The Web Summit ended on November 12 in Lisbon with 70,003 participants from 164 countries, according to the organization. JCDecaux Portugal, the official partner for the fifth consecutive year, says that it ensured exclusively the outdoor advertising campaign of the event in Greater Lisbon. The communiqués consulted leave two questions open: how many people the campaign reached and what their carbon footprint was. The total number of participants measures the size of the event. To estimate the audience of the ads, you need to know the media and the circulation with each one. Web Summit’s event report · JCDecaux Portugal’s announcement
From people passing by to estimated reach
The first step would be to gather the list of ad placements, their locations and the days the campaign was active. For a poster, it is interesting to know which face was occupied and for how long. For a shared screen, it is also important to know how many times the ad was displayed and at what times. A display log proves that the piece passed on the screen. To estimate how many people could see it, you need to cross that record with the audience data of the location.
The Portuguese panel PSE_OOH, certified by the Commission for Analysis of Media Studies (CAEM), provides coverage metrics and frequency for outdoor advertising. The coverage estimates how many different people have been reached. The average frequency estimates how many times each one has had the opportunity to see the campaign. Someone who goes through the same placement on the way to work and on the way home can generate two contacts, although it counts only once in coverage. PSE_OOH Panel · World Out of Home Organization Guidelines
A campaign linked to a congress also raises a question of timing. The circulation in the FIL area during the summit may differ from the usual standards. A report that uses the averages of the panel may be comparable to that of other campaigns. To see if it caught the variation of those days, it is appropriate to indicate that data was collected during the event and that values result from an estimate based on typical periods.
What goes into a campaign’s footprint
360 Footprint arrived in Portugal in September. JCDecaux’s calculator estimates emissions in CO2 equivalents, water consumption in cubic meters, local employment supported by full-time equivalents and value created in the economy. The company says that EY audited the methodology and that McDonald’s and Super Bock Group participated in the Portuguese tests. The program announced for the summit included a demonstration on November 11. The partnership statement does not provide an estimate for the Web Summit’s own campaign. Launch in Portugal · 360 Footprint Methodology
To compare a poster with a screen, it is interesting to know what steps enter the account. In a poster, production, transport and installation may weigh in total. On a shared screen, the difference may depend on how electricity is distributed among the ads and whether a part of the manufacturing footprint of the equipment is included. A report with these assumptions allows brands to compare proposals and understand what environmental costs can reduce in the plan itself.
Total footprint and footprint per thousand impressions
Imagine two hypothetical proposals for Lisbon in the same period. An estimated 180 kg of equivalent CO2 and 300,000 contacts. The other estimates 240 kg and 600,000 contacts. The first has the smallest total footprint. The second, with 0.4 kg per thousand contacts instead of 0.6 kg, has the smallest footprint per thousand. Before choosing, it is important to check whether the two suppliers have counted the contacts in the same way and whether the proposal with more contacts reaches more people or repeats the announcement with those who have seen it.
For a brand that wants to reach visitors to a congress, the map and schedules help to understand whether the placements are on routes visitors use. If the goal is to generate registrations, a short exclusive address of the campaign allows to count part of the visits and registrations associated with the piece. The measure covers who used this address. Other interested parties may have sought the event later, by another channel.
The most useful report for the next issue would add the inventory carried out, the estimated contacts, coverage and frequency, with the footprint calculated for the same set of ad placements. On this basis, the organizer would have the opportunity to evaluate concrete changes, such as moving advertisements to the paths with more visitors or reducing repetition in the areas already covered. It is a practical application of what should be included in a Media plan.