As DOOH continues to evolve, tremendous opportunities continue to grow with it.

By Jeff Atley

Digital out-of-home (DOOH) has been in retail for more than a decade, but even with an already solid footprint, the opportunity for growth is tremendous.

Here are four projections ADCENTRICITY believes will occur in 2011:

1. The technology that powers DOOH will enter a new level of sophistication and recognized value. Creative messaging and consumers can be targeted down to the venue level, zip code, or channel, and made incredibly dynamic. New sophistications allow incredibly complex data-driven opportunities: Imagine a wireless carrier marketing a new phone or plan by audience segmentation, and then tagging messages on screen with the closest retail store location alongside geographically driven twitter feeds. What sounds incredibly complex to execute will become the norm in DOOH.

2. Media spend will continue to grow. Projections based on a PQ Media market study suggest DOOH media spend will eclipse $4.5 billion by the end of 2013.

3. Retail will be hot. Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) giants are shifting major percentages of their marketing budgets to shopper marketing strategies. That shift owes much to changing consumer behaviors and media consumption patterns that once again reinforce how important it is to get messages in front of shoppers when they are making buying decisions or when they are in a buying mentality, not only when they’re at home on the couch.

4. DOOH will stand alone. Much of the media attention, measurement, revenue reporting and creative focus lumps DOOH into a broad category with the likes of cinema advertising and the big digital outdoor boards that line major city squares and roadways. While these forms of media are great at supporting certain efforts, they are not DOOH, which includes place-based (e.g., doctor offices) and retail locations. DOOH will begin to emerge on its own this year and get out from under many of the one-off, Times Square-oriented promotions to become more of a sustainable, community-targeted medium that delivers on its promise.

By Kelly Johnson

With DVRs giving us the ability to skip TV commercials, newspaper readership declining and a feeling of bombardment from online ads, advertisers are getting creative. Communities around the country are finding a fresh, new way to target potential customers through digital signage network advertising. This medium is more targeted, effective and cheaper than many traditional forms of advertisement. It targets consumers when they are out and about and in some cases, at the point of sale.

The digital signage network connects communities with screens in key locations and ads from non-competing businesses. Independent marketing companies choose key community locations where large amounts of people gather to eat, shop or play. Some marketing companies will even offer to set up a screen in a business for free if the business owner will allow other businesses to advertise on their screen.

The perk for the screen-hosting business is that they can advertise their own products and services at the point of sale. While people are waiting to be seated at a restaurant, they see advertisements for new menu items or specials. Stores in the mall can advertise current sales to shoppers who are already in the mall, ready to shop. In addition to the screen-hosting business’ advertisements, other community businesses’ advertisements are also displayed. The great part is that most network hosts will be careful not to allow competitors to advertise.

Joining a community’s digital signage network has boosted many companies’ sales because it targets the right people and is effective and affordable. Advertisers can choose at which locations they want their ads to appear and where their potential customers might be shopping or hanging out. Network host companies make it extremely easy for advertising businesses because they take care of everything for them such as contacting host businesses, designing ads and changing ads so they are up-to-date. These ads can be seen by thousands of community members each week.

As today’s potential customer is less inclined to pick up a paper, turn on the radio or watch television or internet advertisements, digital signage has become a great way to effectively grab their attention. Dynamic graphics capture people’s attention as they are walking through the mall, waiting at a restaurant or relaxing in a coffee shop. Research shows that people are 5 to 10 times more likely to pay attention to dynamic marketing on digital screens than traditional printed signs. If the screens were only used as a marketing tool, consumers would likely tune it out, but because trivia, local news, community event calendars, weather and entertainment messages are interspersed between ads, viewers are entertained while they are marketed to.

Unlike print advertisements, digital signage ads can be easily changed as often as the network host will allow, keeping content up-to-date and relevant. This is a cost-effective alternative for small businesses because newspaper, TV, and radio advertising can be costly, untargeted and can quickly go out of date. Even if businesses choose not to use traditional marketing channels and print their own flyers and posters, it can be expensive and wasteful.

Digital signage networks are invaluable to any size community because they connect advertisers with consumers in a unique and effective way. When visiting high traffic areas, community members receive information on community events and news while advertisers share current deals and promotions.

In the matter of digital signage deployments, simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

By Jeff Blankensop

As digital signage deployments continue to grow by the thousands, the techniques used to mount display technology in our industry have not advanced at the same pace as the technology itself.

Simple “wall-mount installations” or “hang the monitor over there” have earned the name of “hang & bangs” for good reason. This euphemism describes the mounting of a single display in a way that sticks out like a sore thumb. These installations lack creativity, planning and integration into a well thought out space.

In recent times, most well-groomed deployments are seamless integrations of art that blend into their space in a simplistic manner.

