Indiantelevision.com Team

(24 April 2006 2:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Taking another step to increase the value of outdoor advertising, Nielsen Outdoor has expanded its GPS (global positioning system) based ratings service to Los Angeles to establish an independent, accurate ratings currency for the outdoor advertising marketplace.

This expansion is part of an immediate roll-out of the technology-based measurement service in the top ten media markets in the US.

The expansion of the service to Los Angeles comes on the heels of its introduction last year in Chicago, where it received support among advertising agencies and media owners. The service was also adopted as the currency of the outdoor industry in South Africa.

Nielsen Outdoor will begin recruiting a representative sample for the Los Angeles service in May and expects to deliver data to clients in the fall. It will begin marketing the service in Los Angeles immediately.

Through the patent of its technology partner RDPA LLC, Nielsen Outdoor has proprietary rights to the technology used in GPS-based outdoor ratings. This unique technology enables Nielsen to track the travel patterns of consumers in relation to known outdoor advertising sites, even in difficult urban canyon areas.

Nielsen Outdoor managing director Lorraine Hadfield said, "With the outdoor industry adopting new, high-tech signage, it is essential that they also adopt the most advanced measurement capability. Our decision to expand our GPS-based ratings service into Los Angeles is part of a continuing commitment to support one of the fastest growing and most dynamic advertising vehicles. We are confident that advertisers, their agencies and media owners will appreciate the power of outdoor as an effective and persuasive marketing medium."

Using proprietary devices that are entirely portable, passive and personal, Nielsen Outdoor tracks the passage of people as they ordinarily walk, drive or travel in other ways through the marketplace. Combining these findings with the known locations of outdoor signage, the company can precisely calculate how many persons see the outdoor ads and identify them demographically. Accordingly, Nielsen Outdoor provides advertisers with the total number of people exposed to outdoor advertising and the frequency of their exposure.

In addition to standard demographics, information about respondents' use of other media, products and services is also collected, allowing greater insight into how different types of consumers are exposed to outdoor advertising and delivering further understanding of the value of this medium.