Frequently Used Terms

8-Sheet Poster Panels | 30-Sheet Poster Panels | Bulletin

Frequently Used Terms
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30-Sheet Poster
A standardized poster format, typically measuring 12' x 25'.

8-Sheet Poster
A standardized poster format, typically measuring 6’ x 12’.

Allotment
The number of units required to achieve a desired GRP level in a market. Traditional poster panel showings consist of a quantity of illuminated and unilluminated displays that will vary by market size and population.

Audited circulation
The certification of traffic circulation. Nielsen Outdoor independently audits records and circulation data for outdoor advertising according to established national procedures approved by the buyer and seller community.

Billboard
Large format advertising displays intended for viewing from extended distances, generally more than 50 feet. Billboard displays include, but not limited to: 8-Sheets, 30-Sheets, vinyl-wraps and bulletins.

Bleed
Display area which extends beyond the Live Copy Area, often to the edge of the finished size.

Bulletin
The largest standardized outdoor format, typically measuring 10 1/2’ x 36’ and 14’ x 48’ in overall size. Sold either as permanent displays or in rotary packages.

Circulation
A measurement of traffic volume in a market.

Co-Op
The sharing of advertising costs between a manufacturer and distributor or dealer.

Copy
Artwork displayed on an outdoor unit.

Copy area
The viewing area on an outdoor unit.

Coverage
The boundaries of a market, the percentage of a county or counties exposed to an outdoor advertising campaign or the reach of the panels purchased.

CPM - Cost Per Thousand
The cost of reaching one thousand advertising exposure opportunities in a market.

Daily impressions
Also called DEC. The estimated number of persons passing an outdoor location on an average day.

DEC - Daily Effective Circulation
The average number of persons passing and potentially exposed to an advertising display for either 12 hours (unilluminated - 6:00am to 6:00pm) or 24 hours (illuminated - dusk to dawn).

Demographic profiles
Audience breakdowns based on various characteristics such as age, sex, income and education.

Distribution
The strategic placement of outdoor units across a market.

Efficiency
The degree of value delivered to an audience relative to its space cost. Usually expressed as either CPM (cost per thousand) or CPP (cost per gross rating point).

Embellishment
Letters, figures, mechanical devices or lighting that is attached to the face of an outdoor unit to create a special effect.

Exposure
The reasonable opportunities for advertising to be seen and read.

Extension
An area of copy made as a cut out that falls outside the basic restraints of a bulletin or premiere panel face.

Face
The surface area on an outdoor unit where advertising copy is displayed. A structure may have more than one face.

Facing
The cardinal direction that an outdoor unit faces. As an example, a north facing bulletin is viewed by vehicles traveling south.

Flight
The length of an advertising campaign, sometimes divided into distinct segments over the course of weeks.

Frequency
The average number of times an individual has the opportunity to see an advertising message during a defined period of time. Frequency in outdoor advertising is typically measured over a four week period.

Gross impressions
The sum of impressions registered against a target audience based on a GRP level of days or weeks in a schedule.

GRP - Gross Rating Point
The total number of impressions delivered by a media schedule expressed as a percentage of a market population. One rating point represents a circulation equal to 1% of the market population.

Illuminated
An outdoor unit equipped with lighting that provides night time illumination of an advertising message. Key-Ads illuminated units are 24 hour illuminated, dusk until midnight.

Impression
The number of people who have an opportunity to see an ad in a given period of time.

Line of sight
The simultaneous viewing of more than one outdoor unit.

Location list
A listing of all locations included in a specific outdoor program.

Media mix
The combination of media types used together to meet the objectives of a media plan.

Net reach
The total number of persons within the target audience exposed to the advertising schedule, often expressed as a percentage.

Official counts
The traffic counts taken from official (governmental) sources such as city, state or county departments of transportation.

OOH - Out Of Home
All advertising specifically intended to reach consumers outside the home.

