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Planning an Outdoor Campaign

The process of planning on outdoor has become increasingly more 'scientific' in recent times through the introduction by media owners of sophisticated geo-demographic mapping and campaign evaluation software. This has facilitated the ability to target specific markets more accurately using outdoor, as opposed to the 'shotgun' methods adopted in the past.

Essentially, the comprehensive outdoor media plan is twofold, consisting firstly of the planning 'input', which takes the form of a detailed campaign brief, and results in the generation of 'output' in the form of the campaign plan.

When preparing an outdoor brief, the following questions should assist in ensuring that all aspects of the outdoor plan have been addressed:

  • What role will outdoor play in the media mix?
  • What is the target market profile?
  • Is the campaign regional or national?
  • What media format options are available?
  • Is the choice of format feasible/practical?
  • Is the campaign short or long-term?
  • What is the outdoor budget?
  • Is production cost included?
  • What deadlines are required?

    As far as possible, the campaign brief should incorporate the following information:

  • Brand Strategy eg. New product launch, packaging change, brand awareness etc.
  • The Target Market
  • Communication Strategy
  • Media Objectives eg. Impact vs coverage vs frequency
  • Budget - is the budget inclusive or exclusive of production?

    A comprehensive outdoor brief should yield a detailed campaign plan, or 'output' incorporating the following elements:

  • Proposed outdoor strategy
  • Recommended media type selection
  • Site distribution or market profile plan (includes quantity of sites required)
  • Reach, frequency, and cost per thousand analysis
  • Monthly media cost schedule

    The proposed strategy provides an accurate translation of the brand's communication and media objectives into an 'on the ground' outdoor plan, which is then used to determine the optimal media type selection for the campaign.

    The selection of the optimal Outdoor media format is dependent on the population density of the target site catchment area. In principle, fewer, higher-impact sites are required to reach a densely populated area, whereas a greater number of smaller formats are required in sparsely populated areas. This is illustrated in the diagram below:

    Primedia Outdoor Marketing Services provides a complete "Outdoor campaign planning" service, capable of generating an optimal site distribution or market profile plan. Structured on 'Mapinfo', a computerised mapping program, PrimePlan allows media planners to determine the demographic composition and Living Standards Measure of a local area, or store, to estimate market potential.

    Added benefits of PrimePlan are:

  • Thermatic maps of advertisers market share, or sales regions, overlaid with new site opportunities.
  • Thermatic maps of brand consumption profiles. (AMPS)
  • Profiles measure the size of the population, its age, sex, ethnicity, disposable income, and LSM profile.
  • The synergies of radio spend and outdoor are enhanced with the boundaries of all African Language Radio Station footprints linked to the site data base.
  • Effective outdoor reach and frequency models to suit particular market requirements - Pre and Post campaign performance evaluations.
  • All sites are geo-coded to reflect current brand usage and availability at site level.

    Examples of types of information available through PrimePlan are illustrated in the following images:


    Regional market classification
    using MapInfo's demographic analysis tool.

    Identification of key primary and secondary
    areas by sub-planning region.


    Target market identification
    against specific brand profiles.

    Thermatic target market
    representation at national level.

    PrimePlan provides outdoor advertisers with a comprehensive link combining all elements of outdoor advertising to ensure the correct outdoor media mix, site distribution and development is matched to the target market profile.

    The final stage of an effective outdoor plan is a quantitative evaluation whereby the audience reach, frequency and cost per thousand opportunities to see can be evaluated. This enables the measurement of the probable audience to be exposed to a given campaign. Within each sub-planning region each town and commuter convergent point is evaluated in terms of population density, infrastructure and levels of economic activity.

    As shown below, this table provides an effective tool for measuring the strengths and weaknesses of a given campaign in each posted area.

    The above 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.

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