OVAB release metrics guidelines, and I have them (I think)

October 29, 2008 by Dave Haynes

Well it is late afternoon and I have not seen anything reported about the OVAB Digital Media Summit today in New York, other than it is on and it was apparently sold out.

OVAB head Susan Alecia reportedly told the crowd the long-awaited metrics guidelines were available for download now, so I think these are them.

I stress I think because the date on the doc says August and this is late October. But the file name says FINAL, so click away and have a look.

It is 79 pages so don’t expect a summary from me anytime soon.

It does suggest Average Unit Audience (rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?) should be the currency metric for OOH networks. That AUA equates to the “number and type of people exposed to the media vehicle with an opportunity to see a unit of time equal to the typical advertising unit.”

Oh boy, there’s definitely going to be a need for some burning-in time and lotsa repetition to get everyone thinking and talking in those terms.

But … as mentioned, it’s a process, and that process has to start with something. I’m sure the first time someone uttered the phrase Gross Ratings Point, there was a lot of dead air in the room. 

I await the far, far more learned opinions of people who get all sweaty and excited about research and measurement terminology, and will pass those views along as they pop up.