Approaches

BT_Insight

GPS Tracking in Media

June 10, 2009

Posted by: Keith Betz in Stewardship

Most of us are familiar with GPS technology by now and have used it to find our way to an unfamiliar restaurant or the nearest gas station. But imagine being able to use GPS to track a media buy. Several out-of-home vendors are doing just that and it has our attention.

Once the planning and buying of your media campaign is over, the stewardship process begins. Part of this process is the evaluation of proof of performance, or POP as we media types refer to it. This is done to make sure that the advertiser received 100% of what they paid for. Historically, mobile vendors provided inadequate POP that often amounted to a few pictures and relying on the vendor’s word that the campaign ran as planned. GPS technology has now changed that.

Many of our mobile vendors now offer the ability to track in real-time via GPS. By simply logging-on to the vendor’s site with a provided username and password, we can verify where the trucks are driving and the planes are flying. If a mobile billboard driver heads out of market, we know. If a plane is grounded prematurely due to bad weather, we know. From the vendors perspective the GPS tracking units provide them with credibility, and from ours it provides accountability and the kind or POP that makes us certain our clients are getting what they’ve paid for.