Digital out-of-home advertising could get a boost from a new measurement being rolled out under a so-called "Eyes On" program. Described by Joseph Philport, president of the Traffic Audit Bureau for Media Measurement at the American Advertising Federation in Charlotte, Eyes On can deliver demographic information about the effectiveness of billboards, the Charlotte Observer reported.

It includes daily traffic counts, demographic information about people driving by and data from eye-track studies. All of this, Philport said, can provide information ad buyers that is comparable to Nielsen ratings. Eyes On was introduced in 2010 and is rolling out nationally.

Growing Numbers

Global DOOH advertising revenue, which climbed 16.3% from $5.56 billion in 2009 to $6.47 billion in 2010, is expected to climb another 16.9% to $7.56 billion in 2011, according to PQ Media.

Meshing with Social Media

As this channel grows in popularity, more marketers seek to connect it with other channels for more elaborate campaigns. This past summer, Domino's Pizza posted a stream of online order comments about the company on a digital billboard in New York’s Times Square uncensored, except for a screening for obscenity. Groupon is another example: the company has taken to advertising its local offers on the New York Times' digital out-of-home screens in major cities. The offers are being targeted at the zip code level in such cities as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, and Boston.

Jell-O also married social media and digital billboard technology with a DOOH campaign developed by Crispin Porter + Bogusky. The billboard, located at the corner of West Broadway and Grand in New York City, depicted a face that either smiles or frowns depending on the mood reflected in Twitter, as based on the smiley or sad face emoticons. When the face is frowning the company distributes coupons to the randomly downcast.