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Out of home advertising in the 21st century
Fri, 28 Sep 2012 10:34
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In the past few years, screens and digital billboards have
mushroomed across the streets, subways, shopping centres and
airports in all major cities around the world. Digital signage (DS)
represents a new medium and communication channel in its own
right. Understanding how it works and what effect it has on its
audience is essential to reap the greatest benefits from digital out of
home (DOOH) networks. Cities have had advertising or information
posters pasted in their walls for centuries and it has been a good
way of bringing a message to a vast number of people. But it has
always been difficult to know how much of an effect these have and
how good their return on investment is (ROI). DS has changed the
story.
DS is not television. In fact TV ads don’t work for DOOH. Neither
should it be used as an electronic way of posting a succession of static posters on a loop. The most effective DOOH
ads are the ones that include animation or video.
Finally, with today’s wide spread of mobile devices, the medium is no longer passive. QR codes, near Field
Communication (NFC) and image recognition allow audiences, and potential clients, to interact with the content. They
can take it with them if they want to, forward it to their friends through social media and also purchase. The
convergence of out of home technology, such as mobile devices and screens, is set to create new revenue streams
for virtual impulse buys.
DOOH inhabits spaces where it coexists with other traditional media. In fact many media owners take advantage of
this and use wraps, posters and digital screens to create a more of an impact. A good example of this is London’s
Euston Station, which includes over and underground transport. The site has nine billboard screens plus six sheet
posters and escalator screens. For some campaigns wall wraps are also used (see example bellow).
What DS offers that traditional advertising doesn’t is the ability to accompany its audience through out their commuter
journey, its daily routine or its shopping trip.
What is DOOH’s real impact?
Media owner Eye, which operates in transport, airports and shopping centres in the USA, Australia and the UK, has
carried out several studies to try and bridge the gap to understand how consumers respond to Out of Home
advertising. Using neuro science techniques they took a look inside consumers’ minds and measured their emotional
response to advertising.
Not surprisingly, the results show that different environments, formats and creative treatments have a profound impact
on how consumers think and feel about the brands advertised, which is key to influencing future buying behaviour.
For instance, certain brands can really benefit from using DS in airports. Eye survey unveiled that 52 per cent of
people say they have more time to shop and browse at the airport than they do when they are on the high street.
Fragrance buying is at the heart of the experience; 53% would not leave the airport without buying any and 60 per
cent are more likely to buy a new brand of fragrance at the airport than anywhere else. 72% of people agree the
airport is the right place to advertise beauty and grooming products.
Neuro Imaging also gave insight into how brands can create the most effective creative campaigns. The human brain
likes puzzles and stories; so having to put some work into solving a campaign, making the connection back to the
advertiser, means that the advertised brand is more likely to be committed to long term memory. And there is certainly
a growing trend to using interactivity to achieve this.
‘Airport Stories,’ a piece of research from JCDecaux one of the world’s largest outdoor advertising companies,
showed that airports are ideal places to spark the ‘touch dialogue.’ Respondents said they would like to see more
interactivity and opportunities to download to their mobiles. This is a great chance to establish interaction with the
screen and generate ‘talk media’, for example word-of-mouth recommendations. 91 per cent of respondents believe
that brands benefit from advertising at airports.
Airports are one example of a specific sector; retail, hospitality, corporate, have their own dynamics. In any case, how
does this influence and brand recall result in real sales? Historically it was believed that the customers’ experience on
their purchase process was like a funnel: they would start with a wide range of options, which then narrowed down
and resulted on the final buy. This is also known as the AIDA (Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action) model.
However, ‘The Customer Journey,’ a study carried out by the Outdoor Media Centre (OMC), a trade and marketing
body representing the interests of the outdoor advertising industry in the UK, found that this model no longer applies.
The purchasing process is not linear. The new path is convoluted with feedback loops. The decision to buy is
influenced, changed expanded and narrowed, by diverse stimuli and several times along the way. From online and
word-of-mouth to social media, they all play a role. Advertising media was found to be a more effective stimulus to
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2. purchase, with a higher share of effective encounters than non-media.
Digital technology encourages more than just higher engagement. It also offers higher frequency, thanks to its
flexibility and longer viewing, either because the person is attracted to the moving image or because of the repetition
of the ad though out the journey.
Me, us and the billboard
DOOH networks provide a social experience for oneself and for others around us. The content needs to be relevant,
timely – offered at the point of sale (retail) or point of wait (transport and airports). Good DOOH elevates the smart
lessons that online offers – using interaction and social networking – and make it even better. A good example of this
was the Lynx campaign using augmented reality for its ‘Lynx Excite Angel Ambush’ ad in London Victoria (you can
find it on YouTube).
This year, the UK National Centre for Domestic Violence (NCDV) launched an interactive billboard campaign called
‘Drag Him Away’ at Euston Station in London to raise awareness about how people can intervene to help put a stop
to domestic violence. Created by JWT London and produced by Grand Visual, the campaign, runs on JCDecaux’s
large format e-motion screens and encourages passers by to get involved in the advert by controlling the scene using
their mobile phone. The participant is able to control the characters by dragging the man away from the woman and
onto on that adjacent billboards. The screens then synchronise to urge people to report any domestic violence
situations to the NCDV so that they can intervene on the victim’s behalf.
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