When executed properly and in the right context, digital signage can leverage sticky content to inform, inspire and motivate. It provides a concrete reason for viewers to return their glances again and again.

What is sticky content? The term comes from Internet lingo. It refers to content added to a website that has the purpose of getting users to return to that particular website and hold their attention longer than just a glance. This is why we commonly see such things as Internet games, weather, news and horoscopes on personalized web portals.

There’s no question that the traits of sticky content can also be useful with many digital signage applications. As many longtime operators of digital signage systems and networks will tell you, advertising loops are not very “sticky” when removed from the context of point-of-sale locations (POS). After all, how many of us flop in front of the television and flip on the “advertising channel” for late night entertainment?

The question we explore today is how this principle of sticky content can be applied to digital signage, and because content matters, what is likely the best sticky content when using digital signage in point-of-wait (POW) and point-of-transit (POT) locations. It’s important to know and distinguish the psychological differences between viewers’ attention spans and perceptions in all three possible contexts of digital signage. If you need to brush up on content guidelines quickly, the Digital Sign Content Best Practices guide from the University of Michigan should help you.

Basically, sticky content is about piggybacking existing content onto another medium to yield a greater value. For example, NASA scientists are considering a plan to piggyback future astronauts on –or even inside- asteroids orbiting between Earth and Mars to shield them from cancer-causing space radiation during trips between the planets.

While the proposal has some disadvantages, it offers the space agency an appealing, elegant way to sidestep problems like building a rocket big enough to boost heavy, man-made shielding into space as part of the spacecraft.

The plan draws on an ancient concept: Piggyback on –or inside- a more powerful object to get to a desired destination. Whether it’s buckling up in our cars, riding an elephant into battle after traversing the Alps, or climbing into a hollow wooden horse and being rolled up to the gates of Troy, the concept of piggybacking has a track record for success.

In the world of digital signage, sticky content piggybacks to your message and plays an important role in yielding a greater viewer value because it delivers something people generally want—to be entertained. Nothing can really do this better than television.

Just as television can inform, motivate and inspire its audience to take action, so too can it enhance your digital signage message. Simply throwing a TV channel on a digital display doesn’t automatically leverage the public’s love affair with TV. However, when executed properly within the agenda of a communication strategy with measureable goals, digital signage content that embraces television can piggyback on its stature in our society to cut through the noise and deliver powerful messages to customers that otherwise might be ignored.

Of course there are both technical and legal challenges that make it imperative to work with professional providers who can properly setup systems, support installations, and create branded playlists with an appropriate mix of content—in other words, providers who are accountable for obtaining results. And fortunately, with today’s digital signage advances, this is much easier than traveling to Mars.

While digital technologies threaten the effectiveness of television advertising, interactive digital signage can amplify the impact of your marketing message.

Television programming is far from passé. Matter in fact, more people than ever are watching TV. For instance, consumers around the world are watching nine more hours of TV than they did in 2011. When you add in films, the average person is now watching 25 hours of TV and movie content a week. That’s great news if you are an advertiser, right? Not so fast.

Something has changed over the last sixty years of primetime television; the days of gathering around a 100-pound TV and eating TV dinners in the living room as a family affair are mostly over. Nonetheless, just over half of us sit and watch traditional live broadcast on televisions in the living room. It’s what we are not watching that may be disturbing to advertisers.

But before we go there, let’s consider the remainder of TV watchers. According to the 2013 report, Motorola Mobility’s Fourth Annual Media Engagement Barometer, almost half of television programming is consumed in other places and on other devices, such as, tablets, smartphones, computers, game consoles and DVRs. For instance, in countries like the United Kingdom, Sweden and Germany, more people consume media via their tablet than the trusty old flat-panel television, regardless if they are in the house or elsewhere.

The problem for advertisers is this: Despite all of the hours people watch television—the actual time spent viewing commercials has dropped precipitously. The aforementioned Motorola study reveals that 29% of all content is viewed after being recorded. And if you are an advertiser, you don’t need to wait until Halloween to be scared of this fact: 68% of global viewers record programming to skip advertisements on commercial channels, rising to 75% and 74% in the UK and US, respectively.

In other words, the viewers who record their favorite television shows on a digital video recorder will fast forward past $12 billion in advertising in 2013. How much of your ad budget will contribute to that sizeable sum?

It should be clear that digital technologies have enabled viewer choice, which is proving to be a challenge for advertisers who are counting on eyeballs being present during sponsored breaks.

With so much at stake, it’s no wonder why marketers are looking for alternate advertising avenues –ones that can target their desired audience, deliver control over playback to defeat ad zapping, and provide interactivity to engage potential customers.

Digital signage offers an appealing alternative –or at least supplement- to traditional television advertising. Delivering valuable product information and appealing marketing messages to consumers with dollars in their hands advances the goal of your advertising message. That’s exactly what digital signage can do in a retail setting.

Add to that the impact of interactivity via a touchscreen interface, and you have a technology to draw in consumers, engage them in your message and ultimately direct their buying decisions. All of this can tie into an omni-channel marketing mix that provides multiple consumer touch points and inputs.

Compared to a digital video recorder and commercial zapping, interactive digital signage offers you a technology for marketing that works with you to capture consumer attention and dollars –not against you. Isn’t it time to consider giving your advertising the Midas touch?

Consumers have changed their diet of media consumption. If you haven't updated your media mix in the last few years, your advertising dollars are being wasted.

Happy with the results from your TV, radio and print advertising? Ever feel like you aren't getting the bang for the buck you envisioned?

Maybe it's time to rethink your media mix. The concept of an advertising media mix is straightforward: Since no one magazine, newspaper, website, or broadcast outlet is likely to zero in on your target customer, choosing a variety of media based upon their ability to reach your desired demographic is more effective.

At leading advertising agencies, building the right media mix has become a near science where days untold time is spent honing, polishing and refining media selections to create a mix with sufficient reach and frequency to deliver. Gaining a thorough understanding of their client's product and universe of customers, analyzing ratings data and circulation statements, and weighing certain intangible benefits each media candidate brings to the table, are but a few of the steps necessary to build the right media mix.

While the process has proven itself to be highly effective over the years, changes in technology that give consumers greater freedom to control media consumption demand new solutions and a rethinking of what goes into an effective media mix. Armed with remotes and digital video recorders, TV viewers easily circumvent commercials. Newspaper and magazine readers are now just a click away from the same content on the Web sans the full- or fractional-page ad adjacent to the article they used to pore over on the printed page. In effect, technology is short circuiting the rather simple media equation that implicitly promised advertisers the attention of customers as they consumed the content their medium had to offer.

Consider the impact of digital video recorders and remotes on the effectiveness of television advertising. A Nov. 13, 2012 AP article in USA Today reports that an estimated 45 percent of all households in the United States are equipped with digital video recorders (DVRs). If that weren't enough to give pause to TV advertisers, another article from the New York Times reports that estimates hold "that 50 percent to 70 percent of viewers playing back shows zip through the commercials."

The story isn't any better in the print world. "The State of the News Media 2012" from stateofthemedia.org puts it bluntly: "News websites saw the greatest growth, while print audiences stood out for their continued decline, which nearly matched the previous year's 5% drop."

We might ask at this point if Americans lost their stomach for news digestion, or have they simply changed their diet? A Pew Research report states that the later is the case. For example, the transition to a full-on digital diet is changing consumption patterns dramatically. More than three-quarters of US adults own a computer. Additionally, about 44% now use smartphones and tablet adoption among adults is hovering around 18%. According to PEJ research, nearly one quarter of the US population gets its news on multiple digital devices. In other words, our digital diet has become a full-course meal.

