All posts in Out-of-home advertising

DOmedia Travels to the Big Apple for MediaPostâ€™s Digital OOH Forum

by DOmedia on May 17, 2010 in Digital signage, DOmedia, Events, Out-of-home advertising with No comments

Is this glass half full or half empty? Well the one in this picture happens to be wine, so if it’s mine it’s probably more than half empty. But in terms of the metaphor everyone is familiar with, I think the answer depends on who you are and what you’re doing. As members of the digital OOH (ahem’€¦ place-based video) industry, I think in 2009 it was easy to say half empty. After spending a day with the industry at the MediaPost 2010 Digital OOH Forum, I think the attitudes of the group have made an optimistic transition.

halfFull

Jack Sullivan from Starcom demanded the early attention of the conference with powerful insights from a panel of Big Buyers. Tough questions were posed throughout the day, and from what I can tell, some still need answered. These include:

Consistent Measurement ‘€“ More networks are starting to get measured’€”which is great’€”but now we need to find a consistent way to compare apples to bananas to better understand the differences in the quality of impressions when we look for scale.
Consistent Formats ‘€“ Sure it would be great to create a custom creative message for each unique consumer in each unique environment (and at different times), but given digital OOH is still small potatoes to most advertisers, how practical is it to do so?
Growth Plan ‘€“ Given digital signage has many technical strengths and capabilities (geo addressibility, mobile integration, POS positioning, etc.), why are we still chasing traditional formats and budgets? How can we balance the need to lower barriers of entry to advertisers, while allowing the core strengths of the medium to shine through? Where do local advertisers fit in?

As the day rolled on, our own Jeff Bell revealed screenshots of DOfind, the highly anticipated enhanced version of our directory service, during the vendor showcase (which included some other cool companies, too, like interactive gaming provider MegaPhone who used the audience’s mobile phones to demo a few games in what was probably the day’s most unique presentation).

Late in the afternoon, I enjoyed the irony of Dave Weinfeld’s point about how the event missed an opportunity to integrate mobile with the digital screen. In the session before his panel, the creatives were dismantling certain example executions for ‘€œnot utilizing the strengths of digital signage’€ (like mobile integration). People (including me) were tweeting on their phones throughout the event, but there was no tie in to the ‘€œscreen’€ that was on the stage (except for MegaPhone; applause again guys). I guess we can all learn to improve as we better understand the capabilities of this media.

Overall it was a great show and I look forward to working with the industry in addressing these key issues for growth!

Thanks PRN for the lunch and the Starbucks card from bingo. And thanks to Bob Martin and the folks from RMG Networks for buying the beer after the show!

Find me @mattwarholic or email to matt[at]domedia.com

Ford Helps Small Businesses Take Advertising to the Streets

by DOmedia on May 14, 2010 in Advertising, Alternative advertising, Branding campaigns, Guerrilla Marketing, Out-of-home advertising with No comments

When you stop and think about all the ways advertisers can reach their audiences, the most obvious way is driving right under our noses’€¦ our cars! Think about it: cars are seen 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, no matter where or who you are. Cars are basically bulletin boards for their drivers’ personality and style; whether someone is conservative or wild and flashy, cars have become a regular status symbol… a trend Ford has taken note of and is now cashing in on.

FordWrap

Major American automaker, Ford, has developed its own personalized line of car wraps for small business owners. Last year, Ford created a website that enabled private drivers to design and create funky car wraps to decorate their Ford cars. Now, Ford has extended the offer to small businesses. Owners of Ford’s Transit Connect truck can create their own custom graphic wraps using various shapes, letters and colors that are available to them online. Or if you’re looking for an even more personalized wrap, upload your own graphics and images! The site offers extensive creative choices and is easy to navigate, even for the novice artist.

FordLayout

Graphics can be added to an entire truck, or just one specific side. The wraps are 3M vinyl and installed by a Ford dealer or a specialist. Costs range from about $100 for a small panel logo to $3,500 for a full vehicle wrap. That seems like a small price to pay to get your product on the road for everyone to see!

FordWrap2

Eco-Friendly OOH Takes Over the Arena District

by DOmedia on May 7, 2010 in Advertising, Alternative advertising, Billboards, Branding campaigns, Events, Guerrilla Marketing, Out-of-home advertising, Technology, Trends with No comments

If you were anywhere in Columbus’ Arena District today, it would have been impossible to miss. Parked right on Nationwide Blvd in the heart of the district (and conveniently across the street from DOmedia World Headquarters) is a huge GE: ecomagination semi truck carrying a larger-than-life propeller from a wind turbine. The truck and propeller are part of ecomagination, GE’s effort to help “solve the world’s biggest environmental challenges,” according to their site. One of the program’s commitments is to engage the public through creative advertising. So they got their hands on a giant wind propeller, branded it, and are now taking it on the road as part of the “Catch the Wind Tour.”
GE: ecomagination
Aside from its sheer size, the traveling campaign is raising awareness in the mid-west by encouraging people to make a commitment of their own. Written on the side of the propeller is a simple sentence: “I’m helping to build America’s energy future.” By signing their name on the propeller, passersby join the thousands of others already committed to the cause.
ecomagination
GE wasn’t the only company taking advantage of the busy pedestrian superhighway on this gorgeous Friday. Toyota was also in attendance, complete with a wrapped plug-in hybrid car touting an amazing 100+ mpg.

