Market urges Postar to expand

The sector's measurement body, Postar, covers only a small number of outdoor sites. Huge sectors, such as rail, retail, buses and the entire London Underground network, are not measured.

So the challenges facing incoming Postar managing director James Whitmore, the former MD of Mediaedge:cia and more recently a partner in strategic planning agency Experience, are enormous.

He replaces Helen Tridgell who quit in August after five years at the helm.

Praise for the methodology and rigour of Postar's audience measurement system is almost universal. The problem is not with the part that's measured but the part that's not. Postar is committed to fixing this, starting with measurement of posters on the Tube, which are due to go live online next month.

New appointment

Furthermore, media buyers have largely welcomed Whitmore's appointment. Steve Parker, UK buying director for Starcom, says: "For Postar to have someone from a strong agency background is very good because he has a good understanding of what agencies want, as well as standards in methodology and research."

And on the media owner side, David McEvoy, marketing director at JCDecaux, who sits on the methodology committee at Postar, says Whitmore's appointment is "a good signal that Postar is committed to becoming more relevant to planners and buyers".

McEvoy adds that Whitmore has strong credentials in outdoor advertising and played a key role in Colgate's award winning outdoor campaigns during his time at Mediaedge:cia.

As for the man himself, Whitmore believes he has a good understanding of outdoor, but adds that he does not believe this is particularly relevant. "I was hired not because of specialist outdoor knowledge but, I hope, because of my understanding of the broader communications world and outdoor within it," says Whitmore.

His first priority will be broadening the scope of Postar to make it more comprehensive, speeding up the process of bringing other locations and formats, such as rail, buses and retail, under the Postar umbrella.

Once that is in place, Whitmore says he will turn his attention to the depth of the survey, looking at the detail of information provided on audience demographic and engagement.

"Then we have to think about the world and the future and the way communications are working to make sure we are measuring what people want measured. I don't know the answers, but it would be remiss not to look at what the future might hold."

Whitmore also wants to ensure Postar is relevant, not just for outdoor specialists, but for the wider media community. "We need to get the currency part of everyday lives for people planning communications, and make it more widely used and more accessible," he adds.

His final priority is to ensure good management of the internal processes and the small staff contingent at Postar.

Media owners and agencies have a similar wish list, but they also want Postar to spend more time wooing agencies. Alan James, chief executive of the Outdoor Advertising Association, says Postar needs to raise its profile. "It needs to be taken out more to the media world," he says. "It's not been marketed too well in the past."

Starcom's Parker says Postar has done a great deal of work in the past six months, overhauling its site classification, pinpointing location using GPS and reassessing traffic counts, but this is little known in mainstream media agencies.

"Postar could do itself some favours by getting out and talking about that," Parker says.

"I would like someone from Postar to come and give me their vision for audience measurement in the new digital age."

System limitations

This view is backed by Charlie Varley, managing partner at Walker Media, who says he has "no visibility whatsoever" of Postar, despite the fact that Walker is a heavy user of outdoor, especially for its retail clients, such as Marks & Spencer.

Varley adds that this has not inhibited his ability to recommend the medium because he has the benefit of good advice from the specialists at Posterscope. Nor does he believe that the limitations of Postar's measurement system has harmed the medium.

"Look at outdoor's growth over the last five years," Varley says. "Has a lack of a single measurement system inhibited outdoor's growth? The answer is no."

Be that as it may, the clamour from advertisers and agencies for Postar to lift its game is growing louder. It looks like Whitmore has his work cut out for him.

Three challenges for Postar

? Broaden its measurement to include the Tube, rail, buses and retail

? Deepen the research to provide greater insight into audience demographics and engagement

? Reach out to agencies and raise profile of Postar in wider media world