However, there is a bright spot on the horizon if you have something to advertise, especially for those who are willing to rethink what makes up the media mix. An emerging technology that brings together dynamic display and media control at the point of purchase may be just the ingredient advertisers need to reinvigorate their media mix.

This dynamic medium is referred to most often as digital signage by the industry; however, it goes by different names. In the retail environment, it's called In-Store Digital Media (ISDM). At hotels and resorts, it's known as digital reader boards. In public venues, like a sports arena, it's often called "TV" if the screen is small and "Jumbotron" if it's large. But regardless of what you call it, advertising to people when they're away from home, -often at the point of sale or somewhere close to the product- is where you may find the most bang for your advertising buck.

"Digital signage is the next evolution of multiplatform advertising," according to Frank Dickson, Chief Research Officer with MultiMedia Intelligence. "The integration of IP-based network management allows entire screen deployments to be centrally controlled, allowing for dynamic and simultaneous control of text, video and graphics."

And it's not just about advertising. Digital signage advertising adds value by providing additional information that interests consumers; it can enhance retail ambiance, provide interactive experiences that engage shoppers and provide a better experience.

Maybe it's time you rethink your media mix alternatives. This may be the moment to redirect a portion of your advertising budget away from declining media mainstays and into alternatives on the rise, like digital signage.

A recent survey reveals many retailers aren't exactly where they want to be with their IT technology, including digital signage. These five tips can help.

Retailers realize the important role IT technology, including digital signage, will play in their continued success, but many say they aren't using technology to its full potential.

Those are two important findings of a newly released survey from CompTIA, a non-profit association for the IT industry. The report "Retail Sector Technology Adoption Trends Study," finds that 72 percent of retailers surveyed see technology as important to their business -a level that is expected to grow to 83 percent by 2014. However, only 7 percent say they are exactly where they want to be with the use of technology. Twenty-nine percent say they are close to their ideal application of technology.

The study also reveals that digital signage is seen by retailers as an important part of their IT mix. The CompTIA study finds a third of retailers said they currently use digital signage, and 20 percent intend to begin doing so soon. Seventy-one percent of respondents said the most popular application of digital signage was for announcements of sales and other promotional offers.

Given the survey findings regarding satisfaction with how well technology is being used and the importance of digital signage to retailers, the need for some advice on how to make the most out of digital signage technology seems apparent. These five tips should help put retailers on the right track.

First, digital signage technology is irrelevant without great content. Obviously, it's not enough to hang flat panel monitors and install digital signage players. Care must be taken to engage customers with interesting, appealing content.

Second, digital signage content must remain fresh, especially in a retail store where many people will visit repeatedly over time. Remember to mix it up. Playing back the same content day after day soon grows stale and may actually drive customers away.

Third, digital signage requires someone to take responsibility for it, both in terms of content and technology. Granted, these probably won't be the same people, but that makes no difference. What is important is that digital signage isn't just another in a long line of responsibilities some IT person has on a checklist.

Fourth, digital signage should offer consistency of messaging across multiple locations but still allow for an element of local control. For large retail chains, centralized control over signs at individual locations from a corporate network operations center will help to ensure messages remain consistent at all locations or groups of locations. However, it also is important to provide some local control to meet fast-changing communications needs at individual store locations.

Fifth, digital signage messaging should complement the overall communications strategy of the retailer. Sending disparate or contradictory messages to potential customers via TV advertising and on-location digital signs can be perplexing to customers at best and actually discourage them from visiting the store again worst.

To be sure, retailers who say they are not getting what they want from the IT technology they've implemented are concerned with far more than just digital signage technology. But to the degree that they use or plan to use digital signage in the future, the five tips offered here should improve their satisfaction with how this powerful communications medium is performing.

The latest data from PQ Media reveal 2011 was a good year for digital out-of-home advertising, and 2012 is on track to be even better.

While stock markets around the world retrace, the financial picture of Greece and Spain flounders and the world holds its collective breath waiting to see if there'll be an attack on Iran and a spike in oil prices, there is a piece of outstanding economic news for those involved in the place-based digital media market.

2011 was a great year for digital out-of-home advertising, and this year is setting up to be even better. Data from PQ Media released in April show that global digital place-based networks, billboards and signage operators saw revenue grow by 15.3 percent to $6.97 billion last year. This year, the revenue figure is projected to be even better, growing 19.2 percent.

In the United States, DOOH operator revenue climbed by 11.2 percent last year. According to PQ Media, an econometric research and consulting service in Stamford, CT, digital billboard operators saw double-digit revenue growth and operators of place-based networks saw a high single-digital rate of growth.

According to the PQ Media "Global Digital Out-of-Home Media Forecast 2012-16," the compound annual global growth rate for the five year period will be 13.7 percent. Much of the revenue growth appears tied to a recognition of how important it is to reach consumers outside the home where they make purchases. "While TV remains the 800-pound gorilla of ad-based media due to its reach, scarcity and measurement, DPNs (digital place-based networks) offer brands opportunities to extend their reach by engaging target consumers with contextually relevant content in venues outside the home," said PQ Media CEO Patrick Quinn.

Digital signage networks were one of the fastest-growing ad-based media in the United States last year. While PQ Media acknowledged a deceleration in the rate of growth in the second half of 2011 due to cyclical economic events, it found digital place-based networks experienced a revenue increase of 10.7 percent from 2006 to 2011.

According to PQ Media, digital place-based networks are likely to benefit indirectly from the Summer Olympics in London and the U.S. political campaign this fall. Both traditionally inject significant revenue into local television stations as well as cable and broadcast networks. This time around, however, PQ Media foresees a scarcity of TV inventory. As a result, major brands squeezed off television could be forced to consider other video platforms, such as digital place-based networks, said Quinn.

The latest revenue tally from PQ Media is another in a growing string of positive developments over the past couple of years for the digital signage industry. Together, they wins demonstrate that digital placed-based media is a viable and being taken seriously by companies with products to sell and the advertising agencies they hire.

The growing availability of audience metrics for digital place-based media is adding a sense of legitimacy about this new medium for those who control where ad dollars get spent. The PQ Media ad revenue numbers, therefore, shouldn't be too surprising.

Going forward, the next big test for this medium will likely be whether or not those responsible for buying ads will reallocate dollars from television to digital place-based media.

With the possibility of too few available commercial slots on TV in the second half of the year, there might be a hint as to whether digital place-based media can begin taking on the "800-pound gorilla" and winning.

Digital signs give retailers a powerful way to communicate with retail shoppers as they act out on their impulses to buy unplanned-for items.

If there were ever a question about whether or not it makes sense to communicate with customers via digital signs in retail stores, a new survey from the Integer Group and M/A/R/C should leave no doubt.

According to The Checkout, an ongoing shopper behavior survey, nine out of 10 shoppers report buying an item not on their shopping list. The research reveals several reasons why. Sixty-six percent of respondents reported buying off-list items because of a special sale or promotion; 30 percent said they did so because of a coupon offer; and 23 percent said they wanted to pamper themselves.

Digital signs are a great vehicle for retailers to tap into the opportunity this consumer behavior presents. They are a natural when it comes to presenting special promotions. Ditto for coupons. They can be tied into coupon-dispensers or used to display virtual coupons based on QR codes that can be photographed with a mobile phone camera and displayed at the checkout stand. And they certainly are a powerful medium when it comes to presenting products in their best possible light to tap into the desire by many shoppers to pamper themselves.

Craig Elston, senior vice president with Integer summed it up this way: "Our data shows 61 percent of off-list shoppers purchase an additional one to three items. This shows that if you reach a particular shopper at the right moment with the right message --for example, using in-store signage to play into their desire to pamper themselves, it can end with that item being added to their basket."

