Traditional outdoor companies have been bringing the digital element to their products for years. The same benefits that advertisers enjoy with digital place-based products – such as shorter turn-around times and lower production costs, are available with traditional media like billboards, bus shelters, newsstands and transit.

Benefits of the medium:

One of the benefits of using digital as an advertising medium is the ability to “narrowcast” by reaching very targeted audiences. However, there is still a need to reach the “masses,” and that has always been an advantage of traditional outdoor advertising. Billboards, street furniture and transit advertising can still target the commuters driving into the city and walking around in the high pedestrian areas.

Digital traditional outdoor products provide increased availability in the more desirable market areas that may have typically been sold out. Other benefits include creative flexibility, social media integration and little or no production cost. An advertiser can also change messaging throughout the day, making the ads more relevant to the consumer.

The ability to create intimate messaging and two-way communication through the use of electronic devices and social media creates added value and engagement. Digital creative makes turnaround and planning time shorter and more cost effective.

How it is used:

Traditional outdoor companies employ different sales strategies for this category. Some sell digital products as a network. For example, a company that has thirty digital billboards in a market might sell them as three 10-unit networks. Other companies may sell digital assets individually to help provide more availability in areas that are quickly sold out. You can find out how companies sell these products by viewing the Pricing / Impressions tab under any Product Profile on DOmedia.

These types of sales strategies can provide an advertiser with the chance to be seen “everywhere” in the market. They provide both reach and frequency with a lower CPM akin to traditional inventory. For instance, if a client buys ten units targeting morning traffic on a daily basis, there is a high opportunity for a large audience to see your message each day.

An advertiser can also use the traditional formats to make an impact. For instance, in addition to the high profile displays available in all markets, many markets have areas providing bigger screen opportunities in high pedestrian areas. New York, Las Vegas, and Phoenix are just a few of the markets providing these opportunities.

How it is measured:

The Traffic Audit Bureau measures traditional fixed outdoor inventory (billboards and street furniture). Look for transit to be measured by TAB in the near future. In the meantime, traffic venue numbers for airports and bus and train stations are typically used. Also, ridership data can be used for advertising inside the trains and buses.

Markets available:

In recent years, large traditional outdoor companies have been very aggressive in building out their digital inventory. There aren’t many markets left that do not have digital billboards. Not only are we seeing growth geographically across the US for digital bulletins and posters, but also for other traditional formats. In major cities, you can find digital displays on bus shelters, newsstands, and buses.

New Technology:

Over the years, improved digital display technology has allowed for much higher-quality creative executions. The technological advances are apparent in the use of creative elements, for instance, advertisers can choose to display current headlines, flavor of the day, mortgage rate updates, etc.

New technology has also allowed for social media campaigns, two-way communication, audio and interactive campaigns. There is also technology available that allows for creative to be changed as popular items are being sold. “Wisdom of the Crowd” is a technique allowing store inventory systems to “decide” which items will be displayed on the creative execution.

Some of the new technology even allows for interactive displays as well as measurement of shopper engagement. An advertiser can find out who actually looked at the displays, the percentage of shoppers who were engaged, and even when the customer (time/day) looked at the ad message.

Who provides the products:

ABC Regional Sports & Entertainment Sales
American Outdoor Advertising
Asian Targeted Media, Inc.
Atlantic Sign Media
Border Billboard
CBS Outdoor
City Reach, Inc.
Clear Channel Outdoor
DDI Media
Digital Spectaculars
Emerald Outdoor
Fourpoints Communications
Jersey / Premier Outdoor Media
Kessler Outdoor Advertising
Key-Ads Outdoor Advertising
Lamar Advertising
Las Vegas Billboards
McIntrye Outdoor Advertising
NextMedia Outdoor
Reeves Media
YESCO

Search DOmedia, the largest out-of-home advertising marketplace with inventory information from over 500 media sellers, to find the right company for your next traditional, digital or alternative out of home advertising campaign today.

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For the launch of the new 4-door MINI Countryman, the company took more of an interactive approach, actually getting consumers involved in the advertisement. Over the summer, replicas of the new car made special appearances in shopping centers, stations and streets around the UK. The challenge: how many people can you fit in a MINI? And although the cars looked packed to the brim with crammed-in people gasping for air, they were, in fact, empty.

So how did they do it? Using video cameras inside the MINIs, passersby could take the challenge, packing as many people as possible into the car while recording the whole scene. Then, the footage was projected onto the inside of the MINI, as if the challengers were still inside. Participants could then share the video with friends via Facebook.

