Article
New light shed on DPAA initiatives
Bill Yackey talks to the Digital Place-based Advertising Association about the agency's plans, which include naming a new president by week's end.
July 18, 2010
Last month I was reading Dave Haynes' Sixteen Nine Blog, as I often do, and came across apostsaying the DPAA (formerly OVAB) wasn't getting much attention lately. Knowing the group, and their budget, I knew something had to be happening up there in New York, even if Google searches weren't providing much insight. It turns out the DP double-A has several things in the works, and if my recent conversation with association president Mike DiFranza is any indication, their search engine presence may change very soon.
As you probably know, theDPAA changed its name from OVAB(Out-of-Home Video Advertising Bureau) to Digital Place-based Advertising Association in March, citing that the "‘out-of-home' moniker from the old OVAB name was not specific and clear enough to describe the different engaged audiences that brands can reach with ‘digital place-based' networks." DiFranza said that despite the name change, the DPAA still has the same mission statement: To make networks easier and more efficient for agencies to plan and buy. Ina follow-up articleby Bill Collins on Digital Signage Today, former DPAA president Suzanne LaForgia identified three strategic initiatives for the DPAA going forward. DiFranza was able to provide an update on these, and talk about several more, shedding a bit more light on what the group has been working on and what to expect in the near future.
1. Continuing to standardize audience metrics. The then-OVABmade an industry splashin October 2008 when it introduced its Audience Metrics Guidelines, a document standardizing the way digital out-of-home was measured. Many of the DPAA member networks have adopted the guidelines as part of their reporting since their release. 2. Standardization of creative units. With endless types of video formats, sizes and resolutions out there for digital place-based ads, the DPAA has created a task force headed up by former president Suzanne LaForgia and Bob Martin of RMG Networks to reduce the formats to a reasonable number. "Say there are 30 different formats out there now, we'd like it to be five to 10," DiFranza said. "This kind of creative execution is all about efficiency and scale." 3. An online planning and discovery tool. (No, not another aggregator.) The DPAA has contracted a supplier to develop an online tool that will serve as a starting point for agencies looking at digital place-based advertising. DiFranza said media buyers, etc. will be able to search for available networks based on location, demographic info and other criteria to see where their campaign may fit. There will be no pricing available and no sales staff behind this looking to close deals, rather just contact information for networks that fit the planners' needs. The tool will most likely be a value-add for DPAA members, but DiFranza said inclusion will also be open to outside networks for a fee. 4. Activating Nielsen and Arbitron research. Two leading research companies are developing statistics on the digital place-based media industry (see the recent Digital Screenmedia Association webinar), and it is the responsibility of the DPAA to make sure that information gets to agencies as part of their research process. DiFranza says the DPAA is working with several syndicated research firms, including Mediamark Research (MRI) to integrate questions about digital place-based media into upcoming research projects.Data found on the medium will go into databases that define the media-planning and media-buying tools for many ad agencies. MRI's Survey of the American Consumer, which should include some info about digital place-based media if all goes according to plan, will be released at the end of summer. 5. Another Digital Media Summit.The DPAA is planning another full-day summit on Wednesday, October 27, 2010, which will take place from 8 a.m to 6 p.m. at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City. Two years ago the group usedthis event to launch its Audience metrics guidelines. Last year the event was a half day, but I am told this year's event will be a full day. DiFranza said the seminars will be very case study-focused, with brands, not DPAA reps, doing most of the talking. 6. A new president. And last, but maybe most importantly, DiFranza said the DPAA has been actively searching for a new presidentsince the departure of Suzanne LaForgia to RMG last monthand plans to announce a new president by the end of this week. So, while it may seem that there hasn't been much out of the DPAA recently there may be a lot more to see when you search it on Google even by the end of this week. "We try not to publish information about initiatives until we have them done," DiFranza said. "In this industry, it's all about managing expectations and credibility."
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