Forward, measure
Two outdoor advertisers agree on poster research study
Two out-of-home advertisers reach agreement on poster research studyBy Markus Knöpfli Thanks to the mediation of the Swiss Advertisers Association (SWA), poster research is now making progress again. A pilot study, which had been put on hold for four months due to a dispute between Allgemeiner Plakatgesellschaft (APG) and Clear Cannel Plakanda (CCP), will soon be commissioned.
"No point remained unresolved in the settlement of differences between APG CEO Christian Kauter and CCP CEO Beat Roeschlin. This is a milestone," said the visibly relieved SWA Director Fredi Schwab on January 23. However, he later added: "We put a lot of pressure on the two outdoor advertisers."
This is also clear from the SWA communiqué, which already gave the two out-of-home advertisers two figures in the first sentence: The "weighty out-of-home advertising market" turns over 550 million francs per year, which corresponds to 10.5 percent of the total advertising market. The hint with the fence post can be interpreted as follows: Posters, as one of the most important advertising media, should finally present an industry standard for measuring quality and not get lost in petty squabbles.
Ironically, CCP and APG added weight to this statement by publishing their net sales increases for the previous year just one and two days earlier respectively: APG achieved CHF 254.4 million (up 2.2 percent), CCP grew by 8.2 percent. Shortly afterwards, Mediafocus went one better with its gross sales for 2001: Plakat grew by 4.1 percent (see also page 19) and was one of the few winners last year along with TV.
Against this background, the impatience of advertising clients is understandable, especially as they still have to work with basic data from the 1980s when planning posters.
600,000 francs for the first study via satellite
According to SWA Director Fredi Schwab, who played a key role in settling the dispute, APG and CCP have now given the go-ahead for a pilot project in Winterthur, which was originally due to start last fall, and have provided a total of CHF 600,000 for it. The aim of the project is to use satellite technology (Geographical Positioning System, GPS) to collect mobility data from the population in order to determine the contact opportunities of poster sites and their impact as a network. Specifically, this involves equipping a representative number of people with a GPS device on a voluntary basis for a certain period of time. Their route is then transferred to a map and can thus be compared with the locations and orientations of the poster sites. From this, frequencies and thus also performance values can be derived.
Another consequence of the agreement: Martial Pasquier, professor at the University of Bern, who has headed a research group with equal representation from the two outdoor advertisers for the past two years (see box), has resumed his role. He had suspended it in December due to the dispute between APG and CCP. There were no details about the differences. Schwab only said that topics such as cost allocation, rights and publication of future data were discussed.
As Pasquier explained to WerbeWoche, suitable GPS devices must now be evaluated and ordered. Around 50 devices will be needed for the pilot project in Winterthur, which will run for around a week in May or June. The first results should be available by September at the latest. Only then will it be possible to say whether this method can provide sufficient information about the contact chances of poster sites. One thing is certain, however: the project is attracting a great deal of interest in Europe and overseas. A delay would have embarrassed Swiss out-of-home advertisers in front of the whole world and wasted an opportunity.
APG CEO Christian Kauter was "very happy" about the agreement. Without uniform performance values, the poster medium could "lose credibility" in the long term and would have to reckon with a loss of image, he said. CCP CEO Beat Roeschlin stated that he did not wish to comment.
To ensure that the agreement was not jeopardized and the Winterthur pilot project was not delayed again, the advertising clients took precautions: The project team was given the support of a team of future data users; in addition, a specially expanded SWA specialist team is monitoring the progress of the project.
The teams
"No point remained unresolved in the settlement of differences between APG CEO Christian Kauter and CCP CEO Beat Roeschlin. This is a milestone," said the visibly relieved SWA Director Fredi Schwab on January 23. However, he later added: "We put a lot of pressure on the two outdoor advertisers."
This is also clear from the SWA communiqué, which already gave the two out-of-home advertisers two figures in the first sentence: The "weighty out-of-home advertising market" turns over 550 million francs per year, which corresponds to 10.5 percent of the total advertising market. The hint with the fence post can be interpreted as follows: Posters, as one of the most important advertising media, should finally present an industry standard for measuring quality and not get lost in petty squabbles.
Ironically, CCP and APG added weight to this statement by publishing their net sales increases for the previous year just one and two days earlier respectively: APG achieved CHF 254.4 million (up 2.2 percent), CCP grew by 8.2 percent. Shortly afterwards, Mediafocus went one better with its gross sales for 2001: Plakat grew by 4.1 percent (see also page 19) and was one of the few winners last year along with TV.
Against this background, the impatience of advertising clients is understandable, especially as they still have to work with basic data from the 1980s when planning posters.
600,000 francs for the first study via satellite
According to SWA Director Fredi Schwab, who played a key role in settling the dispute, APG and CCP have now given the go-ahead for a pilot project in Winterthur, which was originally due to start last fall, and have provided a total of CHF 600,000 for it. The aim of the project is to use satellite technology (Geographical Positioning System, GPS) to collect mobility data from the population in order to determine the contact opportunities of poster sites and their impact as a network. Specifically, this involves equipping a representative number of people with a GPS device on a voluntary basis for a certain period of time. Their route is then transferred to a map and can thus be compared with the locations and orientations of the poster sites. From this, frequencies and thus also performance values can be derived.
Another consequence of the agreement: Martial Pasquier, professor at the University of Bern, who has headed a research group with equal representation from the two outdoor advertisers for the past two years (see box), has resumed his role. He had suspended it in December due to the dispute between APG and CCP. There were no details about the differences. Schwab only said that topics such as cost allocation, rights and publication of future data were discussed.
As Pasquier explained to WerbeWoche, suitable GPS devices must now be evaluated and ordered. Around 50 devices will be needed for the pilot project in Winterthur, which will run for around a week in May or June. The first results should be available by September at the latest. Only then will it be possible to say whether this method can provide sufficient information about the contact chances of poster sites. One thing is certain, however: the project is attracting a great deal of interest in Europe and overseas. A delay would have embarrassed Swiss out-of-home advertisers in front of the whole world and wasted an opportunity.
APG CEO Christian Kauter was "very happy" about the agreement. Without uniform performance values, the poster medium could "lose credibility" in the long term and would have to reckon with a loss of image, he said. CCP CEO Beat Roeschlin stated that he did not wish to comment.
To ensure that the agreement was not jeopardized and the Winterthur pilot project was not delayed again, the advertising clients took precautions: The project team was given the support of a team of future data users; in addition, a specially expanded SWA specialist team is monitoring the progress of the project.
The teams
Project team: Head: Martial Pasquier, Input, University of Bern; APG: Rolf Chiarini, Christof Hotz; CCP: Beat Roeschlin, Regula Broger
Advisory group: Ueli Custer, specialized journalist, IGEM; Stephan Küng, Initiative Media Switzerland AG; one SWA representative (not yet determined) Extended expert team, SWA: Georg E. Müller, GE Capital Bank (Chair); Dirk Boventer, JT International AG; Franziska Gsell, Feldschlösschen Getränke AG; Tilman Hengevoss, Zurich Switzerland; Stephan Küng, Initiative Media Switzerland AG; Benno Marbach, Coca-Cola AG; Walter Merz, BSW; Jürgen Pick, BAT (Suisse) SA; Urs Schneider, IGMA, Mediaschneider; Fritz Zimmermann, SBB AG
