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Truck-side Advertising Audience Measurement Methodology Now Available

20 December 1999

New High-Tech Truck-side Advertising Audience Measurement Methodology Now Available

    CHICAGO--Dec. 17, 1999--The Traffic Audit Bureau (TAB) today announced the availability of a new methodology that will confirm the number of people exposed to an advertiser's message on the side of a truck.
    The methodology, which requires the use of a Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking device, uses a model based on data from the Federal Highway Administration's Highway Performance and Monitoring System (HPMS). The GPS data on a truck's movements is entered into the model via custom software to generate an estimate of the number of impressions visible to the occupants of cars passing in both directions as the truck travels its route.
    The truck advertising operator then is able to provide its advertising clients with a Truck Advertising Project Statement detailing the total gross impressions during a completed campaign and the average DEC (Daily Effective Circulation), per truck, for the advertiser's program.
    In addition, the TAB will perform an annual on-site audit with each participating fleet and truck advertising operator to substantiate that they are utilizing the methodology and software correctly.
    The on-site audit will include a review of a sample of the Truck Advertising Project Statements issued by the operator during the previous 12 months. This will verify the accuracy of the GPS data input into the system and ensure the accuracy of the DEC data being reported. Upon successful completion of the audit, the TAB will issue an annual Truck Advertising Audit Statement.
    "The availability of a credible audience measurement tool should further spur the growth of truck-side advertising, which is already enjoying considerable interest," said TAB President Anna Fountas. "This is one more step toward our goal of providing advertisers and agencies with audit circulation data for all recognized forms of out-of-home media."
    A trial of the new methodology was performed in Chicago with trucks carrying an advertisement for Seiko watches from Nov. 1 to Dec. 10, 1999. Three commercial trailers, operated by the Fleet Advertising Media Group (FAMG), originated each day from South Kedzie Avenue in Chicago and traveled heavily on the interstate highway system, making deliveries to multiple locations each day.
    The TAB Truck Advertising Audit Methodology for the Seiko program trial yielded preliminary results that indicated its truck-side advertisement reached an estimated DEC of 40,585 commuters each day per truck. In comparison, the average billboard in Chicago measuring 14 feet by 48 feet attains about 48,000 DEC, according to the TAB. And, while the exposure of the two media is comparable, price rates for truck-side advertisements are drastically less - the average cost is 70 cents per thousand impressions, or about half the cost of traditional outdoor advertising. Television advertising, in comparison, costs approximately $23.70 per thousand impressions.
    "Fleet advertising represents a unique media opportunity. It is less likely to get lost in the clutter or blend in with the background, as other out-of-home advertising can sometimes do," said Bob Swanson, Seiko advertising manager. "If used strategically, fleet advertising, by its very nature, has the potential to being more dynamic and captivating."
    3M Commercial Graphics and the Fleet Advertising Media Group (FAMG) provided funding and resources for the development of this the methodology. TAB statistician Dan Mallett and TranSearch, a traffic engineering firm, implemented it. The project could not have been completed without the diligence of TAB, 3M and FAMG in pursuing the methodology and resulting data.
    Truck advertising operators interested in more information should contact Larry Hennessy, TAB vice president and general manager.
    The Traffic Audit Bureau (TAB), an independent, non-profit organization, has worked with industry leaders to establish a method to determine the audience of truck-side advertising. TAB's primary role is to authenticate the circulation data of out-of-home media. In doing so, it seeks to inform and educate the advertising community regarding the quantitative and qualitative value of out-of-home media, accommodating new forms as they develop without compromising standards of integrity.