Digital Signage Hot New Madison Avenue Trend

Well - digital signage is continuing to gain traction. During a recent gathering in New York for the Traffic Audit Bureau's Out-of-Home Advertising Forum, out-of-home digital signage is proving to be a hot new trend according to marketers, agencies and outdoor media vendors.

Just as other major media--online, cell phones, hand-held devices, and cinema--are emerging as new "screens" for distributing TV-like commercials, new digital billboards are making outdoor the next big screen--literally. "You really have a chance to think of it as a video medium just like television," said John Marson, senior manager-media planning at packaged goods giant Kraft Foods, reflecting a sentiment echoed throughout the conference. Asked how marketers like Kraft might feel about paying higher, more TV-like advertising rates for shorter interval digital outdoor ad messages, Marson said, "It will be compared to television. There will be the big challenge--getting the right metrics."

The article "Ad Execs Begin Thinking Of Outdoor As TV Calls For New Metrics" goes on to describe a number of benefits for the digital signage industry.

GVExpo Digital Signage Pavilion

Webpavement will have knowledgable resources located in Booth # 755 in the Digital Signage Pavilion at GV Expo in Washington DC November 30 - December 1, 2005. Our booth is equipped with an Internet connection so you can see our flagship product - Webpavement Sign Server.

Contact Webpavement to schedule an appointment with a representative.

The Government Video and Technology Expo (GVExpo) is the largest, most focused event representing the exploding Government AV, Video, Broadcast, Digital Signage, Collaborative Conferencing, Multimedia & Technology, a $9.4 billion market.

According to a Pro AV Purchasing Practices Study, 41% of Government delegate respondents indicate they plan to purchase digital signage equipment in the next 12 months. Click to view the digital signage government purchasing chart.

Future Digital Signage Business Models

Webpavement published an article in the October/November INS-Asia issue. The magazine has a readership base of 10,000+ in the Asia Pacific region. We thought you might find it interesting.

Here it is in pdf format: Future Digital Signage Business Models

New Methods for Measuring Outdoor Advertising

The Traffic Audit Bureau (TAB) is the outdoor media industry's official measurement provider for outdor advertising firms. They conduct traffic audits that serve as the basis of outdoor media circulation estimates. The circulation audits are known as "daily effective circulation" or DECs.

The Traffic Audit Bureau has recently issued a request for proposal to a variety of potential research suppliers to develop a new audience ratings system for the outdoor industry. The RFP is seeking a new system that would use new ratings data to provide demographic information about what type of people were exposed to an outdoor ad, when, and for how long.

The demographic data mixed with the TAB's circulation data will provide total audience estimates similar to all of the major media, putting outdoor on a level media planning field for the first time. This is apparantly good news for outdoor electronic billboard (digital signage) advertising providers such as Lamar and Clear Channel.

Here is the rest of the story from Mediapost.

erinMedia, which has taken control of a promising outdoor and radio audience measurement firm called Navigauge, is one of the players expected to compete for the outdoor industry's ratings system. Navigauge uses a system that incorporates global positioning satellite (GPS) technology into cars so that advertisers and agencies know exactly when, where, and how fast people were going when they were exposed to outdoor advertising. The problem with the Navigauge technology is that it does not account for pedestrian traffic.

Arbitron, which has been developing a portable people meter system carried by individuals, also plans to compete, confirmed a company spokesman--but its proposal would be more of a longer-term one that relates to a broader rollout of the PPM technology, not one devoted exclusively to outdoor audience measurement.

Arbitron was a leading contender alongside Nielsen to develop a GPS-based measurement system for outdoor, but has since abandoned that technology, while Nielsen has raced ahead. Nielsen's outdoor unit was recently awarded a contract to use that system to provide outdoor ratings in South Africa, and on Wednesday released the first findings of GPS-based outdoor ratings in the United States from a system it has been testing in Chicago. While Nielsen didn't actually make any of that data available to the press, it hailed the achievement as a milestone, citing testimonials from several industry leaders, including Starcom MediaVest Group's Kate Sirkin and the TAB's Joe Philport.

The Nielsen Outdoor technology, which was developed by RDP Associates, is known as the Npod, a cell phone-sized device that panelist carry with them
throughout the day, much as they would Arbitron's PPM devices.

