The outdoor medium will soon be the only mass reach broadcast medium. Until recently we have had very little data with which to compare the quality of one site against another or to understand how different types of contacts work both against different audiences and for different messages. Media buyers have to make cost-effective inter-site decisions whilst planners need to understand what differentiated consumer groups absorb from different forms of outdoor media and, more importantly, which type of message lends itself to those various forms of outdoor. Art directors and copy writers have to create poster advertisements which will attract the maximum of attention from consumers. This paper will provide the audience with an understanding of the existing industry research available and insights from proprietary research undertaken on behalf of Leo Burnett in 1996 regarding the visual impact of different types of creative work.
A committee was set up in Italy in 1981 - its members being the association of companies which run outdoor advertising sites, the main association of advertising agencies and the association of advertising users - with the purpose of promoting continuous research initiatives in the field of poster advertising. The outcome has been a survey called ICSA (continuous study on outdoor advertising), which is not a specific survey, but a system of research. The ICSA study has the following objectives: - estimation of poster audience, by calculating coverage and frequency of "passages" past sites in Italian towns end cities - assessment of the effectiveness of posters as an advertising medium. To-date the ICSA study has involved surveys in 5 Italian towns and cities (with different geographical and demographic characteristics) to estimate coverage and frequency of passages past sites, and also surveys on the advertising impact of poster campaigns, conducted in 19 towns and cities of Italy.
The OSCAR system for estimating audiences of individual poster sites was developed in the UK for the outdoor advertising contractors from 1981 and launched in October 1985. From a census of all poster sites audiences were modelled in the form of gross vehicular and pedestrian passages per week. By taking account of the visibility of each site or panel, gross audiences can be netted down to gross Opportunities to See (OTS). OSCAR therefore provides comprehensive information on the size of the audience for individual posters, but does not give information on audience structure or composition. The National Poster Survey undertaken in October 1987 complements OSCAR data by providing information on all poster passages by a national sample of adults with respect to a national sample of poster panels. It generates estimates of the structure of the national poster audience in terms of frequency and coverage, and of its composition in terms of demographics. In conjunction with OSCAR it provides the means of modelling the audience characteristics of campaigns based on specified sites. This paper describes how the survey was developed and undertaken, the results obtained and how they will be used in practice to enhance the value of the OSCAR data in the planning of poster campaigns.
This paper describes a research-program that started with a check on the execution of poster campaigns. By means of samples drawn from the files of poster sites in the Netherlands each month a number of sites was checked on the presence of posters according to the classification reports of the outdoor operators. This system was executed on a continuous base and in 1984 the need for a more sophisticated research program became apparent. An extensive research study was started with the following objectives: a) the calculation of confrontation chances (OTS) b) the measurement of "actual seeings" of the poster sites c) the calculation of coverage data in particular the total reach and the coverage of individual poster campaigns.
Due to the fact that advertising for tobacco goods was banned from Austrian TV, the Austrian Tobacco Company (Osterreichische Tabakregie) was forced to carry out its advertising campaigns predominantly by posters. This study is a result of cooperation with one of the largest poster publicity companies in Austria (Heimatwerbung). The main objective was to analyze the advertising effect of various poster sizes, proceeding from the situation given at that time: The original dominance of 8-sheet posters was dwindling, and a strong trend to 16-sheet posters was noted. 24-sheet posters were (like to- day) of rather small importance. It was up to us - as the market research institute involved - to find the most efficient test method which would guarantee control over the individual factors of influence on the test results. We finally decided on a lab-test in our own test station, also because we wanted to use this method as a pre-testing instrument. In addition, we were able to exclude several external factors linked with on-air tests, e.g. quality of location, and display period.
This research, which was claimed to be the first systematic attempt at poster audience measurement anywhere in the world, was based upon attention values, or audience recall. This was an attempt to measure the actual audience for posters rather than potential audience. It is interesting to note that whilst a considerable number of awareness studies have been carried out in this country relative to specific campaigns, the technique has been found to have little value in predicting exposure to target audiences or frequency of message delivery.
The present qualitative study of the poster medium was commissioned by British Posters Ltd. for three main reasons; 1) British Posters Ltd. had been featuring increasing numbers of products which were directly or indirectly aimed at children; 2) The Poster Audience Model did not include children so the company had no data relating to this market; 3) British Posters Ltd. were seeking expansion opportunities. The Children Research Unit has conducted numerous ad hoc studies of individual poster campaigns, but it has not been possible, until the advent of the present study, to make critical findings about the poster medium publicly available. The aims of the study were as follows: 1) To investigate the overall reactions of children to the poster medium; 2) To further understanding of poster advertising effectiveness by providing guidelines for future poster advertisers to the children market.
The London Transport Executive is a very important media owner. Gallup, who had previously worked with the LTE on commercial evaluation of posters, was asked if it could assess the extent to which posters shocked or offended the public. A form of hall test was developed, in which adults were invited to express their views of a set of posters chosen to be near the borderline. This indicated guidelines by which posters could be assessed. The experiment was repeated at a London comprehensive school using some posters already tested with adults and some new ones to get the reactions of school children. The findings were somewhat different from those expected. Children were far more sensitive than adults thought in some areas, and less in others. The paper illustrates the findings in the four areas surveyed, namely: Pregnancy and abortion, underwear, sex/comedy films, and violent films.
The results of the poster research described in this paper have been important in helping Australian marketing and media managers judge the cost-effectiveness of outdoor advertising campaigns, where formerly, they lacked the necessary information. Over the period, 1970-77, during which the three media surveys described in this paper were conducted, and two others by the Outdoor Advertising Association into public attitudes to their medium, the outdoor advertising share of Australian media budgets increased from 8.91 to 10.9%. The total value of Australian outdoor advertising in 1977 was close to $100 million.
Research in the area of postering seems to have been somewhat neglected, although this medium is of unquestionable importance. Its very special characteristics, in fact, format as well as placement, content, and method of acting have always made impossible a blunt application of the methods developed in the other areas of advertising. It seems however that some reflection on the exact nature of pre-testing, as on the relatively small importance of the conditions of implementation of a method with respect to the principle of the method, could indicate that some transpositions are possible. Among others, this is the case for the study of attention value, and, using test folder type methods, we have attempted to develop a specific methodology for posters.