A new mapping tool launched this week by the Out-of-Home Marketing Association of Canada (OMAC) aims to help advertisers better plan OOH media. The interactive map is accessible on the OMAC website, and includes the Toronto-based association’s 10 member companies and their products.

‘It’s essentially meant to help advertising agencies get a good idea of market coverage in a particular area,’ says Jacqueline Demchuk, OMAC marketing and communications director.

The map’s features allow users to zoom into a particular intersection at the arterial road level, and to layer OOH products in that location. ‘So you can have a CBS Outdoor poster and an Astral super board on the same map,’ Demchuk tells MiC. Some details, for instance for Metromedia Plus, are as specific as the name of a particular subway station that pops up with a scroll over the icon.

Maps are available for Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and Montreal markets, reflecting inventory as of January 2009. It will be updated to the bi-annual release of Canadian Out-of-Home Measuring Bureau’s Market data report. The technology, which uses the Microsoft Virtual Earth engine for map generation, was developed by Niagara Falls-based tech solutions company Delcan. The project took about six months to complete.

The OOH industry experienced 8.5% growth in 2008 over 2007 according to Nielsen data, and OMAC members (Astral Outdoor, Zoom Media, CBS Outdoor, Captivate Network, Lamar Transit Advertising, Metromedia Plus, Newad, Outdoor Broadcast Network, Pattison Outdoor and Titan Worldwide) continue to expand their product offerings. OMAC has hired new staff in Toronto and Montreal to support and promote its nationwide OOH initiatives.