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Outdoor ‘Now As Flexible As Broadcast’

Technology is driving the rebirth of outdoor - with growth in the U.S. reaching eight percent over last year, putting outdoor growth second only to the internet - writes Time Europe. By interacting with outdoor ads, consumers can now download music, watch movie trailers or play video games. Signs can send a digital coupon to cell phones, and soon they may start addressing consumers by name.

 

“Outdoor advertising is evolving to a world of two-way advertising very, very fast,” said Stephen Freitas of the Outdoor Advertising Association of America.

Billboards as a medium are changing quickly as well. Outdoor agencies are replacing static boards with digital liquid-crystal-display (lcd) or light-emitting-diode (led) screens that change images every few seconds, allowing marketers to tailor their messages to certain times of the day. “Selling day parts has never been an option for out-of-home advertisers before,” said Jodi Senese, executive vice president of CBS Outdoor.

“An ad medium that historically has been viewed as cumbersome and slow to react is now as flexible as broadcast,” Paul Meyer, worldwide president of Clear Channel Outdoor.

To offset advertisers and privacy advocates’ worries that interactive campaigns could be intrusive, the new interactive outdoor campaigns invite consumers to participate using text messages.