Digital Signage Digest

The Science of Signage: A Digital Out-of-Home Primer

Daniel Parisien — Fri, 02 May 2008 21:28:44 +0000

I’ve consulted on hundreds of digital signage deployments and implementations globally over the last 5 years and a specific recurring structure has emerged with regards to technology, content and workflows for managing these networks. The purpose of this article is to identify the basics of a digital out of home network for newcomers who wish to skip the learning curve or for those that wish to focus on the core elements that make a digital signage network a money making success.

The sea of decisions that must be made before spending the capital to deploy a network can easily lead an operator towards focusing on technology instead of focusing on building an effective communication medium.

My team and I (BroadSign Solutions) have had the benefit of repeatedly following the digital signage learning curve vicariously through the hundreds of entrepreneurs that have evaluated BroadSign Suite for its application to their business. This includes many of the members of OVAB and other industry leaders and pioneers. While there are many variables involved and decisions to be made to develop a digital signage network, there are not so many that they can’t be listed in a blog article, such as this. (more…)

Thoughts from the Digital Out-of-Home Forum: the Tipping Point Is Now

Nurlan Urazbaev — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 05:10:10 +0000

DOOH Forum by Media Post, April 23, 2008, the Yale Club of New York, NY, NY.

This was probably the most authoritative conference on DOOH. It gathered some of the best brains from the digital signage and mainstream advertising industries. The Forum was the first event on digital signage organized by Media Post, with the Wall Street Journal as the main sponsor. There was almost no tech-talk. The focus was mainly on how advertisers and agencies are changing their view of this fast-spreading medium, the barriers to its broad adoption by media buyers, and the increasingly important role DOOH is playing as an alternative to the stagnant TV. The DOOH Forum was followed the next day by the Outfront conference - reflecting on how traditional media (namely, network TV), is adapting to the changing realities.

The DOOH Forum was also the most sold out conference I have ever seen. All the seats at the tables were taken early, then the organizers had to make extra rows of chairs in the back, and when those were filled, the balcony got packed to the limit.

You can see the list of speakers and the agenda here.

Here are some highlights and observations from the discussions:

- Several speakers (including outside analysts) named DOOH as the’hottest medium’ today, and it is spreading even faster than internet in its early days, because of its ability to reach consumers when they are away from home, its unintrusive nature, and its proximity to point of purchase and point of decision.

- After a few years of soul-searching, two terms seem to have stuck to the wall to describe the industry: ‘digital out-of-home’ and ‘digital signage’. Some still insist on using the term ‘place-based media’, but Google Search doesn’t return many results on that one.

- Agencies are now under pressure from both ends - advertisers and DOOH networks - to include digital signage in the media mix, so they are finally starting to embrace it as part of an “integrated approach” to marketing strategy, or “360 degrees marketing”. The issue everybody is struggling with is the metrics currency: what is the currency unit they should use while planning, buying and reporting on campaigns. At this point it takes agencies several times more effort to allocate a few million $$ to a DOOH campaign compared to quick and easy multi-million-dollar TV buys. The issue of commission is also not resolved in favor of DOOH yet, and that makes agencies reluctant to use it overall.

(more…)

“Eyes On” Metric To Revolutionize Out-of-Home Ratings: MediaWeek

Nurlan Urazbaev — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 05:06:13 +0000

Last week the Traffic Audit Bureau (TAB) - the US Out-of-home media auditing organization - unveiled its new ratings system for the industry. Not only is the system a milestone for the outdoor ad business, but it also breaks new ground for media ratings as a whole, writes MediaWeek. Here are some excerpts from the article by Katy Bachman. My comments are at the end.

“Nearly five years in development, the Eyes On ratings will replace the decades-old practice of relying solely on traffic counts to put a value on outdoor ads. The ratings will, for the first time, provide discrete demographic data pertaining to around 400,000 units. The service will go a step further than TV and radio ratings to incorporate the number of persons likely to see an ad as they pass a display.

“It’s a dramatic improvement in outdoor measurement. Quite frankly, it puts us in a position of having a better measurement system than any other medium,” said Paul Meyer, president and COO of Clear Channel Outdoor.

Eyes On has broad support among outdoor media companies, agencies and advertisers, which worked closely with the TAB to design a ratings system uniquely suited to the outdoor medium. (more…)

Outlook for Out-Of-Home Advertising and Digital OOH Amid Recession: Good

Nurlan Urazbaev — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 04:41:55 +0000

The Out-of-home media, along with internet, is doing well, despite the drop in overal ad spending. Media Life Magazine’s Diego Vasquez quotes ZenithOptimedia Worldwide, “whose most recent forecast for U.S. spending has out-of-home spending growing by 11.2 percent this year, to $7.83 billion.”

According to Vasquez, next year ZenithOptimedia expects the OOH industry to grow at a similar pace: “11.3 percent, to $8.71 billion, and in 2010 it will grow another 11.5 percent, to $9.72 billion.That’s against 3.7 percent growth this year for the entire U.S. ad economy, which is down from the 4.1 percent growth ZenithOptimedia forecast back in December. It’s forecasting even slower growth in 2009 and 2010, by 2.1 percent and 2.2 percent.ZenithOptimedia is forecasting that worldwide out-of-home spending will grow 9.4 percent this year, 8.0 percent in 2009, and 8.3 percent in 2010. (more…)

Alternative Media Ad Spending Defies Slowing Economy: PQ Media Report

Nurlan Urazbaev — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 05:25:02 +0000

Spending on alternative media hit $73.43 billion in 2007, a 22% increase over the previous year, and will continue to grow, reports Ad Age, quoting PQ Media’s Alternative Media Forecast: 2008-2012, released last week. The research firm tracked 18 digital and nontraditional segments, with a combined 16.1% of total advertising and marketing dollars in 2007, up from 7.9% in 2002, yielding a compound annual growth rate of 21.7%, writes Ad Age.

