Billboard Insider recently talked to Gravy Analytics CEO Jeff White about how consumer behavior is changing post covid and what he thinks of the proposed move from likehood-to-see to opportunity-to-see impressions.

What does Gravy Analytics do and how does it help out of home advertising companies?

At Gravy Analytics, we believe that where you go is who you are. We give businesses, advertisers and researchers insight into true, on-the-ground consumer analytics built on location intelligence derived from verified mobility data. With these insights, advertisers can better understand who their target audience should be, what they desire, who they are, and how they respond. The analysis we do uses data built on aggregated, pseudonymous mobile location signals to measure consumer activity at a certain place or event and determine whether or not they are the right audience for an advertiser’s goals.

Out of home advertising based on location intelligence gives a real-world view of the customer and the impact of the advertising in question. With location intelligence, OOH advertisers can predict where they’re most likely to reach their target audience and how many impressions an ad received (as well as who saw it). It can even help attribute in-store purchases to the ad and its location. With these capabilities, advertisers can get a headstart in knowing where to place ads for maximum visibility and how to adjust ad messaging to resonate with audiences.

What sectors are you seeing the greatest increase in foot traffic?  What sectors are still lagging?

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed so much about where people live and how they move through the world. The National Association of Realtors estimates that 8.9 million people moved between the start of the pandemic and October 2020, mostly from cities to suburbs with new work from home policies pointing toward a hybrid workforce future. Entire lives have changed, along with consumer tastes and priorities.

While many consumers have become more comfortable with leaving home with the increasing vaccination rate, we are seeing a shift to options in every category that are less populated and offer more outdoor experiences as we enter the second (and hopefully last) year of this pandemic.

Sectors that are seeing the strongest foot traffic recovery reflect this: entertainment options that offer social distancing and movement like zoos and museums are faring much better than crowded, static options like movie theaters and concert venues. We’ve seen more travelers stay closer to home to avoid airports and train stations, with increasing foot traffic to more private travel options like rental car businesses and gas stations. People have also picked up new projects and hobbies while staying home, reflected in increased foot traffic to craft and hardware stores.

What’s your take on the recent OAAA announcement about the shift to an impressions based measurement system which uses opportunity to see criteria versus likelihood to see criteria?

In the past, digital out of home advertising used to be “downtown is heavily populated, let’s put a billboard or a bus-stop advertisement there!” In 2021, we can think about these decisions with much more intelligence. Consumers are constantly being bombarded with ads on social media or their favorite websites; how can you compete with that? Not only this, but in many states, cities and streets that were once teeming with people are still ghost towns. Foot traffic is coming back, yes, but at very different rates in different places. There’s no guarantee that your digital billboard will be seen by the people you want to see it.

Talking about out of home advertising in terms of impressions is familiar to marketers who are digital natives and might not have considered billboard advertising in the past. When you think about it, isn’t a digital billboard overlooking a town center just a bigger version of the laptop in your home? It makes sense to measure exposure to out of home ads in the same way that online advertising is measured, and through technology, to make it dynamic enough to account for (and adjust to) constantly changing consumer behavior in the real world.

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