And I can’t forget CD101, parked in front of the arena, handing out free ice cream (now we’re talking)! The picture below shows the Arena District is no stranger to OOH. The four large billboards continuously spotlight the biggest brands, while the main digital screen is a great resource for weather, upcoming concerts at the arena, and much more. And, of course, the reliable Miller Lite clock off to the right.

Morphing Advertising and Faces All at Once

by DOmedia on April 27, 2010 in Advertising, Alternative advertising, Digital signage, Out-of-home advertising, Technology, Trends with No comments

Once again, Inwindow Outdoor proves successful at combining advertising and advanced technology to create a buzz-worthy campaign. DailyDOOH and TechNews Daily did a great job of highlighting the advertising efforts marking the release of the hit movie, Avatar. Inwindow Outdoor created a 60′ by 10′ structure that includes three ‘€˜morphing stations’ and one large-scale video wall framed with vinyl and branded in Avatar themes. The display, located at The Grove in Los Angeles, attracts audience members to the screen, recognizes facial features and then transforms their face into a famous, blue Avatar creature, the Na’vi. After their transformation is complete, users can type their email address on the interactive touch screen to obtain a video of their morph, as well as information about where to pick up the Avatar Blue-ray disc.

This technology offers a glimpse of what advertisers are pushing these days: interactive out-of-home media executions. The technology, called ‘€˜augmented reality,’ adds virtual imagery to the environment as the audience sees it. A notable example is the yellow ‘€˜first down’ line in football games on TV. In this case, the Na’vi cat-eyed, blue face staring back at users is augmented reality. Other technologies gaining popularity in the OOH advertising world include holograms and nearby motion generated sights and sounds. According to Lance Porter of LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communications, ‘€œTechnology has finally caught up with what marketers have dreamed about since the Internet went commercial in 1995. [Technology] has moved so quickly now that so many things are possible.’€

This isn’t the first digital out-of-home campaign Inwindow Outdoor has created. Similar campaigns for Sprint Mobile, The CW’s The Vampire Diaries, and the popular children’s movie, Coraline, were featured in big cities across the United States. The Avatar advertising experience (also delivered by FOX Studios, Zenith Media and Blue Bite) is on display for a month, beginning April 16^th.

Digital Out-of-Home Unites, Shows Up for Haiti Relief Effort

by DOmedia on January 26, 2010 in Agencies, Digital signage, Events, News, Out-of-home advertising, People, Press, Technology with No comments

Since the earthquake in Haiti, DOOH has really stepped up to the plate and proved its worth the past couple weeks. In the aftermath of a tragedy felt around the world, everyone knew something needed to be done–but what? And we all wanted to help–but how? A single, unified message had to be created and made available to the masses. Quick, effective and capable of reaching millions of people worldwide.

So when Matthew Stoudt, CEO of Outcast, rang up the presidents of Zoom Media, TargetCast Networks, CBS Outernet, PumpTopTV, Premier Retail Networks, Captivate Network, AdSpace Networks and IndoorDIRECT, it wasn’t as a competitor but as a fellow industry leader trying to take action. With combined efforts and the help of the Red Cross, the group is now running “Text ‘Haiti’ to 90999” ads across thousands of screens in malls, grocery stores, gyms, doctors’ offices and much more. By running the message across all of the biggest digital screen networks (40,000+ screens to be exact), the donation effort will reach about 100 million Americans each month.

Originally, the Ad Council worked with the Red Cross to develop a digital image to distribute across OOH screens. From there, it was picked up and distributed through OAAA. Lamar, Clear Channel, Health Media Network and Zoom Media have all picked up these ads as well. Some of the Ad Council messages include Michelle Obama or Bill Clinton and George Bush asking for donations. Some companies, such as iDklic Digital Signage and Narrowcasting in Belgium, put together their own ads and began running them across all of their networks. RAMVISION is also running a 2-week campaign for the Disaster Emergency Committee, broadcasting across their Shopping Centre Network.

Interested in joining the effort but don’t have the time or resources to put a spot together? The Preset Group has you covered. They’ve put together PSAs for use by anyone in the digital out-of-home community. For more info, click here.