For retailers, this sort of data is critically important as they evaluate their marketing budgets and make decisions about the return they can expect for their investment in digital signage technology. Without data on consumer buying behavior and how many more items shoppers are likely to buy, calculating an ROI equation of digital signage becomes an exercise focused on identifying costs of competing alternatives and determining which is the most attractive.

With findings like those presented in the latest Integer Group- M/A/R/C research, it is possible to add an evaluation of potential added revenue to the mix. It would be helpful in future studies if these researchers or others could compare the effectiveness of competing signage solutions, i.e. traditional printed signage, Duratrans backlit signs, digital signage and others. Insight into the average dollar value of additional items purchased would be helpful as well.

Even without that data, however, it's not a stretch to say that all things being equal, digital signage should produce the most attractive ROI in retail. After all, it is more responsive to changing messaging needs, is less expensive to use in terms of updating messages, and can be centrally controlled with local input to provide messaging consistency across retail chain locations while still offering an avenue for individual stores to respond to local needs.

The new Integer-M/A/R/C data should motivate retailers to re-examine how they are informing, educating and enticing consumers at the point of purchase. If dynamic messaging on digital signs in retail isn't part of the mix, retailers should reevaluate their approach to maximize their presence at the point where shoppers reach into their back pockets or purses and act on their impulse to buy.

Digital signage communicators must begin looking for ways to leverage the ubiquity of smartphones and media tablets.

If you are like me and drawn to science fiction, fascinated by quirky views of the future, you might remember a mid-1980s TV show called Max Headroom. While the particulars of the series have blurred in my memory over the years, the one thing that hasn’t is the ubiquity of television in the society portrayed in the show.

I’m not talking television simply being convenient; in the world explored in the series, TV literally seemed to be everywhere. Not just in homes and apartments, but on the streets, resting on a pile of trash, in the trunk of a car. You get the idea. It was impossible to get away from the blasted things.

That feeling of society being overwhelmed by the tube –now there’s an antiquated term- seemed so impossible, so remote, so “sci-fi” just a couple of decades ago. But today, I would argue, we are well on our way to similar television omnipresence.

In May 2011, the Nielsen Company estimated the number of TV households in the United States to be more than 114 million, or 96.7 percent of all households in the country. In January of the same year, Nielsen estimated there to be on average 2.5 TVs per U.S. household. Impressive, but nowhere near ubiquitous –at least not by “Headroomian” proportions.

But TV households don’t tell the whole story. According to an online Time Business article published a few weeks ago, Apple has sold 55 million iPads in the two years they have existed. When all media tablets –not just the iPad- are factored in, market research firm IHS iSuppli projects that 275 million tablets will be sold by 2015, or about 16 times the number shipped in 2010.

Getting a little closer to ubiquity? Perhaps, but don’t forget about smartphones. A CNN report from July 2011 quotes a report from the Pew Internet and the American Life Project estimating 35 percent of Americans own a smartphone. Another study from research firm In-Stat, quoted in an August 2011 CNET article, forecasts that 65 percent of Americans, some 200 million people, will have smartphones and/or tablets by 2015.

Now, it seems to me, we are approaching the Headroom threshold of TV ubiquity. Granted they are more likely to take the form of a sleek tablet, smartphone or flat panel TV than a beat up set teetering on a mound of broken TVs in an alleyway, but ubiquitous nonetheless.

This sort of near omnipresence would seem to raise a fundamental question for digital signage communicators: What is the value of communicating via a digital sign, if hundreds of potentially competing screens are literally a few feet away in the pockets and purses of passersby?

I would argue digital sign communication is not threatened by the broad availability of smartphones and media tablets, but potentially enhanced in at least three important ways.

First, those portable devices offer a means for digital signage communicators in the future to continue their dialog with their audience once they leave the store, arena, lobby or other venue.

Second, if television-viewing habits are any indication, many people don’t replace their TV viewing with online viewing, they complement it. Millions of people today regularly interact with their friends online via Facebook and other social media about a show while they are watching. It’s not too far-fetched to envision similar sorts of interaction while in front of a digital sign, depending upon the circumstance.

Third, total viewing time of video entertainment is increasing. Rather than cannibalizing an existing audience, new media devices are driving greater viewing. For digital signage communicators, this increased viewing means it should be easier, not harder to attract people who have demonstrated a willingness to watch media on flat screens.

To me, it seems the Headroom-like availability of screens on the whole will complement the communications efforts of those who market and message with digital signs. Not embracing the ubiquity of these screens and looking for ways to leverage them would represent a major missed opportunity.

Like any other aspect of business, successfully deploying digital signs hinges on achieving an acceptable return on investment on both the technology and the content to be displayed.

The use of digital signage is varied and diverse, which means the background, knowledge and skill brought to creating content to be delivered via this powerful medium is just as diverse and varied.

Consider the stark differences between a four-star hotel chain that's decided at the corporate level to use digital signs throughout its properties to welcome guests, offer wayfinding and promote various features and amenities. Now think about the local sports bar that's added digital signs to promote featured drinks and menu items while patrons quench their thirst and watch the game.

These are two entirely different types of businesses, with dramatically different resources to spend on digital signage content, varied levels of experience with using media to reach the public and quite diverse ideas about what they would like to accomplish with digital signs.

Regardless of these differences, however, the hotel chain and single sports bar -along with all other digital signage users- should share one common characteristic when it comes to digital signage: They need to determine their return on investment -not simply on the hardware and software needed but also on the digital content to be used.

Determining ROI on digital signage hardware and software is pretty straightforward. Simply divide the expense of both by their anticipated useful life in months or years. (For this example, I'll use months.) Then subtract this monthly expense from the revenue generated by the digital signs and divide this difference by the monthly expense.

For example, the ROI of a simple, single-sign system costing $6000 for hardware, software and display would look like this. Assuming a useful life of five years, or 60 months, $100 of expense should be assigned to each month of the system's useful life. If the sign generates an additional $150 in business per month, then the ROI in this example is 50 percent [that is $150 (revenue) - $100 (monthly expense of signage) = $50/$100 (monthly expense of signage) = .5].

The same sort of ROI equation can be applied to digital signage content; however, there are a few wrinkles to consider that make doing so a little trickier. First, consider that the useful life of content will be far shorter than that of the hardware and software. To be effective, that is to consistently attract the attention of patrons, content must be fresh and relevant. Thus, in a retail setting, the useful life of content will likely be measured in weeks, and possibly even days during certain times of the year.

Second, the expense side of the equation is a little more complex when it comes to digital signage content. For instance, will content be created in-house or by an outside agency? If in-house, will a new employee be required, or will an existing graphic artist take on the responsibility. Will elements of content created once be repurposed again and again in successive campaigns, thus requiring apportionment of content expenses across multiple uses? Will "free" content, such as an RSS feed, be leveraged in some campaigns and not others, thus impacting digital content expenses differently? Will the digital content be used across in multiple locations so a portion of the expense can be assigned to each location?

Third, digital signage content frequently has nothing to do with commerce. When revenue generation is not the goal of the sign, determining the ROI on content gets a little squishy. Considerations such as goodwill created among the public are much harder to quantify than dollars and cents.

Even though determining the return on investment of creating digital signage content can be difficult, it is essential. After all, doing so is the logical first step in assessing the value of any given digital signage content campaign.

Results of a new survey from GfK MRI reveals six in 10 U.S. adults have seen place-based digital video advertising within the past 30 days.

How important is out-of-home advertising (OOH) becoming in the United States? Results of a new study from GfK MRI finds quite important actually.

