Motionworks Methodology
People, Places & Paths
One Unified Framework
Why multiple panels matter, and how they work together to deliver true audience insight. The independent foundation for OOH measurement, connecting places, paths, and people into a flexible, privacy-compliant framework built to evolve.
The Foundation
A framework built to endure.
Motionworks was born from the Out-of-Home industry's need for an audience intelligence framework that could evolve as data, technology, and demand evolved.
We have always been focused on the Out-of-Home industry, and have developed a deep understanding of every facet of it, from operating and selling inventory to creating and buying media plans. We uniquely understand the needs of OOH as we build the audience intelligence framework that supports it.
The framework ensures continuity through data-policy shifts (MODPA, COPPA, GDPR) or data-source shifts (Apple, Google, Meta privacy programs) by combining redundant, cross-validated panels that dynamically complement one another. A system designed to flex, not fail when faced with these shifts.
Our adaptability is evident in how the framework has evolved: from a single media category to producing monthly impressions for over one million assets; introducing roadside granularity in response to pandemic-era mobility shifts; pioneering cross-category reach and frequency modeling that enables OOH campaign measurement and integration into media-mix modeling.
Today, Motionworks provides the independent foundation for OOH measurement, connecting places, paths, and people into a flexible, privacy-compliant, continuously improving framework that evolves with every new signal, standard, and opportunity ahead.
Tenet 01
Data Source Interchangeability
Dynamically adjusts inputs as new sources become available and as legacy sources sunset.
Tenet 02
Synthetic Population Backbone
Continuity through privacy-safe scaling. Every observation maps to a synthetic person rooted in census-weighted population estimates.
Tenet 03
Cross-Panel Reinforcement
Macro, Micro, and Vehicular panels fill one another's gaps. No single source dependency.
Core Methodology
People, Places & Paths in motion.
Motionworks operates as an audience intelligence company, not a data aggregator. We transform raw mobility signals into statistically valid audience intelligence through engineering, modeling, calibration, and data governance.
Our framework connects people to places through paths, integrating multiple perspectives of movement into a single, deduplicated view of the audience.
When it comes to understanding audiences, one question always comes up: "Why does Motionworks create and use multiple panels for its products, and why does it matter?"
Many data providers lean on a single dataset, stretching it to fit every scenario. That shortcut creates blind spots: weak coverage in some geographies, fuzzy dwell times, or trip patterns that don't match reality. Even providers bringing massive streams of data, like sensor grids or national telco feeds, can't solve the problem with scale alone. Without complementary panels working together, the outputs still break down.
Places explain why paths exist. Paths explain how places get visited. The panels bridge both back to the real population.
Value 01
A unified audience intelligence framework resilient to fluctuations.
Value 02
A flexible methodology built to evolve with industry needs.
Value 03
Continuity of output necessary to support a stable industry currency.
Real-World Application
From 2 billion to 400 million. Multi-panel continuity.
The Motionworks Panel represents approximately 400 million qualified devices derived from a raw universe of about 2 billion. Devices are filtered through behavioral, temporal, and geographic consistency tests to ensure they reflect persistent human movement.
Raw universe
~2B
Devices in source feed
Multi-source raw mobility feed. Signal diversity, no quality guarantee.
Qualified
~400M
Motionworks Panel
Signal-verified, quality-filtered, classified, and weighted to census-anchored population.
Output
3
Unified dimensions
People, Places, and Paths from one framework. Deduplicated reach and frequency across formats.
Illustrative Case · 7-Eleven
Data continuity at a single location
Individual site-specific data gaps are inevitable at the scale of millions of locations. Imagine a 7-Eleven temporarily losing visibility for a week due to a data source change. The framework doesn't break, it compensates.
- Historical Trends Multi-year visitation history at the same 7-Eleven guides expected activity levels. Baselines extend back to 2019.
- Category Cohorts Other 7-Elevens and convenience stores provide behavioral benchmarks. Cross-location correlations across thousands of sites nationwide.
- Vehicular Panel Confirms parking-lot and frontage-road proximity movement when place visibility drops.
- Macro + Micro Panels Synthetic population modeling ensures consistent reach and frequency even when one feed is interrupted.
Panel Deep-Dive
Three layers working together.
Macro, Micro, and Vehicular. Each panel is engineered for a specific role. Together, they fuse into a single system that delivers what no individual panel can.
Panel · Macro
Scale + representativeness
A large, diverse sample of devices that combines volume with resolution, enabling statistically reliable insights across trip frequency, distance, and purpose for any market or time period.
Inclusion criteria
- Valid household type appropriately weighted for demographic representation
- Observable for an average of eight or more hours per day
- Active all seven days of the week
- Valid trip behavior, excluding devices that are stationary, spoofed, or erratic
Panel · Micro
High-resolution longitudinal
The high-fidelity subset that delivers precision and consistency over time. Persistent, high-visibility devices that mirror real population movement and behavioral repetition.
Inclusion criteria
- Already present in the Macro or Vehicular Panel
- Sustained visibility and consistency across locations and time
- Persistent identifiers, often opt-in or long-lived signals
- Algorithmic selection thresholds applied continuously
Panel · Vehicular
Navigation-grade precision
Connected-car feeds with comprehensive road network coverage, anchored to permanent counter-based ground truth and enhanced by machine learning.
Inclusion criteria
- Comprehensive road network coverage, including rural and low-volume segments
- Validated penetration averaging 27% of registered U.S. vehicles
- Inferred partial trips filtered; complete routes include origin and destination
By the Numbers
The panel stack.
Where each layer sits, what it covers, and how it contributes.
| Panel | Primary input | Key strengths | Qualified devices | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source Feed | Multi-source raw mobility | Signal diversity | ~2B devices | — |
| Motionworks Panel | Signal-verified, quality-filtered | Classified, verified, weighted | ~400M | ~30% of U.S. adults |
| Macro Panel | Place-level behavioral | Demographic, household | ~40M | ~5% of U.S. adults |
| Micro Panel | Campaign measurement | High density + persistence | ~10M | <1% of U.S. adults |
| Vehicular Panel | Traffic volume by road and hour | Matched road network | ~65M | ~27% of U.S. vehicles |
Panels reinforce each other. Advancements in one strengthen all three. Resilient and fault-tolerant: no single source dependency. Future-proof: as new opt-in, sensor, telco, or mobility feeds expand, output only gets stronger. Protected from disruption: no over-reliance on any one source insulates against commercial, legislative, or technology shocks to inputs.
Unified Output
From framework to output.
Once unified, the methodology produces insights across three dimensions. Together, they describe who moves, where they go, and how they get there.
Population
Where people spend time, their demographics, behaviors, and movement patterns.
Places
A detailed profile for every point of interest. Who visits, when they arrive, how long they stay.
Paths
A profile of every road segment. Who travels, where they go, when movement occurs.
How they work together
- Population + Places Who goes to each location, when, and how often.
- Population + Paths How audiences travel between exposures.
- Places + Paths Venue and roadside activity connected. Unified frequency and deduplicated reach across media types.
One person, one audience count. Deduplicated across roadside, retail, and place-based screens. Without population panels, places and paths are just shapes on a map. Motionworks brings them to life, defining who, how often, and how consistently people experience campaigns, regardless of format or environment.
The Motionworks panels are the bridge: they connect the abstract geometry of places and paths to the real-world population we're trying to measure. Because the panels reinforce one another, Motionworks is uniquely fault-tolerant, resilient, and future-proof.
One framework. Three panels. Three outputs. Unified intelligence.