Measuring the effectiveness of out-of-home advertising campaigns in South Africa

Abstract

Out-of-home advertisers demand measurable and reliable results to better determine and controlthe success both before and after the launch of an advertising campaign. The evaluation of outof-home media effectiveness as part of advertising campaigns remains a largely unexploredfield of study, especially in an emerging market like South Africa’s. By analysing the contents ofout-of-home advertising campaigns’ media planning strategies and results, this study aimed toinvestigate whether the effectiveness of out-of-home media formats are evaluated and validlyconfirmed by South African advertisers. Findings of the study revealed the general lack ofeffective evaluation techniques for reliably measuring out-of-home media formats’ effectiveness inachieving stated communication objectives. Furthermore, results confirm the significant campaignevaluation opportunities provided by the integration of out-of-home media with technology andother mechanisms to receive on- or offline interactivity from audiences with advertised brands.This is particularly useful while the development of reliable out-of-home media measurementmetrics is still underway across the globe.