Nearly 61 percent of U.S. adults report having seen a place-based digital ad on a video screen in a public place in the past 30 days, the research found. Of those, 64 percent expressed interest in this type of communications.

Pause for a moment to consider these findings. How often did you see a digital sign in public 10 years ago? How about five years ago? Not only do these findings reveal that some 138.5 million U.S. adults have seen a video ad on a digital sign within the past month, but they also demonstrate that out-of-home video displays and ad networks have slowly and quietly crept into a place of prominence in our culture that likely will soon evolve into ubiquity. How in the world did we get here?

It would be easy to enumerate a list of reasons. I've done so in the past in this space. Reasons like reaching consumers at the point of sale with targeted video messaging, the availability of new place-based media audience metrics and evolving attitudes of professional media buyers come to mind.

But there is a much more fundamental reason that digital signage and place-based advertising has grown to the point that six in 10 Americans report seeing a video ad on these screens within the past 30 days. That reason is place-based advertising and digital signs work -without a question- and that fact is being realized by everyone from merchants to vendors, ad agency executives to mall owners.

Don't overlook the significance of this recognition of the effectiveness of the powerful duo of digital signs and video advertising. Years of effort on multiple fronts ranging from actually deploying digital signage networks, to measuring audiences to educating those in control of ad budgets about this emerging medium, is coming to fruition. Findings like those of GfK MRI indicate that this form of advertising is on the downhill side of the transition from avant-garde to tried-and-true. With this acceptance comes success. "Place-based digital is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the advertising industry," a press release announcing the survey findings quotes Scott Turner, SVP of Agency and Advertiser Sales at GfK MRI, as saying.

The survey also examined where respondents reported seeing place-based video advertising. The No. 1 location was grocery stores with nearly 32 percent saying they had seen a video ad in the previous 30 days. Quick service/casual dining restaurants, warehouse/club stores, shopping malls, pharmacies and coffee shops/cafes or delicatessens, followed in that order, as the most likely place consumers viewed place-based video ads.

As time goes on, I would not be surprised to see the list of locations where consumers recall seeing place-based video ads grow significantly. Already digital signage networks at gas pumps are a reality and convenience store signage is popping up around the country. Other place-based locations are sure to follow. Even as the number of locations grows, new ways to exploit the power of digital signage advertising will be developed, such as smartphone-driven interactivity, which will elevate this medium further.

Digital signage and place-based video advertising has come a long way to achieve this level of prominence. The future is bright, and there surely is more success to follow.

In early July, the Digital Place-based Advertising Association released results from a survey showing just how important digital-out-of-home media is becoming to professional media planners.

Digital placed-based media, long in its ascendency as a legitimate advertising medium, appear poised to enter an entirely new realm of acceptance among professional media planners, according to a survey released in early July from the Digital Place-based Advertising Association (DPAA).

According to the survey, 86.3 percent of media planning respondents said they intend to use digital place-based media as part of their media plans in 2012, a jump from 75.5 percent who said their 2011 media plans include digital place-based media and 65.3 percent from 2010.

To be sure, the percentages revealed by the survey show digital placed-based media has come into its own as a legitimate advertising vehicle. But what is even more stunning is that the survey found 44 percent of media planners plan to shift dollars once allocated to the granddaddy of electronic media, namely television, to fund their digital place-based media buys.

TV ranked second among existing media that media planners intended to tap for funding their digital place-based media plans. Topping the list was outdoor advertising from which 54 percent said they would shift funds. Digital/online ranked third with nearly 23 percent identifying it as the source of funds. Fewer than 20 percent said they would not shift dollars to fund their plans for digital place-based media.

According to a press release announcing the results of the survey, DPAA president Susan Danaher sees that 20 percent figure as particularly significant because it indicates media planners view digital place-based media as being included from the outset as part of their of media plans, not an afterthought to be funded by simply reallocating dollars.

I see these survey findings as the latest in a line of data points indicating that digital-out-of-home advertising is coming into its own as an advertising medium. Others include progress in audience measurement technologies and techniques and the collection of audience metrics by The Nielsen Company.

These DPAA findings confirm that digital-out-of-home advertising has long ago transitioned from a quirky concept that a handful of avant-garde media planners would experiment with to the mainstream of media alternatives.

The findings also raise in my mind a question about the 14 percent of media buyers who don’t plan to use digital place-based media. It would be easy to assume that they simply will be latecomers to the party when they ultimately recognize the value digital place-based media bring their clients.

But I suspect at least a portion of the holdouts may work on accounts for whom digital place-based media just doesn’t make sense, i.e. an online insurance company with no field agents, a credit monitoring service company or some other business with no physical presence in the proximity of its customers.

The survey was taken online May 6-June 6 by the association among about 1000 strategic media planners nationwide. One can only wonder if media buyers with clients who have no face-to-face customer interaction were removed from the sample what tiny percentage  would have no plans for digital place-based media next year.

A new report from IMS Research forecasts dramatic growth in digital signage over the next few years thanks to growing acceptance of the medium as a valuable ad delivery mechanism.

Whether your operation is a mom-and-pop store or a highfalutin retailer, take note. Digital signage is expected to see some remarkable growth over the next few years and much of that growth will come from retail.

A newly released report from IMS Research concludes that after a couple of sluggish years, the worldwide digital signage market will see growth in excess of 40 percent in 2013 to reach a total of $7 billion. And an important component of that market will be in the retail sector.

According to the research firm, which laid out its forecast in "The World Market for Digital Signage, 2011 Edition," an important reason for the growth is that digital signage is now entering the mainstream of media, which are regularly considered and evaluated by ad agencies and marketers for their advertising purchases.

"There is increasing recognition that it is a valuable tool for directly interacting with audiences, and providing a compelling additional dimension to augment overall advertising placements across media," a press release announcing the findings quotes Shane Walker, director of the Consumer Electronics Group at IMS Research, as saying.

With that growing recognition of the value of digital signage as an advertising medium, it's not too surprising that IMS Research found strong growth in the retail sector.

The new study shows that of all the vertical markets for digital signage, retail continues to be the largest, accounting for just under 25 percent of all digital signage hardware and software sales. By the end of 2015, IMS Research forecasts retail will remain the dominant sector of the digital signage market, reaching nearly $2 billion.

Long recognized as a fundamental strength of digital signage in retail, the ability to reach shoppers at the point of sale with a message aimed at influencing their final buying decision is likely to benefit from a trend that is in its infancy at home, but soon is likely to become commonplace: TV Everywhere.

Cable, Telco and satellite television providers have been promoting the concept of TV Everywhere for the past year or so. Perhaps you are familiar with the commercials. A TV viewer witnesses a raging battle between two robotic-looking creatures in his kitchen. As one appears to get the upper hand and slams his opponent through the wall, the viewer pauses the action with his remote control and walks into an adjacent room, where he hits the play button and the fight resumes.

Commercials like these are building awareness among television viewers that they are no longer chained to one TV set to watch a show. Rather they now for the ability to not only resume programming they are watching from set to set as they walk through their homes, but also access and resume a program on their laptop computers, smartphones or media tablets that they started to watch on their TVs.

Now extend this "TV Everywhere" concept to the realm of commercial messages and take that every-access notion to the retail store aisle with a digital signage end cap. Imagine how brand awareness campaigns in the home could morph into a product-specific offer at the point of purchase.

As Walker of IMS Research put it in the press release: "The tools are available today to create a consistent campaign that can reach an audience multiple times while in transit through billboards, street furniture, metro displays, video walls and in-store kiosks, all the while becoming more targeted through mobile device interaction. This experience will culminate in the customer reaching a touch-enabled screen at the point-of-sale where inventory can be checked and an order placed."

