| Many of us have grown tired of the hackneyed | | | | in overall OOH advertising. And it is alternative OOH |
| phrase "taking your business to the next level". But in | | | | that people are seeing more and more on their |
| the transportation industry, that phrase still has some | | | | morning train, on the pump at their local gas station, in |
| relevance. | | | | the airport and even in the cab they take to the airport. |
| With digital signage, businesses that move people have | | | | Capturing an Audience on the Move |
| found a new way to, well, move people. By combining | | | | Travelers are a captive audience. Even at the gas |
| valuable information and third-party advertising, | | | | pumps, you're not going anywhere until you've finished |
| electronic signs are transforming the way the | | | | pumping your gas. With digital narrowcasting, the |
| transportation industry communicates with its | | | | businesses that transport people can speak directly to |
| passengers, while simultaneously offering an easy way | | | | this audience using a versatile medium that can inform, |
| to generate extra revenue. | | | | entertain and sell. |
| Reaching People When No One's Home | | | | Unlike posters and billboards, the LCD and plasma |
| It's a fact that people are spending more time out of | | | | screens used in digital signage networks lend |
| their homes than ever before. From their morning | | | | themselves well to segmentation. Consider a typical |
| commute to dining out for lunch and stopping for gas | | | | design: one segment displays a news feed; a ticker |
| or groceries on the way home, most people are out | | | | scrolls the latest headlines, sports scores or stock |
| and about from morning to night. | | | | information; another area displays advertisements. |
| This "out of home" tendency has caused traditional | | | | Now apply this design to the transportation industry |
| advertising (television, newspapers and radio) to lose | | | | and you'll see why digital signage is really taking off. |
| its effectiveness and market share. Technology has | | | | - A commuter train can supply a news feed to its |
| also had a role in diminishing traditional advertising. With | | | | passengers and generate much-needed revenue from |
| PVR and Tivo, who actually watches TV ads? With | | | | third-party advertisers. |
| wireless networks providing instant mobile access to | | | | - A small screen in a cab is an ideal location for |
| the Internet, who reads newspapers anymore? With | | | | advertising. A pilot project in New York City in 2007 |
| the explosion in MP3 players and easy-to-download | | | | showed that the signs can even be GPS-controlled to |
| music and podcasts, who needs radio? | | | | display ads corresponding to the part of the city the |
| Because audiences are tuning out ads more and more | | | | cab is driving in. |
| in traditional media (and now have the ability to skip | | | | - An airport can post notices and give directions to |
| through ads entirely), businesses have increasingly | | | | passengers, carry a news feed, and advertise stores |
| turned to out-of-home (OOH) advertising to try and | | | | and restaurants in the airport. |
| get their message heard. A detailed study by PQ | | | | - A gas station pump can run ads at particular times of |
| Media, a U.S. media research firm, shows the strength | | | | the day that highlight specific products the station sells- |
| of OOH advertising. Since 2002, traditional advertising | | | | the newest blend of coffee in the morning, a new |
| has barely kept pace with GDP growth, while in the | | | | energy drink in the afternoon - or promote the car |
| same period OOH advertising has outpaced the | | | | wash on sunny days or a sale on wiper fluid when it |
| increase in GDP, even reaching double-digit growth in | | | | snows. |
| 2005 and 2006. | | | | By reaching an audience that traditional ads can no |
| According to PQ Media, OOH advertising consists of | | | | longer touch, businesses in the transportation sector |
| two main segments. Static or traditional media include | | | | are poised to take mobile digital signage to new |
| billboards and posters. "Alternative" media include | | | | heights. As the marketing industry expands the public |
| several sub-segments, with Video Ad Networks and | | | | spaces - including planes, trains and automobiles - that |
| Screens (VANS) being the largest category. VANS | | | | digital signage penetrates, and the digital advertising |
| include the arrays of LCD monitors narrowcasting | | | | software that runs the signage becomes ever |
| news clips, sports clips and entertainment interspersed | | | | increasingly able to pinpoint and target audience |
| with infomercials that we encounter daily in airport | | | | segments by demographics that are both time and |
| terminals, retail outlets, fast food chains and even on | | | | location specific, the potential for digital signage to drive |
| commuter trains and the gas pumps. | | | | additional revenue streams has even the most |
| With spending increases like the 27% seen in 2006, it is | | | | seasoned travelers amongst transportation executives |
| the alternative OOH segment that is fueling the growth | | | | flying high. |