Why we don't sell impressions to your CMO
Most mobile-billboard agencies will tell you they delivered "200,000 impressions" on your weekend route. They got that number by multiplying GPS path length × an industry-published per-mile factor × some daypart fudge.
It's not lying, exactly. It's just upholstery. Padding the unit so the invoice feels honest.
What we report instead
Three numbers, every campaign:
- Verified impressions — GPS-tracked routes × city DOT pedestrian/vehicle counts × time-of-day multipliers, dedup'd against repeat exposures.
- Effective CPM — your spend / (verified impressions / 1,000). Comparable to any other channel.
- Route map + heatmap — every mile, every minute, every daypart. We hand it over with the invoice.
Why this matters to your CMO
Because the question isn't "did we move metal." The question is "can the brand-side team defend this number to finance in three weeks." If your number is built on a multiplier nobody can show, finance will pull the budget at the next planning cycle.
If we can't show how we got the number, we don't put it on the invoice.
Two of our biggest accounts switched to us specifically because the prior agency couldn't reproduce their own numbers. That's a low bar. We're trying to clear it on principle.
What to ask any mobile OOH vendor
- What's the per-impression methodology, in writing?
- Can I see the GPS log, not just the summary?
- What's the dedup window for repeat exposures?
- Are dayparts weighted, and how?
If they can't answer all four — and quickly — pass.
If you want a teardown of how we'd report your specific category, book a 15-min call. We'll walk through it with a peer-category receipt.
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One field report per week. Operator voice. Real numbers.