The synergy between digital signs and smartphones is attractive to shoppers and marketers alike, but will recent headlines and privacy concerns diminish the prospects of this relationship?

Over the past few months, various commentators have discussed the synergy that can be created when digital communications between digital signs and cellphones is enabled -via a Bluetooth connection or other wireless means.

The concept makes perfect sense. Enabled with this capability, digital out-of-home signs add new value for viewers and communicators alike. For instance, in a store communications between digital signs and cellphones can be used to enhance the experience of a shopper by adding handheld interactivity, delivering custom promotional messages or imparting some other form of value to the customer. One often cited example is transmitting a digital coupon to a shopper within proximity of sign, such as a coupon for a particular deli item from a digital sign near the deli counter.

Another interesting possibility is allowing shoppers to interact with a digital sign set up with kiosk-like interactivity directly from their smartphones. This approach extends the interactive reach of a kiosk from the touchscreen interface of a digital sign into the palm of the hand of the shopper holding the smartphone.

A recent press release from a vendor offering a solution that ties mobile and digital signs together in this fashion quotes a recent ad forecast from Magna Global. The research firm found mobile and digital out-of-home advertising currently are the second and third fastest-growing advertising mediums of all possible ad vehicles. According to the findings, mobile ads are expected to grow 19.4 percent from 2011 to 2016. The forecast for DOOH ad growth during the period is 15.2 percent. It would seem that leveraging the two by combining them to deliver handheld interactivity, coupons and other promotional messaging would be a marriage made in heaven.

Not only does this arrangement benefit shoppers as they are making their purchasing decisions, but it also gives marketers unprecedented access to information about shoppers. For example, the vendor offering this solution says its product in effect conducts real-time market research while delivering targeted messaging to consumer smartphones. By tracking which messages shoppers respond to on their smartphones, marketers have a way to track instantly the effectiveness of various digital signage ad campaigns.

I was enthusiastic about the prospects of this marriage, until the other day when major media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, Guardian, The Associated Press and many others, began reporting on Apple iPhones' tracking the location of owners. That report was quickly followed by other stories reporting on Google's data collection efforts with Android Phones.

I'm certainly not a Luddite, and I see the real benefits of tapping into the synergies created when mobile phones and digital signs talk. But I am also not unaware of the potential of this iPhone and Android issue to impact the success of this smartphone-digital signage marriage. Already some countries in Europe are calling for investigations to determine if tracking and collecting data by Apple and Google violates any privacy laws.

While I understand the data collected by interaction between smartphones and digital signs doesn't have to be tied to any information stored on the phone, but rather simply anonymous tallies of interactions with signs, I wonder if the public will distinguish between the two. Or, will it simply lump them together as invasions of privacy?

I wonder if as sometimes happens in real nuptials if outside circumstances will turn the wedded bliss of smartphones and digital signs into an unholy union? Will the flap over iPhone and Android Phones collecting personal data sour the public on the idea of interacting with digital signs via their cellphones? Only time will tell, but I fear this promising marriage could ultimately be burdened with unfounded public suspicion that leads to a less than fulfilling lifetime partnership.

The latest figures from The Nielsen Company not only show remarkable growth in audience exposure in Q4 2010 versus the same quarter the previous year, but also that such networks deliver verifiable audiences.

The Nielsen Company, the organization most people know for measuring TV viewership, has some good news for the digital signage industry -and it's not trivial.

In the fourth quarter of 2010, a metric the company dubs the "average minute audience" of those 18 years old or older at a dozen measured "location-based networks" climbed almost 250 percent compared to the same metric measured at eight such networks in Q4 2009. Translating that into something a little more understandable, Nielsen says the metric means that for the quarter there were more than 500 million gross minute exposures per month.

The findings, part of "The Nielsen Company's Fourth Screen Network Audience Report," are significant, not simply because of the remarkable growth exhibited year over year, but also because the numbers exist at all.

Whether you call them "location-based networks," "digital place-based networks" or "digital signage networks," one thing essential for legitimacy has been missing for far too long -that is until The Nielsen Company applied its audience measurement expertise to the medium. That ingredient is verifiable audience metrics that media professionals at ad agencies and inside corporate marketing departments can use to make informed decisions about where to spend their ad dollars.

In a blog entry on the Nielsen website describing the findings, Mike DiFranza, president of Captivate and chairman of the Digital Place-based Advertising Association (DPAA) is quoted as saying "quality audience metrics are the foundation of every media investment." Together with consumer research the Nielsen audience metrics are "key elements" for digital place-based networks "to be planned alongside traditional media," he added.

It's hard to imagine any statement being more on-target when it comes to the significance of verifiable audience metrics for the continuing and future success of this emerging medium. I suspect many people reading this column may intellectually grasp the concept, but have little or no firsthand experience with media buyers.

As someone who has worked with ad agencies on and off throughout my career, let me attest to the pride ad professionals take in being able to read audited (that is, independently verified) circulation statements of print publications and examine ratings books of electronic media to identify vehicles that deliver their clients' identified target markets. Critical to this process is the media outlet actually delivering the audience it says it delivers. That's where ratings, circulation statements and now "fourth screen audience reports" become essential.

In its blog posting Nielsen does a nice job of highlighting some of the report's critical findings, so there's no need to rehash that data here. I recommend spending a moment reading the Nielsen blog posting to learn the specifics.

One final thought -for those considering rollout of new digital signage networks, examining the list of businesses and venues Nielsen measured for the performance of similar deployments might be valuable. Doing so should provide some insight on what might be possible. Nielsen gathered its audience metrics from digital place-based networks in a variety of venues, including: retail, airports, health clubs, gas stations, bars and restaurants, hotels, health clubs and stadiums. Specific companies measured, included: Best Buy, CNN Airport Network, Zoom Fitness, Outcast/Pump Top, TouchTunes Interactive Networks, indoorDIRECT, The Hotel Networks, TargetCast, RMG Fitness, Outcast: Health Club Media Network, AMI and Access-360 AMNTV.

The easiest way to boost the impact of an ad campaign may be to add out-of-home advertising to the mix, according to a new study.

Want to boost sales? How about double or even triple them? A new analysis of 600 case studies of marketing campaigns, including 43 in the United States, by British media research firm BrandScience has a suggestion: add out-of-home advertising to the media mix.

The reason, it turns out, is pretty straightforward. People spend many of their waking hours away from home, and if influencing them when they are making their final purchasing decisions is an important goal, it only makes sense to move the point-of-presence of an ad or marketing message closer to point-of-presence of their wallets.

Sounds good in theory, but what about real dollars and cents? Turns out the research firm shed some light on the economic impact of out-of-home advertising as well. For each dollar spent on out-of-home advertising, an average of $2.80 is received in product sales, according to the research.

Keep in mind the BrandScience research was sponsored by the Outdoor Advertising Association of America. Still, the findings make sense - particularly to someone like me who has written copiously on the power of reaching people at the point of sale with digital signage messaging as they are making their final purchasing decisions.

Not only can out-of-home advertising reach shoppers at or very near the point of sale, but this form of advertising also can reinforce ad messages delivered via TV and other media, effectively extending the duration the ad campaign is remembered by the public. The research found that when a high proportion of out-of-home media is used as part of media mix, the effectiveness of an ad campaign increases.

According to the study, sales tripled when spending on out-of-home ads moved from a low amount to a medium amount. Additionally, the study found sales more than doubled when a high amount was spent on out-of-home ads.

The research also offered some advice about how to allocate ad budgets to maximize return on investment. The best ROI is achieved when overall ad spending is low and the proportion of out-of-home media used in the mix is high.

