OOH A-Z Glossary of Terms
by Rodolfo Queiroz March 17, 2020 Billboards, Marketing, Outdoor Advertising No comments yet
ANNUAL AVERAGE DAILY TRAFFIC (AADT)
AUDIENCE DELIVERY
BUS BENCHES
CAMPAIGN PERIOD
DWELL TIME
GEOPATH
GROSS RATING POINT
IN-MARKET IMPRESSIONS
MALL DISPLAYS
MESSAGE DURATIO
MOBILE BILLBOARD
OAAA
OBIE AWARDS
OOH VIDEO NETWORKS
PLACE-BASED MEDIA
PROOF OF PERFORMANCE
REPOSTING CHARGE
TRANSIT DISPLAYS
TRANSIT SHELTER
WALLSCAPE
WILD POSTING
Sometimes it seems like advertising has its own language, and that's especially true for out of home. What are reach and frequency? How do you calculate a gross rating point? Why is it called a wallscape?
If you struggle to follow the terms in outdoor advertising, we can help. We've compiled a list of common OOH terms. Use our glossary to find answers next time you have a question.
How many units you need to reach the gross ratings points you desire for a campaign.
Also referred to as experiential media, it encompasses most OOH that isn't billboards, including dynamic special events staged in public.
The average amount of daily vehicle traffic that passes a highway at a certain point.
The direct distance between where you start being able to see a billboard or other outdoor advertisement and where you can no longer distinguish what the text on it says.
How many people see an outdoor advertisement. You can measure it via:
Reach and frequency
Uses interactive technology to superimpose imagery or sounds on what we see before us. Can be employed in a range of OOH displays, such as transit shelters.
Augmented Reality Bus Stop
Recall of ads, which may depend on the size or originality of the creative.
We trust you know what a billboard is. It's the most popular form of outdoor advertising, accounting for the largest share of advertising. They come in several different sizes.
Billboard Sizes
The second-biggest type of billboard, ranking behind only spectaculars. Usually freestanding structures on the side of a freeway. The come in three sizes.
Not sure you can get more self-explanatory: Advertising on the bench you sit on to wait for the bus. It reaches you at street level.
Bus Bench
The length of an out of home campaign.
Selecting the location and duration of your outdoor advertising campaign.
What goes on your out of home display. Usually graphics, often containing text. It's the attention-grabbing part of the ad.
Includes any type of screen or otherwise digital content deployed in outdoor and indoor advertising spaces, such as digital billboards and OOH video networks.
Length of time someone spends near an out of home advertisement.
The area where an outdoor ad is placed, such as the "face" of a billboard.
How long an outdoor ad campaign runs. For billboards, flights typically last four weeks.
How many times someone sees an outdoor ad during a predetermined length of time.
Formerly known as TAB, Geopath measures OOH advertising.
A single rating point equals 1% of a market's population. A gross rating point is the total in-market impressions your campaign delivers divided by the total population.
People within a market who see your campaign. Impressions are the total number who see the campaign who reside anywhere.
You can probably guess what this is — it's the opposite of outdoor advertising, in that it appears inside bars, restaurants, transit stations and so forth. But it's still considered out of home.
All the locations you have in an outdoor campaign. You may also hear references to a location map, which maps out those locations.
The backlit ads with two or three sides that you see at shopping malls.
The geographic area where your campaign takes place — for instance, Los Angeles.
MESSAGE DURATION
How long a digital OOH ad lights up the screen.
Appear on the sides of trucks or buses, or are towed behind them, creating a billboard that can move all around a city.
The Out of Home Advertising Association of America, a group that advocates for the industry.
OAAA's annual awards program, which recognizes outdoor's most outstanding, most creative campaigns. (Hey, is that us on this year's list of finalists? Yep.)
Video networks at different places, such as doctor's offices, gas stations and more, that include advertising and editorial content.
Extending the run of an OOH campaign beyond the initial period. This is provided by the outdoor vendor and doesn't cost extra for the advertiser.
Out of home displays at places, such as grocery stores, stadiums, movie theaters and more.
The plastic used to make many types of bulletins and posters.
Also called 8 sheets, they're posted along surface streets and are smaller than bulletins. You'll see them walking around neighborhoods in cities.
Outdoor advertising companies provide this certification that services have been delivered satisfactorily.
How much of your target audience sees an ad during a campaign.
A fee the advertiser pays to change creative before the campaign term ends.
Traveling to and looking at the inventory you want to buy, such as visiting a billboard to see what sort of condition it is in and how much visibility the highway offers.
The biggest type of billboard, supersized and only found in rare locations, like Times Square. Usually measure 60 feet wide.
Pieces at eye level that you can see from the street that carry advertising. Examples include fountains, memorials, bus benches and barriers.
The people you want to reach with your advertisement.
This is a catchall term for non-digital media, and it includes all non-digital out of home, like billboards, street furniture and transit advertising.
Ads displayed on forms of public transport, such as:
Subways
A structure where people wait to catch the bus or other public transportation, usually located near the curb.
The biggest form of outdoor advertising, wallscapes appear on the sides of buildings — or, you know, walls. They're gigantic, sometimes hundreds of feet tall.
A large number of posters plastered in the same area, catching people's eyes and making a big splash through sheer volume. Usually placed on the side of construction sites or buildings.
Have questions about any of these terms, or want to implement some of them in your next campaign? Contact DASH TWO to learn more.
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