Milestone Brandcom launches measurement ‘Optimizer’

OOH agency Milestone Brandcom has launched an audience measurement tool ‘Milestone Optimizer’.

 

It will provide Gross Impression Points (GIP), indicating the reach and frequency of an OOH campaign, on a weekly basis. The tool also profiles consumers on the basis of gender, age, sex, education, working status, occupation, households, location and type of accommodation, among other parameters, according to the agency. It claims that this has been done using Hansa’s IRS iLAP (location area profiling) and IMRB’s TGI (Target Group Index), according to the company.

For the tool, Milestone mandated GfK Mode to conduct research covering 505 stretches across the 10 cities which the tool currently covers. The agency has also appointed Unikove Technologies as its technology partner.

 

According to the agency, the 10 cities covered currently account for nearly 75 per cent of the OOH advertising spends in the country. But the plan is to expand the coverage of the tool to 25 cities in 18 to 24 months.

 

Nabendu Bhattacharya, MD and founder, Milestone Brandcom, said, “The Milestone Optimizer is a culmination of countless hours of hard work, research and scientific planning by our team. We have invested a great deal in the tool in an attempt to make OOH planning a lot more organised and scientific in the industry. Through the use of the Optimizer, brands will soon grasp the scope in this Rs 1900 crore sector and understand how underutilised it is in the country. The GIP measurement matrix is a complete scientific measurement solution that will redefine the OOH Industry. Milestone Brandcom has invested over Rs 5 crore for this endeavour.”

 

The Optimizer will be offered as a value added service to existing clients, informed Bhattacharya. There is no intent to monetise it, but the agency hopes to gain an edge over competition in winning new businesses with the help of the Optimizer.

 

A marketer can also compare the CPT of the OOH plan with those of other mediums such as TV, print, and digital, the agency head said.

 

On how Milestone Optimizer is different from other measurement systems, Bhattacharya added, “Other systems have used site level data; they have not used geographical data or traffic count. The traffic count is the most difficult and cumbersome one. We are actually offering everything together. The Optimizer can answer a marketer’s questions on the reach of this medium for a particular TG, and therefore help decide whether to use OOH or not. Other studies can just point out to which site is better. But the Optimizer directly states the delivery of OOH for a particular TG as compared to other mediums. So there can be a direct comparison between GIP, GRP and RAM in terms of CPT (cost per thousand).”

 

The spokesperson added that he envisioned all clients in the OOH space asking for such measurement from their respective agencies.