Rather than get caught up in the minutia of the research, it may be wiser to consider the bigger picture. That is even as evidence mounts that out-of-home advertising is an important part of an ad mix, critical pieces of the puzzle professional ad buyers need to evaluate digital signage advertising networks and a variety of audience metrics measuring technologies are falling into place.

As I've previously written, technology is helping to quantify digital signage audiences and even qualify them in terms that make sense to ad agencies that are accustomed to reading reliable circulation statements and examining Nielsen ratings to make logical decisions about ad placements for their clients.

Taken together with the latest research from BrandScience, these tools help to make clearer for the professional ad community just how important it is to add out-of-home media, like digital signage, to the media mix.

With research, such as the study from BrandScience, that quantifies the exact dollar return for every dollar spent on out-of-home, this medium is impossible to ignore for agencies seeking the best advertising solutions for their clients.

As mobile media makes inroads into the public consciousness, digital sign communicators can use relevancy and timeliness to cut through the clutter.

One open secret about the success of dynamic signage as an out-of-home medium is that often the audience for the signs does not have a whole lot of choice when it comes to selecting what media to consume.

That's not to say dynamic sign viewers are a "captive audience," but they often have been easy to grab because they typically didn't have other video-based media competing for their attention. Congregating in lobbies, cafeterias, medical and dental waiting rooms, car dealer service areas and other common areas, many members of digital signage audiences welcomed the chance to let their attention focus on the sign rather than reading a newspaper of magazine they may have already seen.

But that's all changing. Wireless 3G and 4G networks turn mobile phones into media players, and YouTube, Hulu, and other video Web portals make Internet TV easy to access. Add to that the fact that new mobile digital TV broadcasting capable of delivering local TV broadcasts to personal/portable devices is right around the corner.

Suddenly, just having a digital sign located where people congregate isn't good enough. Suddenly, there is competition for the attention of viewers. Suddenly, it's more important than ever to create fresh content that is relevant to the intended audience of the digital sign and to make sure it is timely.

A recent article in a Connecticut college newspaper discussed the attempt of the leader of a student government group to build support among school administrators for installing digital signage on campus. The student government leader saw digital signs as a way of building school spirit and creating a more unified campus community. As part of the effort, students were surveyed to find out what they thought about the idea.

Of 400 students polled, 56 percent said they thought digital signage would likely raise awareness among students about the goings on around campus - a respectable finding for proponents of digital signage.

Another finding, however, speaks to the importance of keeping digital signage content timely, relevant and informative. Respondents to the survey told researchers that the effectiveness of any digital sign installed on campus would be tied closely to updating information regularly on the signs.

The college students responding to the survey expressed an opinion that's likely to grow increasingly prevalent among digital signage audiences as wireless video media become available to a growing segment of the population. For dynamic signage content to be consumed, it needs to be fresh and a valuable source of information. Otherwise, the audience that once could only choose between a back issue of some mildly interesting magazine and a dynamic video sign may increasingly turn to a third alternative, namely personal mobile media devices.

For some digital sign communicators, the concept of competition for attention may be a foreign one. But the evolving media landscape in this nation that's putting video content within easy reach of anyone on the go is changing all that. It's time to redouble efforts to keep digital signage content relevant, fresh and interesting.

A new study from Clear Channel Communications and MarketShare Partners demonstrates the benefits marketers can expect from adding out-of-home advertising to their media mix.

Marketers looking for evidence that out-of-home advertising can improve sales and amplify the effectiveness of their other advertising need look no further than a new study from Clear Channel Communications and MarketShare Partners.

The study, "How Out-of-Home Advertising Works," examines the return on investment of using out-of-home advertising as an ingredient in a larger marketing mix. Specifically, the report finds that OOH advertising provides a significant, incremental sales lift that equals, or is often greater than, other drivers.

"After careful analysis of thousands of marketing optimization models, and considering decades of research and applied marketing science, independent research from MarketShare Partners conclusively shows that OOH is an effective marketing vehicle and should be included as a component of the optimal marketing mix across a broad range of industries," said Debbie Reichig, senior vice president of Business Development and Marketing at Clear Channel Outdoor.

So what can marketers expect from OOH advertising? Quite a lot, actually. A press release announcing the report outlines some key benefits, including:

• Adding OOH in the media mix, for industries and products where it provides observable sales lift, makes other media more effective.
  
•  OOH can provide a significantly higher sales lift in conjunction with TV when the creative messaging is coordinated across platforms.
  
• OOH can provide a significantly higher sales lift in conjunction with radio when there is a call to action.

As I've discussed before, out-of-home advertising using a medium such as digital signage networks is making great strides these days. Recent developments in technologies and techniques to count audience elevate the stature of OOH advertising in the minds of marketers and ad agencies alike.

The latest study from Clear Channel Communications and MarketShare Partners advances the medium further still. It not only demonstrates how OOH ads can provide a sales lift when used together with radio and TV advertising, but it makes specific recommendations on the optimum allocation of marketing resources to out of home.

The study finds the best allocation of marketing dollars to OOH advertising falls somewhere between 5 percent and 25 percent of the total advertising budget for most products and brands.

While some may discount this study as self-serving - after all Clear Channel Communications recently announced its recommitment to OOH ad networks and is one of the largest purveyors of outdoor advertising in the world - to do so would be shortsighted in my opinion. Sure this company has an interest in OOH advertising, but both Clear Channel and MarketShare Partners have an equally strong interest in protecting their reputation in the industry. To do anything other than to look honestly and completely at OOH advertising in the report would be harmful to both enterprises.

I applaud the companies and the release of "How Out-of-Home Advertising Works." The study offers the advertising and marketing communities key insights at this important stage in the development of OOH advertising on digital signage networks. Not only does the study demonstrate how OOH advertising can help marketers achieve their goals, it quantifies what portion of their ad budgets should be allocated to this medium to maximize the effectiveness of their advertising efforts.

Clear Channel Outdoors' announcement last week of its new National Sales Group is a clear sign that digital signage networks are maturing as a serious medium.

Clear Channel Outdoors, one of the world's largest outdoor advertising firms with nearly one million displays in more than 50 countries, announced Sept. 15 it has setup a new business unit focused on helping advertisers and ad agencies plan, buy and implement "multiplatform and multimarket out-of-home campaigns."

According to a press release announcing the creation of the Clear Channel Outdoor National Sales Group, or NSG, one important reason for the move is the availability of new audience-measurement technologies that will assist advertisers and agencies in quantifying the size of the audience they can reach.

As I've pointed out in other columns over the past few years, for digital signage ad networks to take off, advertisers must achieve a new level of comfort with digital signage as a serious advertising medium, and that acceptance hinges on delivering quantifiable measurement of audience size and viewing duration.

For those with only a passing familiarity with the ad industry drawn from television, newspapers, magazines, the Internet and the radio, advertising might seem a bit quirky, somewhat glitzy and even whimsical. But nothing could be further from the truth. Those same ad agencies that develop campaigns featuring everything from a female plumber named Josephine (I'm showing my age with that one.) to little a little green reptile selling car insurance are quite down-to-earth, no-nonsense types when it comes to identifying target audiences and reaching them with rifle-like precision.

The formation of the new business unit at Clear Channel is significant because it indicates the pieces are falling into place for advertisers and agencies to quantify digital signage audiences.

"Outdoor advertising is now primed to gain a larger share of overall advertising spending with the advent of new measurement tools like Eyes On that puts out-of-home on par with other media categories, combined with new digital innovations that allow for more creative and flexible campaigns," the press release quotes Ron Cooper, Chief Executive Officer of Clear Channel Outdoor Americas as saying.

Even more to the point, he is quoted as saying "for the first time, marketers can target key demographics on a national scale with one easy purchase and not have to assemble buys across numerous local markets."

