Dive Brief:

• Vistar Media announced a measurement solution that was piloted by Toyota and which combines offline and online data to measure ROI on out-of-home spending, per a press release made available to Marketing Dive. Early results among auto brands shows a 12% lift in vehicle purchases after consumers are exposed to out-of-home media. 
• The solution taps the automotive industry's IHS Market database of 130 million households along with online intent data from 3,000 automaker and third-party websites to create a closed loop sales lift measurement.
• The measurement came from client requests to solve a “physical-world signals” blind spot as auto marketers already understood which online behaviors indicate when a consumer is looking to buy a car, said Michael Provenzano, CEO and co-founder of Vistar Media, in the press release. The geospatial technology behind the solution analyzes movement of in-market households to target out-of-home marketing where those households are likely to be throughout the day.

Dive Insight:

Vistar's solution is an attempt to address marketers' interest in omnichannel marketing strategies. In particular, automakers and car dealerships recognize that consumers are already conducting much of their research online. The gap has been in determining whether traditional media like out-of-home ads is effective at spurring consumers into a dealership whose online behavior suggests they are in the market for a new car. 

Toyota, one of the first to pilot the solution, leveraged it for a national campaign driving awareness for its annual August Sales Event last August to support the automaker’s RAV4, Corolla, Tundra, Camry, Prius, Avalon, and Sienna models. The solution enabled the brand to understand where and when to place its OOH media buy to reach the highest density of potential customers on-the-go. 

Being able to combine offline and online marketing measurement is valuable to marketers with the rise of mobile marketing. Mobile devices have effectively bridged the gap between online and physical marketing now that marketers can use geotargeting for personalized advertising and messaging to reach consumers. This ability has given rise to a new importance of the traditional out-of-home channel such as billboards and other advertising media.

Vistar Media's technology is the latest example of progress in pairing offline measurement with online behavior to close the loop on the impact of ads.