Kym Frank at Look Out 2017

 
This year at the 2017 OAAA\Geopath National Convention + Expo, Kym Frank, President of Geopath, discussed how advances in audience location measurement are turning data into intelligence and powering exciting new ways to sell OOH, while delivering the accountability that advertisers demand.
 

 
“Change takes courage. But nothing worth doing is easy.” – Kym Frank, #LookOut2017

Here are some take-aways from Kym’s speech:

1)  It’s Been A Really Big Year at Geopath

Last year at this time, we were still known as TAB. We formally launched the Geopath brand in September 2016 and in less than a year, we’ve built a totally new culture. We’ve completely redesigned how we serve our members. We’ve launched a brand new website. And most importantly, we are developing a state of the art OOH measurement and insights system that will empower everyone in the industry by fueling a more targeted, more insightful, more accountable, more effective, and more valuable OOH advertising marketplace.

Just last week we accomplished two major milestones.

First, we launched our new Geopath Inventory Explorer. This new tool provides an easy way to locate Geopath member inventory across the country. You can identify a specific address on a map and then find nearby inventory that meets your specifications.

The second milestone is the launch of Geopath’s Seasonal and Hourly Explorer in beta. This exploratory tool provides non-commercial seasonal and hourly impressions for the 400,000 pieces of roadside OOH inventory we currently measure. We’ll be rolling out more formats later this year.

2)  A Focus on Audience Location Expands Our Storytelling Potential

When we created our new Geopath brand, we very intentionally changed our description from “OOH Ratings” to “Audience Location Measurement.” This shift from measuring OOH impressions to measuring people as they move throughout their day, is the essence of what we are building and why it matters.

While we will still provide impressions, reach and frequency, and ratings better than ever before, our focus is on providing a more complete and meaningful understanding of people.

People in the OOH industry have always been the location experts. But now we can be so much more. In addition to being inventory location experts, we now have the opportunity to become audience location experts.

3) A Challenge from Advertisers

About a year and a half ago, the ANA funded a groundbreaking study on digital ad fraud that found that up to a third of all digital ad impressions are fraudulent. Advertisers are spending billions of dollars for ads that are never seen by humans.

Then, this February, Proctor & Gamble’s Chief Brand Officer, Marc Pritchard, shocked the media world. During a keynote address he challenged the entire media supply chain to clean up its act. Marc Pritchard warned that without more transparency, without better third-party measurement, the world’s largest advertiser would vote with its dollars and go elsewhere. The business press called it the most important marketing speech in a generation.

4)  The Era of Responsible Data

In light of all that has happened, with ad fraud, bots, viewability issues, and Marc Pritchard drawing a line in the sand, we find ourselves in a new era of “Responsible Data.” The culmination of big data, smart data, and trustworthy data. This is vital with advertising currency, when billions and billions of dollars are being spent based on data.

• Responsible Data are comprehensive.
• Responsible Data ensure people’s rights to privacy and security while respecting the values of transparency and openness.
• Responsible Data go far beyond age, gender, ethnicity, and household income – empowering storytelling and better targeting.
• Responsible Data report granular data by hour of day, every day of the week, 365 days a year.
• Responsible Data use the right data to answer the question being asked.
• Responsible Data are generated by unbiased sources who have no skin in the game.

OOH has an opportunity. We can lead. We can build a trusted currency that leapfrogs other media measurement and sets the standard for all of advertising. We need to build a measurement system that feels as real as our ads.

This is exactly what the market is asking Geopath to do.