My intent is not to promote Clear Channel Outdoors. Rather, it is to point out that the formation of NSG is another sign that digital signage is coming of age as a viable ad medium, rather than being an experimental advertising alternative given less-than-serious consideration. Clear Channel's move expresses confidence that the company can deliver to agencies and advertisers the same level of audience measurement and demographics they are accustomed to when using traditional media.

That's particularly important as the nation walks the tightrope toward economic recovery. The appeal of reaching customers at the point of purchase is strong for marketers, but without a means to measure the audience, advertisers and agencies were left in the uncomfortable position of committing limited advertising dollars on little more than hope. Audience measurement in the digital signage network space is replacing hope with facts - something that's almost certain to elevate the medium in the eyes of advertisers and agencies alike.

Some forward-thinking media professionals are beginning to look for ways to reach millions of public transit riders with digital signage messaging.

There's a chill in the evening air; the days are getting shorter, and some of the leaves on the trees are hinting at an impending explosion of color. Fall must be upon us, and that can mean only one thing: The baseball season will soon culminate in a succession of playoff games, two pennant series and ultimately the World Series.

This year leading up to the Fall Classic, commuters entering the Times Square/Grand Central Shuttle or boarding MTA New York City Transit-branded subway cars designed to capture the feel of a baseball stadium will be immersed in TBS coverage of all four of the Major League Baseball Division Series and the American League Championship Series, or ALCS games.

A TBS press release announcing the campaign, which is crafted by CBS Outdoor, says,  "Riders will also experience video screens within the subway car, featuring up-to-date information on match-ups."

While one of the objectives of the campaign is to build interest among riders in the playoffs and ALCS games and encourage them to tune in at home, another is to take advantage of digital signage technology to reach a captive audience with advertising messaging. In the words of MTA Chairman and CEO Jay H. Walder, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York is "creating new, dynamic advertising opportunities utilizing the latest technology."

"Inviting advertisers to 'wrap' entire trains and the use of digital displays will generate a buzz among customers and advertisers alike," Walder said in the press release.

The TBS campaign follows an effort launched more than two years ago in the Raleigh-Durham, NC, area by Capitol Broadcasting Company and its flagship media property WRAL-TV to transmit mobile DTV signals to specially equipped busses set up to receive the signals and display news, weather, sports and other local-interest content and advertising on flat panel screens on-the-go.

It appears mobile digital signage is beginning to pique the interest of media professionals and is picking up momentum. That's quite understandable. Not only are passengers generally "trapped" in close proximity to the digital sign until the train, subway or bus comes to a halt, but also the size of the audience involved is hard to ignore.

According to one account of New York City subway and bus traffic, 7.7 million people use the vehicles daily throughout the city's five boroughs. Nationwide, the number of trips taken on public transportation is mind-blowing. According to the American Public Transportation Association, more than 2.5 billion trips were taken on U.S. public transportation in the second quarter of 2010.

With such a massive audience and technological developments that are making it easier to refresh digital signage content on-the-go as needed, expect to see more demonstrations of mobile digital signage. While it's likely to be a long time before every city bus, subway car and commuter train is equipped with digital signage technology, TBS' promotion of postseason baseball and WRAL-TV's mobile DTV transmission to digital signs on city busses demonstrate that forward-thinking media professionals view digital signage on-the-go as an up-and-coming medium worthy of serious interest.

A new quarterly report from The Nielsen Company promises good things for location-based video network (a.k.a. DOOH) marketers and advertisers.

The Nielsen Company, the outfit probably best known for measuring TV audiences and compiling television ratings, last month published a report with important implications for the digital signage industry and marketers alike.

Nielsen's "Fourth Screen Network Audience Report," released in mid-April,  provides what the company describes as the "first ever standardized audience data" that makes it possible to compare nontraditional video screens, such as those used in out-of-home video ad networks, with traditional video-based media like TV.

Based on the measurement of people exposed to advertising on 10 location-based video networks - ranging from movie theaters to fitness clubs, restaurants to gas stations - the new report plainly illustrates the reach of nontraditional video networks.

According to the report, from September through December 2009, the monthly number of people exposed to advertising by the 10 location-based ad networks totaled more than 237 million. Of those exposed to the ads, 54 percent were male; the split by gender among those 18 to 34 years old was 50-50.

At first glance, the total monthly number of exposures is impressive from a quantitative perspective. In announcing the report, Nielsen issued a press release in which it compared the traditional primetime broadcast audience aged 18 and older for TV commercials in October 2009 with the number of exposures to ads on two movie theater networks.

The combined average exposure at the two theaters totaled 61.7 million. The average exposure to a primetime TV commercial was 3 million. In other words, a marketer would need to run 20 primetime TV commercials to equal the audience delivered by the two location-based video networks at the theaters.

The quality of exposure is equally impressive. Consider the proximity of the message displayed on a location-based video network to the point of sale. According to Nielsen, there were more than 61 million monthly ad exposures at bars and restaurants. How much more valuable are those exposures to someone with food or beverages to sell than exposures from non-location-based video media?

The real significance of Nielsen's report is that now marketers and advertisers have documented evidence from an organization with a long and well-respected track record of gathering and compiling audience metrics about the reach and viewership of location-based video networks. This measurement of out-of-home video network audiences is sure to add a much desired degree of legitimacy to this emerging category of media in the eyes of pros who make decisions on where to spend their clients' money, in no small part based on verified circulation numbers and viewer ratings.

It is important to note that the Nielsen report is the first in what the company plans will be a quarterly publication of audience numbers for place-based video networks. In succeeding quarters, Nielsen says it plans to expand the number of location-based video networks it measures. With each subsequent report, location-based video networks are likely to grow in stature in the minds of marketers and advertisers.

That should bode well for established media companies and entrepreneurs who have needed a way to add credibility to the idea of advertising on private, location-based video networks in the minds of those controlling how marketing and advertising dollars get spent.

A preliminary tally of 2009 ad spending in the United States reveals a 9 percent decline -a drop that demands re-evaluation of old media choices.

Based on findings through the third quarter of 2009 by The Nielsen Company -the same business that collects and compiles TV ratings- I suggested the recession and decline in ad spending should motivate ad buyers to re-exam some long-held concepts about where best to spend their shrinking ad budgets and how they could benefit from redirecting a portion of their spending towards digital signage advertising.

Last month, Nielsen released its preliminary figures for all of 2009. They reveal an overall 9 percent reduction in advertising spending, or a decline of $11.6 billion from the 2008 total of $117 billion. With the fourth quarter of 2009 accounted for, the decline becomes the sixth consecutive quarterly drop in ad spending, albeit at a pace that has slowed for the past few quarters.

The latest figures also show that for the 10 categories where ad spending is the greatest outlays for advertising declined 9.5 percent in 2009 compared to the previous year. According to The Nielsen Company statistics, the top 10 ad categories and spending in each were:

Product Category - Jan-Dec 2009 - Jan-Dec 2008 - % Change
($ millions)

Automotive------- $8,039.1 -- $10,491. -- (-)23.4%

Pharmaceutical -- $4,504.6 -- $4,424.6 -- 1.8%

QSR Restaurant -- $4,068.5 -- $4,014.9 -- 1.3%

Department Stores-$4,066.3 -- $3,956.0 -- 2.8%

Wireless Phone----$3,386.2 -- $3,689.0 -- (-)8.2%

Motion Picture----$3,368.4 -- $3,414.0 -- (-)1.3%

Auto Dealerships--$3,227.2 -- $4,188.6 -- (-)23.0%

Direct Response---$2,465.9.-- $2,582.9 -- (-)4.5%

Restaurants-------$1,557.6 -- $1,615.0 -- (-)3.6%

Furniture Stores--$1,437.5 -- $1,553.1 -- (-)7.4%

Total Top 10------$36,121.2 - $39,930.5 - (-)9.5%


The Nielsen figures show both car categories -the "automotive" category representing factories and dealer associations and the auto dealership category- saw the greatest decline. That's not surprising given the high degree of apprehension among many U.S. workers, who have themselves lost jobs, taken a temp job to make ends meet, or seen friends and family furloughed and laid off. Understandably, there is a reluctance to commit to years of car payments while job anxieties are running high for millions of workers.