Taking a deeper dive into the topic, there are numerous ways to plan for a digital signage display deployment using creative techniques and products to establish an unobtrusive, simplistic look. These methods might include:

• in-wall cabinets that expose the display’s LCD module “only,”
• an indoor soffit designed to accommodate a specific display size,
• interactive digital signage display enclosures such as a free standing structure or mounted on a wall,
• ceiling mounting hidden above ceiling tiles,
• kiosk enclosures that include a vinyl wrap with graphics to promote a brand,
• selecting enclosure materials such as stainless steel, plastics, woods, etc. to best blend into a space,
• height-adjustable wall mount enclosures that offer convenience with style,
• video wall structures and mounts that offer flexibility to build out easy-to-create matrices to best address the available space,
• interactive surface-based solutions that include protective glass,
• in-store shelving and end-caps that integrate display technology into the structure.

If you look at the below image of google trends for the term digital signage, you’ll notice that this term became more popular (from google’s search perspective) in 2007.  I tried trending the term digital out of home and dooh but google responsed with “do not have enough search volume to show graphs.”

digital signage google trends

One of the terminologies that we were unfamiliar with was  DOOH – to date we still don’t use this term that often since it has been replaced by Digital Signage. Now to me, the two terms DOOH and Digital Signage can be used interchaneably and I don’t care if there is a difference. One might say that DOOH (since it’s not at home) is a screen network in a public area and that digital signage can be located in a corporate building to display internal communications. To me, both are the same but Digital Signage sounds shorter and easier to say so we’ll stick with this.

Source: Design Week

The number of shops using digital signage has quadrupled since 2007, according to a survey commissioned by LG Electronics.

The seventh UK Digital Signage Survey, which was conducted by Point of Purchase Advertising International, found that more than 46 000 stores use digital signage, compared with 12 500 in 2007. This figure is expected to rise to 58 000 by the end of 2011.

LG Electronics sales director Warren Lewis says, ‘Retailers are becoming more sophisticated in their use of digital signage. This can be seen in the reduction of screens using sound, with more than two-thirds of respondents not synchronising screens with audio.’

The survey also found a growth in touch-screen technology in the retail market. Currently, one in five retailers use interactive screens, but nearly half of those surveyed were planning to install touch-screen technology in 2011, with a further 25 per cent considering it as a possibility.

Lewis adds, ‘With the spread of touch-screen mobile phones and tablet computers, many people have become used to using touch-screens as part of everyday life. Therefore, the use of this technology on digital signage is no longer being seen as an added bonus – it has become a necessity.’

Colleges and universities can enjoy considerable benefits by adding dynamic digital signage networks to their campuses.

I have written this 34-page white paper to assist in the planning and successful operation of implementing digital signage on campuses. Beyond student, staff and visitor communications, new revenue outlets are available through a signage network. Sponsored content and suitable, campus-approved advertising can balance installation and network expenses, expansion projects or bring new resources to individual departments.

This white paper outlines the broader value of dynamic signage on or near campuses. In addition, the proven approaches to effective planning, expansion and use, with a focus on revenue opportunities.

Read the white paper here.

Ever dream of controlling a billboard with your phone? Us neither. Nevertheless, it is coming thanks to an unholy partnership between CBS Outdoor and Clusta. Using WiFi or 3G, iPhone owners (and others, apparently) can pinch, swipe, and poke at the objects on digital posters to make them zoom, spin, and change color. The idea here is simple: captive consumers buy more stuff. Perhaps, but without video or a detailed explanation describing how easy/hard it is to connect, well, we’ve already lost interest.

by Dave Haynes

If you have been involved in this sector for any length of time, you probably already know about Bill Gerba, the CEO of the software firm Wirespring and one of the truly smart people in this business.

While some folks have built a name for themselves by grabbing any microphone in reach, Gerba has pretty quietly been doing a pile of work that won’t necessarily help his business or build rock star status, but is raising the level of knowledge in the industry, as a whole.

He has been very active with POPAI working on standards, notably on privacy. And he’s been doing, with his team, deeply analytical work looking at the real costs of this business. For the last few weeks, he has been trickling out work that looks at the science of content as it relates to this sector.

As Gerba notes:

We observed that digital signage research is expensive, time-consuming, and just plain out-of-reach for many networks and content creation companies. Hoping to find a better, cheaper and more accessible way to figure out what kind of screens and content will “work” best, WireSpring developed a simulation platform that uses Amazon’s Mechanical Turk crowdsourcing system to rapidly test lots of variables, and run those tests hundreds or even thousands of times.

Start at the beginning of the series to get the background and rationale, and stick with it. The findings are intriguing and should be must reads for anyone building spots or screen layouts for this sector.

Thanks for making the effort, Mr. Gerba.

by Dave Haynes

The Newspaper Association of America has released a really interesting look at the shopping patterns of Americans and the impact of advertising.

It is based on research purely conducted in the United States, but as with a lot of this kind of research, it provides insights beyond those borders.

