User focus

In contrast with fundamental research, which is based on purely scientific criteria, the development of the new planning tool was carried out with a focus on the users.

The "SPR+ Expert" planning tool was developed in close cooperation with Mr. Florian Walz. Based on his previous position as an executive board member of the media agency Optimedia, where he was responsible for the outdoor advertising division. In view of his eight years of professional experience as a media consultant, he was assigned the key responsibility in the design and implementation of the neutral and provider-independent SPR+ planning tool.

To actively involve customers and agencies in the development process, a live presentation on the current status of the project was delivered for the first time in May 2006.
As of October 2006, SPR+ Expert will serve the market as a modern, real-world software tool making it possible to process the results of many years of research in a transparent way with mouse-click convenience. The tool is based on an integrated database for all F12 and F200 poster formats in Switzerland.

The concept for SPR+ Expert was developed in view of the requirements of the Swiss market, drawing on the expertise of all involved specialists and a large number of in-depth analyses. These included, in particular, intensive exploration of the strengths and weaknesses of outdoor advertising as a medium. While performance data serve primarily as a measure of the medium's quantitative performance, they cannot fully capture the unique position of outdoor advertising in the media environment and its special qualitative characteristics. The purpose of the new SPR+ Expert planning tool is to provide the user with the necessary support in dealing with these intricate mechanisms.

With respect to intermedia comparisons, for example, one problem is to define the advertising plant in outdoor advertising that can be compared with the other classical media. Is it the individual physical panel, or is it the space that comprises one or more individual panels, i.e. the target area? Only the latter is comparable with the performance data for instance of a print medium in which ads of various formats are presented.