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Radio-powered poster research 'economical'28/October/2002 |
  IPM meter and developer Michael Stewart | ||||
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The Individual Proximity Meter (IPM) system, which independent British researchers Derek Bloom and Michael Stewart have been developing since 1999 to measure audiences for poster advertising, is now ready for use. The two are seeking to persuade potential clients that the system is economical and can be profitably deployed. IPM technology breaks new ground. The meter, which resembles a pager and weighs under two ounces, is designed to be activated whenever the person carrying it passes, whether on foot or in a vehicle, within 50 metres of a "beacon" (a low-powered radio transmitter) affixed to a poster. It then automatically records the poster's unique radio signal together with the time and date. The system can cope with posters on buses and trains, in the Underground or in shops, not just with the roadside billboards with which competing systems are concerned. As an example of the costs involved in taking the system live, Bloom and Stewart pick the United States, since it accounts for about a third of the $17 billion spent globally on outdoor advertising, even though "the American outdoor industry is one of the least sophisticated, has a below-average share of 3.5% of total advertising revenue and is accustomed to paying very little for audience research." They estimate a national audience measurement system could be run for $8.7 million per year, representing 0.15% of US outdoor ad revenue. The hardware and licensing costs would total $2 million, including meters, costing around $77 each, and beacons, costing around $42 each. Beacons last five years before needing to be replaced. The hardware costs would be exceeded by those covering management of, and rewards for, a constantly changing group of respondents, with a fresh set of 8,400 people being recruited every 28 days. That means that "after three years the audience measures for each poster are based on the travel patterns of 39 x 8,400 = 327,600 respondents." It is envisaged that an IPM service would be paid for by subscriptions from poster site operators. If only 40% of US sites were involved the annual cost per site would be about $29. If 80% of sites came in, the cost per site would drop to about $16. Bloom and Stewart emphasise that use of their system "would transform outdoor from the least well-researched of the major advertising media to the best researched." This would in turn, they believe, increase demand for posters by advertisers and hence the price at which poster ads could be sold. The two add that the IPM approach offers considerable advantages over the roadside-only systems currently being developed by Arbitron and Nielsen and quote some words of Ken New, Chairman of the British poster organisation POSTAR. He said that "in 1995...roadside posters accounted for almost three-quarters of outdoor revenue. By 2000 it was less than two-thirds of revenue - not because it hadn't grown but because transport, retail pedestrian and ambient had grown more quickly. And it is forecast that by 2005 roadside will account for only half of outdoor revenue" New concluded: "Clearly an industry research body cannot call itself THE industry research body if it only covers half the industry." For more information contact Michael Stewart at Abbey Management Services. Tel: +44 (0)20 7222 7480. E-mail: mikestrt@dircon.co.uk. © Market Research News
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