The survey was conducted with some 2,500 adults and poked away at how people shop, when they make decisions, where, frequency and the influencers on purchases. It is done for the newspaper industry, so there is a definite tilt to that medium in the research, but it looks at media as a whole and specifically includes place-based media.

What caught my attention is the validation of the notion that consumers can be influenced by media outside the home, and that purchasing decisions are part of a cosnumer’s day to day journey.

“The thin quality of the shopping market and the short-term nature of many shopping decisions argue for frequency in advertising,” says the report, “especially as consumers are demonstrably receptive to this communication. Almost 6 in 10 (57 percent) of these category shoppers recalled ads in the previous two weeks that either brought a sale or item to their attention, reminded that it was available or needed, or encouraged going to the store for other reasons.”

The summary also notes:

“The time frame for the decision to shop often is short, but varies by product and the shopper’s personal situation. Altogether, two-thirds of the decisions to shop were made on the shopping day or the week before. On average, 36 percent of the decisions to shop in these categories were made the same day that shopping activitiescommenced, with a majority while consumers were out shopping for something else.”

So advertising and marketing messages on Digital OOH or marketing-driven in-store networks have a strong opportunity to influence or reaffirm shopping decisions close to the moment when people are whipping out their wallets. Digital OOH network advertising people are starting to really drive the message that this medium offers frequency and recency – the latter being the idea that brand advertising impressions strike people at the moments of maximum influence. In other words, an ad at or near a store is more influential than an ad seen by people parked on their love seats at home.

The report drills down deep into the actual decision to shop …

Products vary in the typical time required for shopping decisions, although most include asignificant proportion of late deciders. Among the 14 product categories we are reviewing, an average of 36 percent of shopping actions commenced on the decision day. Some 21 percent happened rather spontaneously while the consumer was out shopping for something else, while 15 percent were established earlier that day before the actual shopping started.

This same-day average in fact varies a lot by category, ranging from only 14 percent for travel plans up to around 50 percent for jewelry or watches, or for children’s or women’s apparel. On the other end, travel, furniture, large appliances and telephones or service plans are most likely to have more than a 2-week planning funnel.

Familiar life contingencies can trigger a decision to shop earlier in the day before the shopping action, such as reading or hearing an advertisement that brings a sale or product to your attention or perhaps reminds that you need to get something. Having free time or being in a convenient location can make one consider what should be on the shopping list.

Various stimuli can trigger shopping decisions while in the middle of a shopping trip. These could include in-store displays, suggestions from sales help, conversations with companions, remembering something not on your shopping list, calls from home, checking a shopping app on mobile device, or the purchase of something else that requires accessories.

The research found advertising doesn’t create needs, but consumers rely on it in subtle ways. Those surveyed agreed that advertising in the previous two weeks either:

• 39% Brought a sale to your attention
• 32% Brought a particular item to your attention
• 28% Reminded you that the item is available
• 24% Reminded you that you need to purchase it
• 29% Made you interested in going to the store or website for other reasons

Interestingly, the study found “on-site forms of store advertising showed strongly, with in-store product displays noted by 47 percent of adults and videos shown in malls or stores mentioned by 17 percent, or one–in-six adults.”

Newspapers came out on top (surprise!) but in-mall and in-store video outperformed radio, billboards and yellow page directories. Mobile barely registers with shoppers (though it’s still early, highly fragmented days for mobile shopping  apps).

If you run networks that try to influence consumers in some way – so pretty much anything place-based other than corporate and campus – this report is worth having a look through. It is about newspapers, but there are useful consumer insights to take in.

The report is free (a nice change from many reports) and can be downloaded as a PDF here.

The German firm SKOPOS Institute, which does market and communication research, has issued with its client effectiveness results of auto-stereoscopic 3D ads.

The October 2010 study for Tridelity AG , which markets glasses-free 3D display technology, involved 312 people divided into two equal groups, all of them shown an ad spot done in either 3D or 2D.

The differences between the test groups were clear: the 3D viewers found the commercial to be modern, original and unique. After the test, 82% of the 3D viewers were convinced of the product. In the 2D group, only 64% were convinced. After the 3D broadcast, viewers also felt more of a desire to try the advertised product; in other words, the purchase probability was significantly greater.

In addition, in both test groups, 43% said they would also like to watch 3D at home. These test results show that there is generally a strong willingness to view 3D content, which can thus be exploited very advantageously for the advertising industry.

Interesting. I have seen glasses-free 3D a few times and not got all that tingly about it. My guess is other researchers would have a ton of questiuons about how it was done and what was shown, to test the validity. The quality of the content will have a huge impact, and MUCH of what I have seen demo’d on glasses free screens was, umm, uninspiring.

But having some genuine research starts to build the story that maybe there is something there, and takes it beyond the pitch I have mostly heard, which rarely goes much beyond, “Isn’t this awesome???”