Remember some of MINI’s other executions the past few years, some of which landed them in the 2010 OBIE Awards Hall of Fame and as finalists for AdWeek’s Best Out-of-Home Ad of the Decade?

The campaign for MINI Clubman also made it as a finalist for the 2009 Out-of-Home Media Plan Awards.

From the beginning, the issue has been one of raising awareness, change, and funds to help local residents. To do this, Adams Outdoor Advertising used the power of OOH media to bring the situation into daily conversations. Using their own billboards, they posted creative showing a sad face with eyes made of shrimp and a mouth made of an oily brushstroke. Not only is the ad effective in getting your attention, it also brings the realization that the spill touched everyone in the area… especially those fishermen whose livelihoods depend on ocean life.

On the other side of the spectrum, Patron Tequila took a fun approach to raising money for Gulf residents. The St. Bernard Project partnered with The Patron Spirits Company to create the “Patrón Tequila Epicurean Express,” a restored 1927 train car that toured the country, stopping for two nights in select cities. In exchange for donations, people could board the train for a cocktail party the first night, while big spenders were also invited to a gourmet dinner the second night.

Other areas of the Coast, such as the Florida Panhandle, are finding creative ways to lure tourists back to the area they claim is unaffected by the spill. And what better way to inform people that your vacation destination is as oil-free as ever than to show them? VP of marketing for the Panama City Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau, for example, is using digital billboards to post images of the pristine beaches she snapped using her iPhone. The images are then displayed alongside messages like “Our Coast is Clear” and “Wish you were here.”

This summer marks the beginning of an exciting & life-changing annual fundraiser here in Columbus, Ohio. Pelotonia, founded and funded by NetJets, is the grass roots bike tour raising money for cancer research at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute. In fact, 100% of funds raised go directly to cancer research at The James!

So what does this have to do with out-of-home advertising? In a (successful) attempt to get its message out to the community, Pelotonia literally dominated the out-of-home industry here in Columbus using media ranging from empty storefront ads and floor graphics to street furniture and digital signage. Ads were placed along busy highways, around the Ohio State University campus area (home to thousands of students & businesses), and the Arena District (home to many young — and young-at-heart — professionals and businesses, not to mention our Columbus Clippers baseball team & Columbus Blue Jackets hockey team).

The most impressive of all, perhaps, is the domination of the Columbus airport by Pelotonia & The James. The images below explain the campaign’s effectiveness better than words. Quality, quantity and, most of all, creativity made this effort impossible to miss.

The bike tour takes place this weekend, consisting of four routes spanning 25, 50, 100 and 180 miles. Over 2,100 people have committed to riding–including Lance Armstrong!

If you’re interested in contributing, please check out our DOmedia peloton where you can donate to our ride up until October 31st. Every donation helps!

As many already know, this week marks the 56th Annual Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, the largest competition for advertising creativity in the world. And new this year: judges are focusing more on actual business results of the entries instead of relying on creativity alone.

This week, a trend revealed itself among the Outdoor Lions winners, a trend that appears to represent the out-of-home industry as a whole. In past years, traditional out-of-home–such as billboards and street furniture–has dominated the winner’s pedestal. But the times are changing.

Out-of-home advertising used to refer mainly to one type: traditional forms. But that’s before the introduction of digital screens and internet access for the masses. If this year’s Outdoor Lions revealed anything, it’s that out-of-home isn’t what it used to be. What was once limited to a static, one-way message is continuously evolving into an interactive experience that not only targets an audience, but involves them as well.

The Outdoor Grand Prix runner-up (that only lost by 1 vote), the “Dig Out Your Soul” campaign promoting Oasis’ new CD, included street musicians performing some of the album’s unreleased tracks in the subway stations of NYC. It was creative, innovative, and got people’s attention. By utilizing the outdoor space like they did, the campaign grew exponentially when passersby began taking pictures and videos, later posting them on the internet and sharing them with friends and family.

Another interesting entry was HBO’s Big Love interactive billboard which won a Gold Lion. According to the entry’s presentation board,

“Everyone has something to hide. HBO’s show Big Love is about a large polygamous family leading complex lives full of deception and lies. To promote it, we developed interactive audio billboards featuring everyday people (not characters from the show) with jacks built into their heads. You could use your headphones (or ones handed out by our street teams) to plug in and hear their secret thoughts. These ranged from alcoholism to gambling addiction to an overweight man who wears a slimming girdle to a woman who secretly hates her baby and what it’s done to her life. The boards also featured a jack by the logo with a promo of the clips from the new season.”

