Digisign Digest : First magazine for in-store & outdoor digital signages in India

Interactive

An interactive way of being out-of-home

The new generation of advertisements being populated at locations like restaurants, bars, malls, and health clubs has created a huge market for alternative forms of advertising such as digital signage. There is a rising concern among advertisers about the attention span of the audience towards these signages. To solve this issue, engaging the consumer in new interactive ways, like interactive games, win exciting gifts that did not exist for out-of-home advertisers until recently have been introduced. Grabbing the audiences’ attention, when they would be in the most relaxed state of mind is the idea advertisers should look at implementing. Here, Nayan Bheda describes interactive ways of OOH media.

Interactive out-of-home advertising gives advertisers an immediate call to action for promotions, contests and giveaways, as well as offer coupons and collect vital consumer data directly from an interactive out-of-home digital advertisement.

Eating in a restaurant or going to a pub could now be even more fun because the long wait for food gets interactive! Restaurants and pubs are now introducing interactive out-of-home advertising that keeps the customers occupied. Imagine going to a restaurant to have food and leaving the place with another free meal or drink. Or a restaurant with interactive screens that display menu based on time of the day, showing mouth-watering dishes during lunchtime and mood-elevating drinks in the evening. Nowadays, restaurants have interactive games like bingo, where the customers could buy a bingo ticket and the draw is conducted say in every twenty minutes. This not only interacts directly with the customers but also provides immediate responses.

Housie is a game that is enjoyed by every member of the family. With restaurants introducing housie on their interactive screen could make the whole experience of having food fun and exciting. These tickets could be sold or given along with the menu card and the ‘fun wait’ begins till the food arrives. Along with the numbers flashing on the screen, advertisers can use the other half of the screen and could expect full attention from the customers. This way the advertisers’ message reaches the masses in an interactive way and the masses are awarded with gifts for the interaction taken place.

Similarly, bidding and buying products can keep the audience hooked as well. eBay could tie up with a company’s product and hold an auction on set off interactive screens that could be placed in a restaurant or a pub. Here customers could be asked to bid for a particular product through SMS on a given number that would appear on the screen and every two hours the result could be announced and the winner could be contacted on his or her number. This not only helps advertisers to get an immediate response from its masses but it also helps them to create a niche brand connect.

If you thought these are all concepts, then you are wrong. The fact is that the innovative form of out-of-home advertising is in its nascent stage, but the scope is tremendous considering the fact that retail and hospitality sectors are booming. Out-of-home advertising is estimated to reach Rs 2150 crore by 2010.

Out-of-home advertising vs interactive out-of-home advertising

So, what is the difference between traditional out-of-home advertising and interactive out-of-home advertising? The advertisements that the audience is exposed to while shopping in a mall, coffee shop, at the airports, etc are traditional out-of-home digital signages. These are visual medium of advertising and the new form of these out-of-home advertising is interactive. The content is different from the one that is shown on the traditional screens, which has interactive games, relevant information like horoscopes, news, health tips, etc. The interactive nature of the out-of-home advertising will necessitate the programming in a way that it will engage the viewers effectively. Indeed interactive out-of-home advertising is measurable when compared to outdoor advertising. Interactive out-of-home advertisements are specifically targeted according to the audience and the environment would be controlled by the advertiser himself. In interactive out-of-home advertising, the content will be more focused and the attention spans will be more than five minutes.

Rules of effective OOH digital medium

Location : The single most important factor for interactive OOH digital media is the ‘location.’ The digital signage is to be placed at appropriate locations to have optimum impact. Since it is visual presentation that counts, location is significant. Added to this is the fact that audience is targeted and there is a need to communicate about specific brands. This will enable the advertiser to have a carefully crafted impact in the viewers’ minds.

Content : As content is the king, OOH TV requires focused and niche content and its interactivity entails an unusual concept to engage the customer. It is to be tailor-made to suit the environment of location. The factors such as age group of the viewer, gender, ethnic background, time of the day, when it will be viewed are to be studied to create fitting content.

Networking : To back the broadcast, good networking is basically needed for OOH TV, since it has to be effectively coordinated to transmit the content and advertising. Technologically advanced equipments and gadgets are used. The regular maintenance of this hardware and continuous check help the smooth run for the medium. Centrally monitored systems augment the transmission of content.

Proof-of-Play : The response can be gauged by the conversion of ‘viewer’ to ‘customer.’ The promotion of products or services at the point of purchase will help the advertiser to influence the decision process of the viewer.

Interactivity : The environment is enlivened with the introduction of motion and visual stimuli. As other visual media have already proven, faces on the screen attract attention. Interactive nature of out-of-home advertisements pushes the concept of having promotion of ideas with first hand experience. A good example of interactive out-of-home media could be games like Housie, Ludo or Bingo that could be played with the help of digital signage that would not only engage the viewers but would also generate and amplify their interest. Interactive out-of-home digital is a captive medium that has the chance to clearly articulate the brand value proposition and provide a call to action such as visiting a website, trying the product, etc. With interactive nature of OOH advertising, the focus is on the viewer.

All in all, the medium is beneficial for the advertisers as it is clutter free with highly efficient targeting and cost effective compared to other traditional media. Many multinationals have entered India and they have changed the total scenario of interactive OOH media because they have a global experience in other countries. This, combined with need of brands to communicate effectively, translates into huge potential for interactive OOH advertising.

(Nayan Bheda is president of View 24x7, an Indian digital media company pioneering in technologies and concepts to reach niche target audience of advertisers. Having tied up with some prominent restaurants in Mumbai and entered into business arrangement with established brands like Forbes, eBay, IOL, he is all set to change the rules of the industry. He can be contacted at nayan@intellvisions.com)