Title:

Authors:
Source:
Document Type:
Subject Terms:
NAICS/Industry Codes:
Abstract:
Full Text Word Count:
ISSN:
Accession Number:
Database:
Section:
Record: 1
Digital out of home. That's those pixilated billboards, right?
Hampp, Andrew ahampp@adage.com
Advertising Age. 3/30/2009, Vol. 80 Issue 11, p48-48. 1/2p.
Article
*OUTDOOR advertising
*ADVERTISING
QUESTIONS & answers
TELEVISION networks
AUDIENCES
541850 Outdoor Advertising
541890 Other Services Related to Advertising
515120 Television Broadcasting
The article presents questions and answers related to digital out of
home technology including outdoor television networks, advertising in
out of home technology, and measuring television and video audiences.
639
0001-8899
37281080
Business Source Premier
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED: OUT OF HOME
Digital out of home. That's those pixilated billboards, right?
Wrong. Digital out of home is any screen you see in a place-based setting: the in-store networks at your
grocery, taxis and movie theaters. With the formation of the Out-of-Home Video Advertising Bureau in
2007 and buying groups at Havas (MPG's Chrysalis) and Aegis Media (Posterscope's Hyperspace), it's
poised for big growth, too. Veronis Suhler Stevenson recently valued the sector at as much as $2.5 billion
in 2009, while traditional outdoor experiences its rst major revenue declines in decades.
Sounds like a bunch of outdoor TV networks. Who's programming them?
Increasingly, TV networks NBC, ABC and CBS have created their own out-of-home divisions to cross-
promote their prime-time shows in retail, transit and airline venues. But some companies are
experimenting with venue-specic original programming, such as "Waiting For a Ride," a "Hills"-esque
docu-series from youth retail network Access 360 Endemol, producers of "Big Brother" and "Deal or No
Deal" and "The Bite," an "Extra"-like entertainment-news show airing in national restaurant chains such
as Denny's, Hardees and Arby's.
So if it's TV, does that mean I can repurpose my 30-second spot?
Theoretically, yes, but marketers are nding that tailoring their ads to t the particular venue has strong
return-on-investment potential. Lisa Cochrane, VP-marketing at Allstate, said digital out of home has
helped the insurance company make its video ads more contextually relevant. Recent forays include a
rst-quarter campaign with health-club network Ideacast about saving money after the holidays, as well
as several strategic buys in cinema and on Gas Station TV. "We always want to nd a message that ts
with that medium," she said.
Can any digital-out-of-home companies deliver TV-like audience reach on a stand-alone basis?
With the possible exception of National CineMedia or Screenvision, the two largest in-cinema ad rms,
not yet. But as with online video, a network model can help aggregate impressions. Connie Garrido,
president of Chrysalis, is prepping a multimillion-dollar shift of TV dollars into digital out of home for
Schering-Plough, and has met with more than two dozen media companies to determine partners with
the most scale. "We're working with the networks to simplify and streamline the purchasing," she said. "I
could nd things that would make sense for the client, but I will never be able to leverage it unless I'm
able to see what the PR agency's planning, or what digital properties will be surrounding the agency's
campaign that we can leverage." The OVAB's ofcial site, OVAB.org, also has a monthly planning guide
with audience stats and programming highlights.
How do you measure out-of-home video impressions? Is it like broadband video or TV rating
points?
With no standard metric yet in place for digital out of home, the ad model is constantly evolving. The
OVAB introduced its measurement guidelines at a summit in October. The guidelines recommend best
practices for measuring audiences and equating them to other media. "Our No. 1 priority is consistent
and comparable metrics, and educating the network operators and agencies [about] what those are to
provide a framework," said OVAB President Suzanne Alecia. But many companies are turning to custom
studies from Nielsen and Arbitron. Jason Brown, president-sales and marketing, Ideacast, has seen
marketers such as Geico, Sprint, FedEx and Healthy Choice all come to the network on the strength of
custom research that health-club regulars are often light TV viewers at home. "We have realized that our
niche is this mobile professional, who works out in the mornings, watches CNBC on the treadmills, ies
on our airline partners for business trips and stays in hotels, and hardly watches any TV. And if they do
watch TV, they own DVRs," he said.
MORE INFO ON OUT OF HOME
OUT OF HOME VIDEO ADVERTISING BUREAU
www.ovab.org
~~~~~~~~
By Andrew Hampp, ahampp@adage.com
Copyright of Advertising Age is the property of Crain Communications Inc. (MI) and its content may not
be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written
permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.