Research can provide a solution to accountability

Marketers looking to prove return on investment should use insight, as innovation in the industry is producing valuable data. 

Mindi Chahal

An eye-tracking tool that measures multi-outdoor formats is being launched today (11 June) by CScreens. It’s a solution that will allow advertisers to find out who is looking at their adverts across various out-of-home locations such as billboards, events and in pubs. 

The first campaign using the solution is being run during the World Cup to measure audience engagement across TV screens at live experiential events in London, over 330 pubs and 50 five-a-side football centres. 

Now eye-tracking is not a new phenomenon, but the development of this technology means that marketers can track how a campaign is performing across a variety of out-of-home formats and locations, including TV viewed outside the home.

It tracks the number of people and how long people look at an ad, their gender and approximate age. This means that marketers can either prove a format is working or can adapt campaigns to focus on the specific objectives, be that the number of views or engagement, a particular gender or age.  

“People talk about cross-platform video optimisation across PC, mobile and tablet but this is a whole new dimension incorporating in and out-of-home including billboards, experiential and communal locations,” explains Richard Hicks, co-founder of CScreens.

The tool is designed to make campaigns more efficient for advertisers and provide accountability on how targeted outdoor advertising is, he claims.

Market research is not just a useful exercise for brands to test products and services, or to test marketing messages before and after campaigns, as the development in eye tracking shows, it’s also valuable in providing data to brands looking to prove their marketing spend. 

Recommended