Austrian Billboard Assessment (ABA)

In the year 2000 the Austrian Billboard Assessment produced the biggest revolution in the Austrian billboard landscape of the 20th century. Objective quality criteria with measurable media performance was created for the first time.

All billboard locations in Austria were surveyed, measured and assessed, regardless of company ownership, within the scope of ABA. The assessment considered the following parameters: Size of location, frequency, visibility and average speed of passers-by (vehicle, pedestrian, etc.). A mathematical formula was developed from these influencing factors to create the Billboard Value (BV) which when weighted provides the daily number of contacts as the basis for classifying quality. A location is assigned to a quality category on the basis of how many BV points it holds:

• Standard: Over 3200 BV (2900 BV in the western federal states for reasons of topography).
  Bundesländern aufgrund der Topographie).
• Select: Over 5500 BV
• Top: Over 10000 BV
• Star: Over 15000 BV

Star class was qualitatively further sub-divided:

• Star: Over 15000 BV
• Star Plus: Over 20000 BV
• Superstar: Over 30000 BV

Since 2005 an additional qualitative improvement was introduced to the Star class by implementing upper limits for locations in the different categories. In doing so the exclusivity of individual locations was further emphasised which in turn led to a further improvement in the quality of the board network. The ABA was and is a quantum leap: Absolute transparency in the price/performance ratio, improved ability to plan the use of resources and higher flexibility in planning and distribution.

All locations below the performance value of 2900 BV were radically removed from the market. Between 2000 and today the billboard network has been reduced by over 20% across Austria. Disinvestment, i.e. the removal of surfaces with low media performance as well as the modification of existing locations depending on changing traffic flows, will be continued on an ongoing basis. Every new planned location will be checked in advance with regard to its ABA efficiency. Construction will not take place beforehand.