Postar paints a different picture

Charles Hamlin was quite right to say in his article in Marketing Week, (MW October 24) that “Postar hasn’t yet got the measure of outdoor ads” – and nor will it, because that’s not what Postar does. Postar measures audiences. It does not measure impact. It does not measure recall.

Postar is far more sophisticated than any other audience measurement system in that it not only measures passing traffic but also takes account of visibility. Postar data illustrates clearly that factors such as size and illumination do make a difference to “realistic audience” levels. The disproportionate differences that Charles Hamlin refers to are, surely, a function of how well, or not, the space is used.

Postar has been developed (at considerable cost to, among others, the OAA, of which Charles Hamlin’s company is an associate member) to deliver realistic audience measures. The potential impact that different sizes and formats have on those audiences is what provides the competitive difference between the outdoor contractors. It is their job, not Postar’s, to market that creative potential to the advertising and media industry.

If the industry isn’t buying enough of your sites, Mr Hamlin, please don’t blame Postar.

Ken New

Chairman

Postar, London W2