Out-of-Home Ad Body to Launch Data Platform

UK Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising trade body Outsmart has announced the forthcoming launch of an industry-wide tool which will bring OOH media-owner data - both 'classic' and digital - into a single interface for buyers.

Outsmart's members are the big four outdoor ad companies, Clear Channel, Global, JCDecaux and Ocean Outdoor, plus specialist media-buying agencies including WPP's Kinetic and Dentsu's Posterscope. The organisation works with OOH measurement body Route.

The new 'Playout' system will launch in the Summer and will offer data on all ads played on sites owned by the 'big four' - 70% of the UK's digital inventory. The system will be maintained for the next three years by Adwanted UK (formerly Mediatel), winners of a tender process last year. Outsmart says the system will improve and promote industry accountability, standardise the data and its communication and can be independently audited. It also claims it will be more efficient than the current 'peer-to-peer' approach and will allow for future improvements in ROI studies examining the performance of OOH via marketing mix modelling and econometrics.

Outsmart Director Tim Lumb (pictured) told online publication www.the-media-leader.com - which is part of the same group as Adwanted - that Covid lockdowns dealt a massive blow to the outdoor sector but has incentivised competitive media owners to start collaborating on such projects. He also affirmed that Outsmart has ambitions to turn Playout into 'a one-stop-shop for OOH buying, planning and research'.

Web site: www.outsmart.org.uk .