Global Innovation
Pumping up the fuel and ads
Gasoline stations are frequently visited by customers in the age group
of 18-55 years and they spend around 4-5 minutes every time. On an
average, each customer visits a gasoline station 5 times a month and
each vehicle has 1-2 occupants. Combined together, it is a big opportunity
for advertisers to put their message across. Static displays can form a
clutter in the surroundings, so gas stations are now opting for dynamic
digital signages, popularly known as gas station TVs.
What makes a gas station different from another?
Service, quality and Gas station TVs, which
inform, entertain and advertise. Daylight viewable
LCD screens and stereo sound integrated into the
pumps make all the difference. It seems as though
gas stations in general are making a big move
towards integrating kiosks and digital signage
systems into their business.
Gas station TVs deliver entertainment, news,
local weather, and advertising to customers as
they fuel-up at the pump. Additionally, these can
advertise products available at the convenience
stores at the petrol pumps. Designed to engage
customers using LCD screens at the pump,
they drive increased return on investment for
advertisers and increased sales for gas station
retailers. This medium, thus, provides both
gas station retailers and advertisers with the
entertainment medium they are seeking to
reach their target audiences.
One of the popular companies offering
these services is Gas Station TV in US,
which is an IP-based digital television
network at the pump. They provide a
programming experience with select news
and entertainment content from the ABC
Television Network, sports from ESPN,
as well as local weather news to engage
customers and enable marketers to connect
with “on-the-go” consumers like no other
media. The content, programmed for a
highly desirable and captive audience, can be
specifically
tailored to
geography and
time of day.
GSTV reaches
the consumer
‘off the couch’
and ready to
take action.
Advertisers
can target receptive audiences, influence and
motivate purchasing decisions. GSTV is currently
on over 4,000 screens in New York, Los Angeles,
Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston,
Detroit, and Tampa at select Chevron, Conoco-
Philips, Citgo, Murphy USA, Speedway, and
Sunoco stations.
And this is possible with the use of digital
signages, specially made for the purpose.
Companies like MediaTile offers GasTV, a
turnkey digital signage solution that can easily
turn existing gas pump stations into a virtual
broadcast network to deliver product and brand
advertisements and increase sales of on-site
products and services. MediaTile GasTV systems
are all-in-one displays that require absolutely
no software installation, system configuration,
network management or technical support to
deploy and operate. It is a pump top add-on unit
that can be easily configured and deployed on
a variety of manufacturer’s specifications and
different sizes and configurations of fuel pumping
stations.
But as they say the world is not enough and so
after tapping the pumps area, now the trend
is towards placing screens inside gas station
convenience stores in addition to ones at
pumps. GSTV has started placing large-format
LCD panels in high-traffic areas inside the
convenience store. They feature well-balanced
mix of news and entertainment from
ABC television, sports highlights
from ESPN, AccuWeather forecasts,
brand advertising and c-store product
promotions.
The way to make this most effective is
to sync the screens to provide the most
appropriate content at the right time.
For example, the screens at pumps
would play advertisements for products
and special deals at the c-store. Inside,
the screens should be focused entirely
on reinforcing those advertisements
and promotions to hit the customer at
their point-of-decision. This onetwo
punch minimizes the chances of
annoying customers at the pump, but
still provides motivation to go into the
store. Once there, the digital signs can
work their magic, improving awareness
and driving sales.
The way India is gearing up for the digital sign
revolution, very soon these gas station TVs would
be seen here as well.
