How hard is it to measure outdoor ads? Join the debate.

Adam Butterworth  
CEO, Clear Channel Singapore 

The truth is monetising inventory is not that difficult, the key questions are: “How does one identify good media inventory?” and “How does one maximise revenue?”

Good media inventory will invariably deliver a large and/or valuable audience; create the opportunity to impactfully engage with that audience; and be in an environment that is conducive for the audience to receive the message. Fortunately, out-of-home (OOH) answers all three of these criteria.

The trick then is to maximise the returns. It is a combination of correctly positioning the inventory against its inter- and intra-media competition - creating demand through compelling marketing initiatives and driving revenue through a strong and disciplined approach to sales.

Supply and demand dynamics, innovation and the potential for consumer interaction and engagement are also important considerations, as is pricing and striking the right balance between rate and yield. However, in my experience, the most effective way of monetising revenue from media inventory is to get it right at the start. This creates the price platform from which all future benchmarks are then set.

Ron Graham  
CEO, Scintillus Media

It is easy to monetise media inventory if the assets are developed with audiences and the effective communication proposition is worked out in advance. Too often the places, or the formats of the displays are simply not valuable enough to gain attention from audiences and so this diminishes actual interest. Even when the places and formats are suitable, another issue is scale. For example, if too many small and medium-sized media sellers are competing it is difficult for media agencies to devote time and energy to building up meaningful campaign weight. Aggregation and/or consolidation can certainly help, but agencies and brands will want scale and campaign solutions which are repeatable.

When sellers are in this type of fragmented situation, they tend to commoditise and fail to define their own value, which leads to excessive price competition, low margins - and failure to monetise. 

If large operators act professionally with accountability and some tangible measurement, they will be able to monetise their inventory. In addition to these factors, I also believe too many media sellers actually have a solution looking for a problem, rather than a valuable media communication proposition.

Stuart Clarke
Managing director, MPG Singapore

The high bids in Singapore’s Land Transport Authority tender sparked a lot of discussion about bus shelter prices going up. It’s premature to say if it’s true, because we don’t have the full picture, yet. 

I’m just excited to see bidders putting serious investment behind this inventory. As a media buyer, I don’t mind paying more if I can see there is value in the price. 

Quality will always make all the difference. I’ll happily increase my CPM if you can replace old-fashioned print with LED quality images, motion, interactivity, smartphone/social integration, localised context, and the flexibility for day-parting and live copy-change. I’ll be even happier if you can give me the metrics to back it up. 

If the ambition is to bring Singapore street furniture into the 21st century, let’s at least pull outdoor audience measurement into the 20th. 

Industry-wide measurement initiatives, supported by all key players, would create a more robust currency for inventory pricing, and give advertisers greater confidence to move budgets away from TV and into outdoor.