Is Outdoor expensive?

There can be no doubt, outdoor has the ability to draw huge audiences at a fraction of the cost of most other mainstream media. As a broadcast medium, the reach of outdoor is widespread, with various media formats targeting the entire LSM spectrum offering frequency, impact and value for money. An analysis of the figures reveals that no matter who your target market is, outdoor provides a cost-effective communication alternative across all sectors.

The following table is a reflection of the cost per thousand impacts achievable across a mix of outdoor applications each focusing on a specific market segment:

* Based on the assumption that all traffic passing the site falls within the target market. A 50% reduction in traffic count, to compensate for the overlap with non target market audiences, will result in this figure being doubled.

In comparison, the cost per thousand figures of alternative main media types, indicate that it is significantly more expensive to reach similar markets using other media, as indicated below:

Source: Media Inflation Watch June 2001

One could argue that on a frequency of a single exposure to the target market, the cost of outdoor becomes substantially higher than that of all other media, however basic principles dictate that effective advertising requires a combination of both reach as well as frequency to deliver the message. It stands to reason therefore that the more accurate the site placement and the higher the frequency of exposure, the less wastage, and thus more cost-effective outdoor becomes. How then does one ensure that sites are optimally distributed against the profile of a particular brand, and that the message is 'hitting home' as frequently as possible?

Over the past few years, outdoor media planning has evolved from a broad, shotgun approach to site placement, into a more accurate and scientific process. This has been achieved through the introduction, by leading media owners such as Primedia Outdoor, of comprehensive campaign planning facilities aimed at maximising reach, frequency, and thus cost-effectiveness of the medium. Their proprietary system, known as 'PrimePlan' forms part of a set of research based marketing tools collectively referred to as PrimeLink. Not only does PrimeLink have the ability to ensure accurate site placement, but it also provides a means of testing the effectiveness of outdoor creative executions, and to track brand recall and campaign awareness levels before and after campaign flighting. The ultimate objective of PrimeLink is to assist advertisers with the conversion of their communication strategy into practical, on-the-ground campaign success.

PrimePlan undoubtedly forms the backbone of PrimeLink, providing a complete "Outdoor campaign planning" service, combining a sophisticated data base of regional demographics, with detailed computerised mapping software interfacing with Amps, independent research and Primedia Outdoor's site database. PrimePlan does the analysis of market profiles, then prioritises the best areas for the positioning of outdoor in line with population density categorized in terms of primary, secondary and tertiary levels - criteria used for identifying where certain types of outdoor offer optimum cost effectiveness. Media type selection is dependant on the degree of impact, coverage and frequency required.

Primedia Outdoors' planning system thus provides an effective way to ensure that the campaign is targeted to the right target audience, in the right areas with the correct weighting, thereby optimising cost-effectiveness of outdoor with minimum wastage.