Ipsos to overhaul Australian outdoor media audience measurement

The upgrade will cover all formats and environments, including regional locations and measurement of digital out-of-home advertising. It will be based on passive measurement and data from sources including a travel survey, mobility data and traffic and pedestrian counts.

As part of the update, Move’s current quantitative metric, ‘likelihood to see’, will be replaced by ‘visibility adjusted contacts’ (VAC). New reporting software will be included and audience updates will be released quarterly.

The OMA has appointed Adam Lang as chair of the project development group, overseeing the day-to-day development of the system, and Michael Porter as chair of the project advisory group, which will share feedback with the OMA board and stakeholders on outcomes and progress.

Simon Wake, chief executive, Ipsos Australia and New Zealand, said: “Ipsos is proud to be partnering with the outdoor media sector in Australia to deliver sophisticated measurement services to the Australian market.”

Kylie Green, general manager, OMA and Move, said: “Updating our audience measurement system goes hand in hand with our channel’s transformation. I see this not as a revolution but an evolution, which will reset and future proof the currency of the outdoor industry.”

The Move board has invested $10m to update the metric and the first phase of the work began in July 2019 with a neuroscience project study to assess audience engagement with digital and traditional out-of-home media.

The OMA estimates that building and testing will take two years, with the new measurement system expected to launch in 2023.