Photos courtesy OMAC
By Rosanne Caron
This is an exciting time for the out-of-home (OOH) advertising industry. For one thing, the world’s oldest advertising medium is still growing; revenue increased by 7.6 per cent in the period of January to July 2015 compared to the same period in 2014. For another, OOH is being transformed by emerging technologies into a more dynamic and interactive medium than before, ensuring it remains relevant, effective and integral to marketing communications.
While many advertisers are drawn to the new opportunities of new technologies, however, this does not mean every OOH campaign must have a mobile or interactive component to attract consumers’ attention and motivate actions. The keys to success are still compelling visuals and simple messages.
One example would be the ‘Shot on iPhone 6’ Apple World Gallery campaign, which won the prestigious ‘outdoor grand prix’ at the 2015 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in France, simply by showcasing iPhone users’ photos on billboards and posters, creating a much larger impact than when those same photos are simply viewed on a smartphone screen. And at a different scale, Sonic Drive-In’s Big Slushes billboards, which appeared drinkable thanks to the addition of a three-dimensional (3-D) straw, won a 2015 Obie award from the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA).
The power of digital
The use of digital OOH (DOOH) advertising screens continues to grow. While it is important to keep in mind they still represent less than 10 per cent of the total OOH inventory across Canada, despite this relatively small share, studies show almost six out of 10 Canadians in the country’s three largest cities are able to recall DOOH ads on a weekly basis. Even more of them (roughly two-thirds) say they sometimes or always pay attention to DOOH ads, which suggests the medium is not just visible, but also highly engaging. In the U.S., recent studies by Nielsen have shown similar DOOH engagement levels motivating consumers to take action.
There are many creative ways to take advantage of DOOH’s technological capabilities. A recent campaign for Réno-Dépot, for example, illustrated its wide range of in-stock Sico paint colours by attaching a time-lapse camera to a digital billboard to capture photos of the sky, then uploading the images to a server, where software compared the colour of the sky to Sico’s spectrum of paint colours; when the software found a match, it sent an image and a message back to the billboard, so it could display the name and colour of paint closest to the colour of the sky at that time.
The ‘Shot on an iPhone 6’ Apple World Gallery campaign won the prestigious ‘outdoor grand prix’ at the 2015 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in France simply by showcasing iPhone users’ photos on billboards and posters.
Another campaign for Vicks, which ran on digital screens over subway platforms, combined local temperatures and flu data to alert consumers to seasonal symptoms and direct them to the nearest Walmart store to buy DayQuil and NyQuil medications.
Mobile integration
According to ComScore’s MobiLens survey, Canada has one of the world’s highest rates of smartphone adoption, at 79 per cent. This provides a strong opportunity for the context of OOH ads to serve as a stimulus for smartphone-based interactivity. Already, studies show four out of 10 mobile subscribers take some type of action after seeing an OOH ad, such as looking up the promoted product on their phone.
One recent campaign that tapped into mobile interactivity was for John Casablancas Institute (JCI), a private educational facility offering fashion and beauty classes. In May and June, ‘Selfie Check’ posters encouraged prospective students commuting through two Vancouver SkyTrain stations to “apply right now” by snapping their own photos and posting them on social media with the hashtag #JCISelfieCheck. In each station, one poster served as a call to action, while the other featured a ‘makeup mirror.’ Then, JCI staff contacted the interested parties to arrange course applications.
Another example is American Express’ ongoing Cloud 10 OOH and wireless-fidelity (Wi-Fi) program at Toronto Pearson International Airport, which offers complimentary songs and electronic books (e-books) for download before travellers depart.