Outdoor
The term refers to any form of media that carries advertising messages to consumer audiences outside the home. Outdoor products are divided among four primary categories: billboards, street furniture, transit and alternative media.

Override
The continuation of an outdoor advertising program beyond a contracted period. An override, if offered by an outdoor company, is provided at no additional cost to an advertiser.

Permanent bulletin
A bulletin that remains permanently located at a specified site throughout the term of a contract, usually for long periods. A permanent bulletin program can build strong brand recognition in specific market areas.

Photocell
Photoelectric cell; the light-sensitive component within a photosensor. The actual device might be a photodiode, a phototransistor, or a photoconductive cell. It is important to make a distinction between a photocell and a complete photosensor device. A photocell might be any device in which light controls the electron emission from a cathode, the electrical resistance of an element, or the electromotive force produced by a cell; it is usually incorporated in an electric circuit and used in mechanical devices such as door openers or home outdoor night lights.

Plant
All the outdoor advertising units in a market that are operated by a single company. Sometimes the term refers to the outdoor company itself.

Poster panel
An outdoor unit that can accommodate 30-sheet or 8-sheet poster displays.

Posting date
The date when a poster program is scheduled to commence. A ten day leeway is customary.

Posting instructions
Detailed directions provided to an outdoor company by an advertiser or agency assigning specific copy to specific locations.

Posting window
A window of ten working days after a scheduled posting date in which all contracted locations can be posted without penalty.

Pre-ride
An in-market field check of available panels to determine locations for a specific GRP/showing.

Proof-of-Performance
Certification by an outdoor company that contracted advertising services have been rendered.

Reach
The approximate percentage of a target audience’s population which will be potentially exposed to an advertising message at least once during a specified period of time. Reach is normally measured over four week periods.

Ride
The physical inspection of the units that comprise an outdoor program in a market - either pre-buy or post-buy.

Rotary bulletin
A standardized 10 ½’ X 36’ bulletin moved to different locations in a market at fixed intervals, every 60 days, to achieve greater reach in the market.

Showing
A level of delivery that directly relates to the population of the market. Typical showing levels are: #100, #75, #50 and #25 GPR/Showings. The number of panels involved in an actual showing varies by market depending on the total market population and the average DEC of the market’s inventory.

Sign
Any structure used to display information regarding a product or service. An outdoor unit is a sign.

Snipe
An adhesive strip that is used to cover a portion of copy displayed on an outdoor unit.

Spotted map
A map showing all locations included in a specific outdoor program.

Standardized unit
Outdoor units constructed in accordance with the specifications established by the OAAA.

Substrate
The material on which the design is printed. (i.e. could be paper, vinyl, pressure sensitive vinyl, etc.)

Surface arterials
Major streets in towns or cities that carry a heavy flow of vehicular traffic.

Target audience
The profile of the most desired consumer prospects for a product or service, listed by characteristics such as geography, lifestyle, brand or media consumption and purchase behavior.

Traffic audit
The third party verification of traffic circulation in a market. Traffic audit information is used to calculate outdoor advertising DEC figures.

Traffic count
The recording of the vehicles and pedestrians passing a given point; used by used by Nielsen Outdoor to authenticate the potential exposure of outdoor advertising structures.

Traffic origin
Research which provides advertisers with information about the audience passing outdoor advertising structures, not just those in immediate vicinity of the individual location. Collected license plate data are correlated with residence data and demographics to pinpoint the origin and destinations of persons having potential exposure to outdoor advertising.

Tri-Vision
An outdoor unit with a slatted face that allows three different copy messages to revolve at intermittent intervals.

Unilluminated unit
An outdoor unit that has not been equipped with lighting for nighttime illumination of an advertising message. The DEC for an unilluminated unit is calculated using a 12 hour viewing period.

Unit
Any outdoor advertising display.

Vinyl
A single-sheet substrate on which an advertising message is rendered by computer production. Vinyl is primarily used on the face of bulletins & Premiere products.

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