OMA explains Move delay to agencies
The Outdoor Media Association has explained to agencies why they must wait longer for the new Move system, already five years in development.
In a Frequently Asked Questions document sent to the Media Federation of Australia’s (MFA) Outdoor Futures Council, the OMA said the system had been due to launch June 2 of this year.
“Following discussions with members, the Media Federation of Australia (MFA), and Outdoor Futures Council (OFC) we acknowledge this timing is too soon,” the FAQ read. “A new date has yet to be set.”
The fact that the new Move would be delayed had been flagged at the OMA’s Sydney conference last week. Many attendees had assumed the conference would act as the official debut of the system – previously known as Move 2.0 – but were disappointed to hear it would only be available for planning some time in 2026.
Elizabeth McIntyre
This timing was confirmed in the FAQ. Reasons for the delay were given as:
- OMA members only received the first batch of Move data in early March
- “All stakeholders need to be ready”
- Legal documents are not yet signed
- Training is important because the new system is so different from the old
Agency groups were understanding of the delay but somewhat mystified by the OMA conference timing. Magna managing director Lucy Formosa Morgan told Mumbrella the delay was reasonable because the new system was a “complete trend break in methodology”.
“The industry needs time to properly understand the changes, agree to the currency, and understand the impact of the new data before the switch is made,” Formosa Morgan said in an email. “What is not reasonable (or maybe it was naivety) is to announce a rushed launch and then backflip on that date post the launch event.”
“It felt a bit like an own goal unfortunately by the OMA.”
Lucy Formosa Morgan
The OMA said there were 300 billion rows of data in the Move database, and described the task of analysing them as “monumental”.
“With any major step forward, it’s only natural and necessary to pause, ask questions, and listen,” said the OMA in the FAQ. “We have been working with our members for five years on this project with significant investment and collaboration.”
“Agencies and members are currently working through their legal agreements. These are critical documents, and until they’re signed, we can’t provide access to the MOVE platform. Once the licencing agreements are in place, and members are confident with the data, we’ll work together on the next stages.”
The new Move system is based on a 5000 person tracking survey completed in 2022. The movements of those people have been extrapolated to a 2.2 million synthetic population, whose movements are modelled in regional and urban Australia. The predictions of this model are calibrated against independent real-world data sources.
The outputs of this data-heavy model are fine-grained engagement statistics for more than 160,000 outdoor advertising sites around the country.
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