Share of voice on a screen network
Share of voice on a screen network is the proportion of the available commercial plays a brand holds. It is arithmetic rather than a survey measure, which makes it one of the more checkable numbers in the channel.
It also means something different from share of voice in broadcast or digital, and the difference is worth being precise about.
How is it calculated?
Plays delivered to a brand, divided by total commercial plays across the screens and period in question. It can be expressed per screen, per store group or across a network.
The denominator matters. Share of voice across a whole network and share of voice in the stores a brand actually bought are different figures, and the second is the one describing the shopper's experience.
What does a high share of voice deliver?
Repetition within a visit and dominance of the screen's commercial content. In a short loop with few advertisers, a brand with a large share is close to the only message a shopper sees on that screen.
Whether that is valuable depends on the category and the message. Repetition within a single short visit has diminishing returns quickly, and beyond a point additional share buys presence rather than communication.
What does it not tell you?
Anything about attention or recall. A play is an opportunity, not an exposure, and share of voice measures opportunities. Treating it as a proxy for impact is the standard error in this metric wherever it is used.
It also says nothing about competitors outside the network. A brand with a dominant share of one store network may face heavy competitive weight in every other medium the same shopper encounters.
How does it compare across channels?
Poorly, and comparisons should be made with care. Share of voice in a fixed-location screen loop and share of voice in a national broadcast market are computed from different denominators against different audiences.
Where a comparison is needed, the honest version states both denominators rather than presenting one figure as though the concept were uniform.
What should a buyer check?
The denominator, the period, whether the figure is planned or delivered, and whether store content counts as commercial inventory. Four checks, and each can change the number substantially.
Delivered rather than planned is the important one. A planned share of voice is an intention, and playout logs can report what actually happened.
How does category exclusivity change it?
It raises effective share within the category to the maximum, which is usually the commercially relevant version. A brand with a modest overall share and complete category exclusivity may have a stronger position than the headline number suggests.
Ask whether exclusivity is offered, for how long, and at what level — network, store group or store.
What should appear in reporting?
Delivered plays, total commercial plays, and the resulting share, by store group. That is three columns and it makes the claim verifiable.
Frequently asked questions
Is share of voice the right planning metric?
It is a useful input and a poor sole objective, because it measures delivery rather than effect. Pairing it with a measured outcome is what turns it into something a plan can be judged on.
What share is enough?
There is no universal figure and be sceptical of one offered without reference to the loop, the dwell and the category. A share sufficient for one play per visit is a defensible threshold to reason from.
Does it include non-commercial content?
That depends on the network's definition, which is why the question matters. Including store content in the denominator lowers every advertiser's share and changes the comparison between offers.
Can share of voice be guaranteed?
Some networks guarantee a minimum and most sell a target. Understand which you are buying and what happens if delivery falls short.
How does it interact with dayparting?
A brand concentrated in one daypart has a high share during it and a low share overall. Reporting by daypart is what makes that visible and it is the more useful view for a brand with a time-shaped audience.
Is a higher share always worth paying for?
Not beyond the point of reliable exposure within a visit. The additional spend is usually better placed in more stores than in more plays in the same store.
What about competitor adjacency?
Share of voice does not describe adjacency, which is a separate policy question. A brand can hold a large share and still appear immediately after a direct competitor.
Does this concept exist in out-of-home generally?
Yes, with similar mechanics for digital formats. Industry practice in out-of-home measurement is discussed by bodies such as OAAA.
What is the cleanest way to compare two networks?
Delivered plays per store per day and the resulting share, on the stores you would actually buy. Headline share figures across different denominators compare very little.
### How should share of voice be used in a plan?
As a delivery specification rather than an objective. Stating the share to be delivered, by store group and daypart, makes the buy checkable against playout logs.
Pairing it with a store count gives the plan its two dimensions: how many places and how prominent in each. Most plans specify one and leave the other implicit.
Is share of voice comparable between networks?
Only where the denominators match, which they frequently do not. One network counting store content as inventory and another excluding it produce share figures that are not comparable even when the underlying delivery is similar.
### How does share of voice interact with store selection?
A high share in few stores and a low share in many are different campaigns with the same total plays. The first concentrates on a small audience; the second spreads across a larger one.
Deciding which shape suits the objective is the same reach-against-frequency decision that governs the rest of the plan, expressed in slot terms.
Should share be equal across stores?
Not necessarily. Concentrating share in the highest-potential stores is frequently better than spreading it evenly, and it requires store-level scheduling to execute.
How is it verified?
From playout logs: your plays divided by total commercial plays for the same screens and period. It is one of the few claims in this channel that can be checked exactly.
Considering NRS Digital Media? Start at nrsdigitalmedia.com, read the media deck, or contact the team.