The forecast predicts a 20.2% increase over the next year, to a total of $88.24 billion, and a compounded annual growth rate of 17% for 2007-2012, reaching $160.82 billion. By then, alternative media will represent 26.6% of all advertising and marketing dollars.

Digital signage, or, ‘digital out-of-home advertising’, as it is called in the report, got a special mention from PQ Media. Here’s an excerpt from Ad Age’s interview:

‘Where the money is going…’
The upswing is as much a result of the effectiveness of new media in a fragmented market as it is from a lack of confidence in traditional media, said PQ Media President Patrick Quinn. “Traditional ad budgets have been going down, but spending has remained stable. This shows where the money is going,” Mr. Quinn said.

“There is a lack of standards in these new areas,” Mr. Quinn added. “Digital out-of-home advertising is getting recall rates as high as or higher than traditional mediums, but there are few studies on this. They’re going to need more and deeper metrics: The bar is being raised across the board.” (more…)

No Metrics - No Buys: the War of Metrics Has Begun

Nurlan Urazbaev — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 05:58:57 +0000

As of this upfront season, the US division of Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) - one of the largest media communications companies, will only be buying media that can produce more advanced metrics.

According to MediaWeek, “Starcom USA will no longer do business with unrated networks that are not measured by companies or rating services that can offer documented data on viewership.” (more…)

Digital Billboard Ads are Effective and Liked by Motorists: Arbitron Study

Nurlan Urazbaev — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 01:47:29 +0000

According to the recently released Arbitron study of digital billboards, the ads displayed on them drive traffic to local businesses, radio and TV stations and brand web sites, have a high recall and successfully reach the elusive and desirable 18-34 year-old consumers, among other demographics.

The study, commissioned by the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, was conducted late last year among 402 persons and seven digital billboards operating in Cleveland, Ohio.

Some significant findings of the research include:

More than half of all Cleveland travelers notice digital billboards and the more a person commutes, the more likely they are to be aware of the displays.
Public reaction to digital signage is positive. The billboard’s ability to display timely news, traffic, weather advisories and AMBER Alert notices makes the vast majority of commuters (over 80%) feel the digital signs provide an important community service.
Digital billboards are an effective advertising platform. Over eight out of 10 travelers could successfully recall at least one of the ads running during the survey period and the majority of commuters agree digital billboards are a “cool way to advertise.” (more…)

Good News for Outdoor Advertising: Growth in 2007 and Acceptance of Digital Billboards

Nurlan Urazbaev — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:51:15 +0000

Most of the OAAA’s newsletter this week was dedicated to digital billboards. OAAA president and CEO Nancy Fletcher writes that “Digital outdoor can provide opportunities for industry growth little imagined only a decade ago.”

The Federal Highway Administration ruling last fall that digital billboards were ‘permissible’ unleashed a flurry of new installations, pilots, studies and local regulations. Nancy Fletcher summed up the recent developments in the field as follows:

“People Like Digital
Consumers and advertisers are strong advocates of digital outdoor. Arbitron just released a report saying digital billboards are noticed by most drivers and appreciated as attractive and useful, particularly with younger (and harder to reach) audiences. See page three for Arbitron highlights or download a copy at www.digitalooh.org later this week. (more…)

The End of TV as We Know It

Brian Dusho — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 18:10:39 +0000

The end of analog broadcasting is exactly a year away in the US and everyone
from The Commerce Department’s, National Telecommunications and Information
Administration (NTIA) to Best Buy are looking at ways to help the 14 million
US households that still depend on an analog signal. Vouchers will be mailed
out to households so they can purchase discounted government-approved
converters. According to USA Today this will be “the boldest technology
conversion ever attempted” but something is troubling in this picture. When
the transition to digital was planned no one in their wildest dreams could
have predicted that by the time of the switch TV would be in such a poor
shape, with its audience fragmented, shows undermined by the recent writers’ strike and the annual upfront ad sales event in question. (more…)

Marketers Will Weather Recession by Relying on More Immediate ROI: Ad Age

Nurlan Urazbaev — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 05:07:10 +0000

The current economic downturn, call it recession or not, forces marketers to re-prioritize their media spend in favor of more measurable vehicles. Ad Age has talked to some top media buyers and sellers about how they expect to survive through the slowdown. I tried to summarize it below.

Network TV’s share will most likely keep shrinking in favor of cable, which offers lower CPM and better targeting.

Digital categories such as email and search will continue to be strong, regardless of the economy, with search marketing being the most recession-proof channel, because it is more measurable than other media and because it’s so closely tied to sales (especially in case of e-commerce). “Digital, in general, does not feel the effects initially because in tough economic times, there is a flight to measurable media,” said Bryan Wiener, CEO of digital agency 360i, in his interview to Ad Age. (more…)