OMA launches suite of innovations, making it easier for agencies and clients to buy and measure OOH

Launched as part of the Outdoor Media Association’s suite of innovations is an upgrade to the industry’s audience measurement system MOVE (Measurement of Outdoor Visibility and Exposure).  

MOVE 1.5 will introduce an accurate measurement for digital campaigns and a qualitative metric, the Neuro Impact Factor, which goes beyond attention to measuring its impact on people who see Out of Home (OOH) signs. 

MOVE 1.5 will report reach and frequency for digital signs based on impressions by accounting for audience dwell, sign dwell and Share of Time bought. This has been built into the current world-class MOVE system and is an interim step while the industry upgrades to a new measurement tool, MOVE 2.0, in 2024.  

CEO of the OMA and MOVE, Charmaine Moldrich, said, “The Media Federation of Australia’s committee, the Outdoor Futures Council, have worked very closely with our members to bring these innovations to market. The partnership has helped us build these new tools to meet the changing needs of planners and buyers specifically. It marks another step toward empowering clients and agencies to make more informed campaign decisions by putting more data in the palms of their hands.” 

“MOVE 1.5 gives buyers more accurate reach and frequency scores for their digital campaigns. The jewel in its crown is a new qualitative measure, the Neuro Impact Factor, which goes beyond attention to measure campaigns’ impact on audiences. These innovations give planners and buyers the ability to optimise their Out of Home spend based on the objectives of their campaign, be it awareness building or sales,” she said. 

The Neuro Impact Factor (NIF) has been added to MOVE 1.5 using OMA’s neuroscience study data. The study measured the critical moments that memory and emotion peak in the brain to evaluate the impact of OOH signs. 

Memory and emotion are key neuroscience metrics associated with mental availability linked to effective advertising campaigns. 

Avenue C Managing Partner and Outdoor Futures Council (OFC) Chair Pia Coyle said, “The methodology behind the Neuro Impact Factor study is thorough and world-class, so we’re excited to bring it into the vernacular when talking about Outdoor. We’ve always known there is more to Outdoor than what we could prove. Now we’ve got the proof for this extra dimension that goes beyond reach, frequency, site-card, or location to bring that to life — it’s pretty exciting.” 

In tandem with the launch of MOVE 1.5, the industry has also introduced new Industry Standards. Standardisation will streamline the buying and selling of OOH advertising. It will give planners and buyers greater clarity through agreed criteria for terminology, geography, screen ratios, insertion orders, and Share of Time (SOT), a new method for transacting how digital signs are bought.  

SOT is the percentage of display time advertisers receive from the total display time in an agreed buying period. Other advertisements, programmatic content, and other content, including industry promotions commercial and editorial content, are included in consideration of the percentage of SOT bought.  

SOT makes it easier to buy by location and environment, helping advertisers meet their desired campaign objectives. 

MediaCom National Head of Investment and OFC Standardisation sub-committee Co-Chair, Nick Thomas said, “Standardisation is going to save us time so we can spend less time transacting and we can spend more time on audiences, planning, more about people, not screens, and bring to life some amazing campaigns.”  

“What we have done goes beyond making Outdoor easier to transact and measure. We are setting ourselves up for future growth through programmatic and automation which is critical for our industry,” concluded Moldrich. 

The innovations were first announced at the industry’s first-ever OUT-FRONT event in November and are the result of collaboration with OMA members and the OFC to provide additional tools and ease of use in planning, buying, and reporting on their campaigns. 

MOVE 1.5, the NIF, and the Industry Standards document are available from 31 January.