Because it has made such advances, Nielsen Outdoor is seen as a favorite to win the TAB's contract, although it is possible that several different vendors may supply components of research to the TAB, which would be integrated with other data gathered and compiled with the TAB to produce a unified rating estimate for outdoor audience exposure.

Most significantly, the data would be owned by--and the research methods controlled by--the outdoor industry, its advertisers and agencies, as opposed to ratings systems for TV, radio, magazines, newspapers and online, which are owned and controlled by research suppliers.

Recently, the ad industry began discussing the possibility of forming a joint industry committee, or JIC, to do the same for other media, including television--but the effort was abandoned when Nielsen threatened an antitrust suit. Last month, the Advertising Research Foundation unveiled the Audience Measurement Initiative (AMI), which will function in many ways like a JIC, but will not own or control the research developed by suppliers.

Digital Signage Bandwidth II

Previously we posted an article about bandwidth as it relates to the future of digital signage. The first bandwidth topic was WIMAX.

We'd like to introduce you to a new technology in the bandwidth category. The technology is called Evolution Data Optimized (EVDO). EVDO is basically wireless cellular broadband access. EVDO works most everywhere your cell phone does. EVDO has about a 10 mile range from every Verizon or Sprint Cell Phone Tower.

EVDO offers high speed connections for your digital signs without wiring! This opens up new locations for digital signage including taxi cabs, roadside, subway entrances and other locations where property owners do not want you to intrude on their location with new infrastructure. Remember - no wiring is required for your digital signs - with the exception of power. Download speeds average 400-700 kbps and are capable of reaching up to 2.0Mbps.

EVDO meets the bandwidth and security requirements of both indoor and outdoor digital signage.

Verizon has been advertising this techology on television very heavily as of late. Coined Verizon Broadband Access, they claim to have the largest high speed wireless network in the US currently representing 84 markets, 140 million users and 426 US airports. Verizon is expanding the service coast to coast in the United States.

Webpavement will have an exciting announcement for digital signage as it relates to EVDO very soon.

EVDO is based on the CDMA 2000 standard and is expected to grow in Brazil, Japan, Korea, Israel, Australia and Canada.To learn more about EVDO, visit the Wikipedia encyclopedia information of EVDO.

Retail TV Checkout Channel

Following a year long pilot, PRN announced it would be implementing a Check Out channel at Wal Mart stores. This is a very interesting model. The Wal Mart TV network is now a hybrid network. In other words, they are using the broadcast signal for tv displays within the stores (aisles, end caps etc.) and a narrowcast signal to checkout tv displays. The checkout tv displays will show localized content such as weather. Read the AKA story.

pssst.. Webpavement technology can run mixed mode networks.

The response from the ad agency / media crowd is mixed. Veterans in the media industry witnessed NBC and Ted Turner install checkout channels in the past. These 2 networks were too costly and arguably ahead of their time. Read Media Post's riff on the Checkout Channel.

In today's multi-channel, fragmented media environment - digital signage deserves the attention and traction that we are experiencing.

New York City Outdoor Contract

Cemusa has beaten outdoor advertising giants JC Deceaux, Viacom & Van Wagner et al for New York City’s 20-year contract to sell ad space on bus shelters and newspaper kiosks, according to the city's Department of Transportation.

Viacom Outdoor was the existing contract holder. Cemusa is a Barcelona based firm that is seeking a stronger presence in the United States. Cemusa’s other U.S. operations are primarily located in Miami-Dade County, Boston and San Antonio.

WOW - Hard to compete with this offer..

The 20-year agreement is a franchise arrangement. Cemusa will pay the City of New York $1 billion for the 20-year contract as well as create 3,300 new bus stop shelters, 330 new newsstands and up to 20 automatic public toilets. Cemusa said in a statement it also expects to create 100 new jobs in New York City.

Welcome Cemusa..

Marketers Beef Up Ad Spending Inside Stores

Full credit to Lyle Bunn, Director, Digital Display & Rich Media BTV+ (and Chair, Education Committee, POPAI North America Digital Signage Group) for sending Webpavement the following information. www.btvplus.com

Thought you would appreciate this heads up - the Page 1 headline of the September 21 Wall Street Journal is “In a Shift, Marketers Beef Up Ad Spending Inside Stores”.

