars peak at the earlier time and restaurants at the later time. “Several key influences to take into consideration,” noted Paul Lindstrom, Head of Research & Analytics, Tunity Analytics, “are location and traffic patterns.”

The differences in venues coupled with specific events can impact viewership and the reasons for paying attention. “Our research points to people specifically visiting bars and restaurants to view programming, especially major events like the Super Bowl or an awards show. On the contrary, the viewing that takes place in gyms and offices is opportunistic and the audience size is less influenced by fluctuations in traffic because the primary reason for being in those locations is not to watch television. Changes in gym viewing reflect more or less people who are already there and choosing to view,” said Lindstrom.

OOH impact on overall viewership levels is often impressive, especially when it involves a big news or sporting event. The William Barr release of the redacted Mueller report on 4/18 garnered a 2,956,300 average total OOH audience on CNN and Fox, according to Tunity data. Tiger Woods winning at the Masters on 4/14 delivered 6,924,040 on CBS and the first day of March Madness on 3/21 delivered an overall 4,119,320 on CBS/TruTV/TBS/TNT. Lindstrom explained that, “When we look at (these major events), we see a correlation between the locations, specific types of content, and the magnitude of lift associated with that content.“

According to Lindstrom, Tunity data “shows how the combination of each network’s share lift combined with the total available OOH audience and choice of viewing is a factor in evaluating the dynamics of the OOH audience for that content on that network.” This is something that Lindstrom believes has never before been documented for OOH viewership. “Location based segments have proven to be an excellent way to profile the audiences,” he asserted.

Sound, or lack of it, plays a pivotal role in measuring the impact of OOH viewing. “The traditional method of measuring OOH viewership calculates a program’s audience based on the presence of audio. However, in most OOH locations TVs are muted or there is too much ambient noise to calculate exactly which show is being viewed,” he said. Because Tunity Analytics measures viewing based on a program’s video feed, “it allows us to pinpoint exactly which show and network a viewer is enjoying. We can then further extrapolate by adding in location data.”

This article first appeared in Cynopsis.

Creating a New OOH Standard Measurement. An Interview with Kym Frank

I remember Kym Frank when she worked at Zenith. But her background expands across every media channel, “always with,” she notes, “a focus on data and insights.” 

Frank is currently President of Geopath, an out-of-home trade organization formerly known as the Traffic Audit Bureau. Charged with leading the charge to advance OOH measurement through data and analytics, she is using the GeoPath platform to, “drastically improving the industry’s standard currency.”  Here are the details:

Charlene Weisler: What is the state of OOH measurement today? How does it compare today to the way it was measured before?

Kym Frank: Until recently, the OOH industry measured audience exposure using a combination of somewhat static data sources, such as traffic counts that were gathered from the Department of Transportation, US Census data and information from the American Community Survey.  This solution provided the industry measurement of audience exposure for an average week of the year across standard age, gender, income, ethnicity demographic breaks. 

With the migration to Geopath, the industry embraced new, more granular data sets, such as mobile location data and speed data harnessed from in-dash navigation systems and connected cars.  The new measurement provides anonymous, aggregated, privacy compliant audience exposure at the hourly level that is dynamic throughout the year.  We also integrated thousands of incremental audience segments that encompass purchase behavior, psychographics and even usage of other media channels. 

Weisler: What is the advantage of OOH vs other media?

Frank: OOH is a unique channel that is immune to many of the issues faced by other media.  It cannot be blocked or skipped.  It is not subject to ad fraud and it is relatively immune from brand safety issues. It is not dependent upon a media platform for delivery. And it is ubiquitous – present when and where consumers are making purchase decisions.  

Weisler:  Tell me about GeoPath - what is it and how was it developed?

Frank: Geopath, is an industry trade association for OOH advertising that was founded in 1933 – a joint initiative from the ANA, the 4As and the OAAA - the Out of Home Advertising Association of America.  It was established to provide transparent, responsible measurement of the medium.  We are governed by a tripartite Board of Directors that equally represents the interests of media operators, agencies and advertisers. In fact, the ANA, the 4As and the OAAA still hold seats on our board today!  

Weisler:  How do you collect the data and which data is most important?

Frank: The core of our measurement solution is harnessed from mobile devices.  It is all aggregated and anonymized by our partners at AirSage and then modeled to represent the population movement of the entire US by our partners at Citilabs.  Those data are provided to Geopath, which we match against our proprietary database of audited OOH inventory to convert population movement to audience impressions. 

Weisler:  Is other data merged with GeoPath data and if so what and how?

Frank: Yes! We are partnered with Claritas to layer audience targeting information on top of our impressions. This allows our users to optimize their OOH spend by identifying the best placements to reach people in the market for a new car or individuals who frequent fast food restaurants.  The coupling of big movement data with granular audience data maximizes OOH’s potential – in that it can provide both broad reach and targeted advertisements. 

Weisler: How are advertisers and brands responding to GeoPath and how are they using it?

Frank: The support that we have received from the advertising community has been overwhelming.  Since the beta launch of the new measurement system last spring, our membership has grown to record levels, up more than 50%!

Our members are thrilled with the ability to use the data so that they can provide audiences as a basis of transactions rather than locations.  This type of granular, sophisticated data is helping to propel growth in the industry and increase the value of the inventory that is available.

Weisler:  Do you incorporate other media platforms and if so what and how? Any insights from this?

Frank: Thanks to our partnership with Claritas, we are able to understand the media consumption of the audiences that interact with OOH advertising.  For example, we can use our data to understand how to reach consumers who don’t have a cable subscription or who don’t visit social networks or watch YouTube.  This empowers buyers to amplify their spend in other channels by reaching consumers they may be missing.  

Weisler:  Any surprises from the new GeoPath data?

Frank: Because we are measuring people as they move throughout their day, we are often delighted to see that the profiles of audiences are much different than the people who actually live near a piece of OOH inventory.  For example, we have seen that a billboard may be physically located in a geographic location where there is a greater concentration of lower income HHs, but the resulting audience exposure actually among higher-income individuals, just due to commuting patterns.  

Weisler:  Are you working with other organizations on these measurement initiatives? If so who and what?

Frank: Certainly.  Because we are a non-profit, all of our member organizations are involved in the development and evaluation of our methodologies.  They loan us their best and brightest minds to sit on our Insights Committee, for example.  We are working very closely with the MRC, developing OOH Measurement Standards.  We are also streamlining all of the industry’s best practices with the key trade bodies for OOH. This includes the OAAA, the DPAA, the DSF, and the IAB.  

This article first appeared in www.Mediapost.com