What used to be an industry centered around billboards with one-way messaging has now become one in which limitations have all but dissolved. This year’s Cannes Lions winners & runners-up redefine out-of-home as we know it by developing innovative campaigns capable of interacting with consumers.

And it isn’t going unnoticed. In response, Ad Age recently introduced the first annual Art of Outdoor special report which highlights the most creative out-of-home campaigns from around the world. The report brings a whole new light to the industry, looking at OOH as artistic innovation capable of engaging mass audiences with a simple, well-chosen message & corresponding image. Simple, but effective.

Check out the recent Ad Age article, “Celebrating the Renaissance of Out-of-Home Advertising,” which includes a slide show of their top choice campaigns. I just love the Chevy Volt Concept car ad . . . talk about the “big picture.” It’s a perfect example of using a simple message and powerful image to get a point across.

McDonald’s had a strong advertising campaign, winning two separate awards for both their “Always Fresh Coffee” and “Fresh Daily Eggs” billboards.  The first of the two shown high above Time’s Square, a spout continuously pouring fresh coffee into a cup several stories below (I wonder where all the coffee goes after making its big NYC debut . . . ).  The second involved a large egg that cracked open at 6:00 a.m.–when they begin serving breakfast–to reveal an over-easy egg, but closed again at 11:00 a.m. when breakfast ends. Between the two billboards, Leo Burnett Chicago took home two “Individual Execution- Traditional Billboard” awards as well as recognition for their Special F/X.

Another interesting use of out-of-home came from BBDO New York & Proximity Canada for Gillette Fusion Power, which took home the OBIE Award for “Individual Execution- Street Furniture / Transit / Alternative.”  As seen in the pic below, the agencies made creative use of a zamboni by attaching a larger-than-life Gillette razor to the back of it as it swept across the ice.

One of the more interactive campaigns came from Leo Burnett Toronto for James Ready Beer who vows to try to keep their prices at $1 a beer.  To do so, they needed to lower billboard costs and decided to look to their consumers for help.  By offering up their billboards, consumers became “celebrities for the day” by sending in pictures to be posted on the giant signs.  Underneath the images read, “Thanks ____ for keeping J.R. a Buck.”  Consumers and judges alike loved the campaign, awarding them “Best of Show” and “International.”  Click here to see the YouTube video.

All of this year’s award winners show that creativity and innovation in the out-of-home advertising industry are still on the rise.  To find more information on the rest of this year’s OBIE Award winners, go to the OAAA website at http://www.oaaa.org/awards/obieawards.aspx.

“F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin,” the newest computer game from Warner Bros. with a horror theme, launched its new London promotion on Friday the 13th using the very symbol for bad luck—black cats.  While most people avoid black cats crossing their paths, it was nearly impossible in the streets of London on the day known for its superstition.  The little feline billboards were dressed in miniature clothing adorned with advertising for the game and then set loose to wreak havoc through the city.  And according to Charlene Allen, a Warner Bros. spokesperson, Brits actually seek out signs of bad luck on Friday the 13th, making the promotion that much more effective.

The “F.E.A.R.” kitty clothes were being sold through Warner Bros. for fashionable cats across the country, but have unfortunately sold out.

Australia’s Outdoor Media Association has launched a creative outdoor campaign–for a contest rewarding creative outdoor campaigns.  The newly created contest, called The Outdoor Awards, will judge the year’s best outdoor advertisements across 11 categories.

Every year, the best creative work will win a prize valued at $10,000.  This year, however, the association is striving to show the effectiveness of outdoor advertising by producing the prize in the form of a billboard—covered in 10,000 $1 scratch-off lottery tickets!  The billboard, which is heavily guarded 24 hours a day (so don’t even think about it!), is located on the side of a Sydney road where 100,000 cars pass every day.

The launch of The Outdoor Awards campaign actually began in October when OMA utilized yet another OOH medium.  For 40 days, a mobile billboard truck was driven over 10,000 km in Australia.  The message displayed on the truck was simple and to the point: “THE OUTDOOR AWARDS ARE COMING”.

With their lone billboard, OMA is raising national awareness of the contest, showing the effectiveness of a creative outdoor ad, and presenting the actual prize to a large-scale audience.  Talk about killing two birds with one stone . . .

Oh, and good luck to the winner.  May your incredible, award-winning creativity aid you in scratching off 10,000 individual lottery tickets before reaching insanity.  I hope you have a lot of pennies . . .