The lengthy article starts with “Proctor & Gamble believes shoppers make up their mind about a product in about the time it takes to read this paragraph”. The Proctor & Gamble approach to in-store marketing, Wal-Mart TV, ad agency response and examples of in-store marketing are profiled.

The article is very good news for the profile of digital signage. Some other highlights..

• In store marketing spending was $17 billion in 2004 and is projected to accelerate to over $23 billion by 2009
• P&G (makers of Tide, Crest, Pampers) has cut its commitment to advertise on cable channels by 25% and its broadcast TV allotment is down about 5%. At the same time overall ad spending rose slightly.
• Last year 122 new products were launched on Wal-Mart TV.
• Wal-Mart sells advertising like TV networks, imitating “upfronts” the ad sales extravaganzas put on by the networks.
• PRN says its rates are comparable to those of cable TV.
• Some TV executives say in-store advertising isn’t necessarily competitive. Chris Carlisle, Exec. VP of News Corp.’s Fox network contrasts the relaxed home atmosphere with that of a rushed shopping environment. Fox itself buys ads on in-store networks to pitch DVDs.
• No standard system for measuring the audience for in-store ads exists, and therefore no easy way to charge for the space. The fees for each project are negotiated on a case-by-case basis, a time-consuming task.
• A wrinkle is in how ad agencies get paid. For years, agencies were paid a percentage of the overall ad budget. P&G changed that model several years ago because it worried ad agencies would naturally gravitate toward costly TV ads. It now ties ad agency compensation to product sales increases.

Emily Nelson and Sarah Ellison have written an excellent article. This is one to frame.

Billboard Inventory Selling Fast

With all of the factors driving digital signage growth, the demand for out-of-home billboard inventory has risen to levels unseen since the dot-com days of the late ’90s - aka the "Roaring Ninety's". In 1999, billboards were selling at rate-card prices as opposed to the typical 25% discount. Higher demand causes buyers to book desirable locations earlier -- which means marketers often have to plan their out of home before TV.

“It’s certainly tighter than it has been, but, you know, the economy’s tighter than it’s been as well,” said Jack Sullivan, director of out-of-home media for Publicis Groupe's Starcom USA. Other media buyers agreed that they’re seeing a growing number of marketers add outdoor to their media mixes, or increase existing spending in the area.

Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco are more or less sold out through the end of the year, although there remains room in Atlanta, Boston, New York and Philadelphia. Some buyers worry sites are getting picked over -- and say it’s not unusual for them to be booking locations into the middle of 2006.

According to the latest figures, the first half of the year notched 9% outdoor growth, according to TNS Media Intelligence; Nielsen Monitor-Plus reports a 6.9% rise.

Digital Signage solves many of the problems identified above. In our opinion, many static billboards warrant a change to an electronic format. With electronic billboards - you can sell under short notice, you have more inventory, you don't need crews to change advertisements because they're not physically printied on vinyl.

Please contact us to discuss your electonic billboard(s) project. Webpavement has been contracted for electronic boards in Washington DC, Times Square, Ohio, Madrid and other locations.

Interactive Campaigns in Times Square

The famous Reuters sign in Times square must have a Return on the Intital investment by now. Numerous campaigns and advertising run on the display. Here are a couple of interactive campaigns.

Lexus
The program includes a Web site, www.TheNewIS.com, where visitors can pose questions about the car to chief engineer Suguya Fukusato, and upload photos to the Web site to enter a sweepstakes to win the car. Some of those photos will be used to form a photo mosaic on the Reuters digital billboard in New York's Times Square, starting Sept. 3. Story - No Pics

Nike
In its customary way of going for ever bigger and more different promotions, Nike purchased a build-your-own-shoe media placement on the 23-story-high Reuters sign on the Reuters Building in Times Square. Story and Picture of Reuters Sign

There are many more examples. Oh - here is one by CK you might enjoy. It doesn't involve a digital sign and it's not on the Reuters sign, but it is - some would say - interactive.

Calvin Klein
This campaign featured a "Live Billboard". See PICTURES.