In this environment, perhaps the marketing executives at car companies and dealerships would do well to reconsider their advertising strategy. Rather than focusing almost entirely on getting people to walk into their showrooms through TV, radio and newspaper ads, they may be better served by reallocating a portion of their existing ad budgets to communicate via digital signage with the people who already come in on a daily basis to have their vehicles serviced.

While traditional advertising is important, I contend it's equally important to communicate directly with existing customers who have a track record of supporting the dealership or brand and are ready to spend money. Digital signage is an effective tool to accomplish this on-premise messaging because it can speak right to the needs of people in the dealership and at the same time exploit the persuasive elements of video, audio, graphics, animation and text that are the staples of television. The same could be said for most of top 10 ad categories that experienced declines in 2009.

To be clear, I am not advocating any advertiser drop traditional media. They serve an important function. However, what I am suggesting is those controlling advertising budgets give serious consideration to how they allocate their dollars. Ignoring how advertising via digital signage can benefit an enterprise simply because it doesn't' fit neatly into a pre-existing media category with a long history is unwise.

A far smarter approach is to re-evaluate existing media budgets and open one's self to new opportunities. A serious appraisal will reveal digital signage is a worthy and effective ad candidate.

With the grip of the recession easing, research firm iSuppli projects strong digital signage growth in retail and indoor applications; a nontraditional source of ad revenue could give both a boost.

Last week, research firm iSuppli came out with a forecast of LCD and plasma display shipments for digital signage applications this year, and panel shipments for indoor venues and retail signage look to see dramatic growth.

The El Segundo, CA, based research firm is predicting the number of LCD and plasma signs for use in entertainment facilities, hospitality centers, healthcare facilities, auditoriums and indoor arenas -collectively described as "indoor venues" by iSuppli- will reach 720,000 units this year -up more than 70 percent from the 419,000 shipped for indoor venue use in 2009.

LCD and plasma displays for retail signage also will enjoy significant growth this year, says iSuppli. Displays used in grocery stores, shopping malls and fast-food restaurants, will climb 18 percent from the 2009 level to 848,000 units. That's an increase of some 131,000 from last year.

According to Sanju Khatri, principal analyst for signage and public information displays, "renewed economic vigor after the recession" is responsible for the strong growth forecasted. More panels mean more touch points with consumers, and advertisers looking to capture their share of consumer spending as economic activity picks up will renew their commitment to digital signage, which was growing before the wheels came off the economy.

While there are plenty of traditional advertisers -from apparel to produce, soft drinks to pharmaceuticals- who've had a taste of digital signage ads and want more, there may be a source of ad revenue with a history of spending millions upon millions of dollars on ads that probably has never even considered digital signage advertising. However, cashing in with this advertiser will require a little out-of-the-box thinking on the part of both the ad buyer and ad seller.

On Jan. 21, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 split decision said it was a violation of the First Amendment to limit the amount of money corporations and unions spend on political advertising. I do not intend to argue in favor or against the court's decision in the space. Rather, I wish to point out a fairly obvious, but easily overlooked, fact: with the bans lifted, the tide of corporate and union money spent on political ads in 2010 is highly likely to rise in a significant way. Both as well as the candidate receiving their financial support will be able to spend without restriction.

As they do, they're likely to continue to rely on their mainstay media: radio, television, newspaper and direct mail. But without a spending cap, they may also be receptive to new advertising media like digital signage. After all, Internet advertising on political ads -a relative newcomer in terms of the storied history of campaign ads- has experienced steady growth.

A look back at the last off-year election cycle in 2006 reveals about $2 billion dollars were spent on political advertising. With several political pundits predicting the 2010 campaign could result in a change in control for one if not both chambers of Congress, political ad spending this year is likely to be far higher.

To be sure, politicians, corporations and unions have a well-established track record of seeking out the greatest number of eyeballs for their ads. So, it won't be surprising if local and network TV continue to dominate ad buys. But consider this: digital signage can offer politicians, corporations and unions with specific, highly tailored messages an effective means to reach a desired constituency just as it offers advertisers promoting a particular piece of merchandise a targeted way to communicate with a specific audience.

For instance, digital signage might offer organizations backing candidates who support the Second Amendment a way to reach gun owners via signage hanging in a sporting goods store, gun shop or discount retailer. Or, a car company wishing to back a candidate who opposes stricter fuel efficiency standards might run ads on signs in car dealership service waiting areas or car parts stores. The possibilities are seemingly endless.

As LCD and plasma displays dedicated to digital signage applications are forecasted to grow in a dramatic fashion this year, the gift of an unexpected, potentially significant new ad revenue source may help make achieving the break-even point of putting the signs in place occur long before otherwise would have been reasonable to expect.

Digital signage offers advertisers and marketers the chance to reach consumers at the point of purchase via a medium that's powerful and appealing.

The latest figures from The Nielsen Company, the outfit that's best known for tracking TV watching and compiling viewership statistics known as ratings, reveal the number of dollars spent on advertising in the United States during the first nine months of 2009 declined 11.5 percent, a drop of $10.9 billion to $83.4 billion, compared to the same period the previous year.

To help put the decline in perspective, consider that this total exceeds by nearly $2 billion the approximate cost of a pair of Nimitz-class super aircraft carriers, like the USS Carl Vinson and the USS John C. Stennis. If the decline proves to have continued on pace in the fourth quarter, throw in another Nimitz-class carrier to visualize the annual decline for 2009. By the way, that's nearly a third of entire U.S. fleet of Nimitz-class carriers.

Hardest hit was the local Sunday supplement advertising category -down 48.3 percent compared to the first three quarters in 2008, Nielsen reported. But many other categories, including spot TV, local and national newspapers, network television, radio and local, national and B-2-B magazines, all suffered double digit declines in advertising spending.

Without question, the precipitous fall reflects the ongoing economic struggles in this country. Looking a little more carefully at the findings also reveals advertisers are reassessing where to spend their dollars. That's nowhere more apparent than in the continuing migration of advertisers away from print. According to Nielsen senior VP for new business development Terrie Brennan, local newspapers saw 12,000 fewer advertisers in their pages last year, while nine of 10 top cable TV categories saw increased ad spending.

Why would so many fewer advertisers spend their precious ad budgets in newspapers, while other advertisers embrace cable TV? One important reason is declining newspaper circulation. In October 2009, The New York Times online reported U.S. newspaper circulation fell 10 percent since the end of 2008. People reading fewer print newspapers turn to new media like the Internet and other traditional sources, such as cable TV.

The uptick in cable advertising also likely can be traced to the ability of cable channels to serve special interests, i.e. cooking, home improvement, movies, news, weather, etc., as well as that of cable operators to allow advertisers to target specific geographic areas of the cable service area.

Beyond these specifics, there's a more basic reason: tough economic circumstances focus the mind, sharpen thinking and force reassessment of spending. It appears from the numbers, that reassessing media selections comes down in favor of the popularity of video in a form that can be targeted to reach desired consumers.

This sort of reasoning is easily transferable to digital signage. It too makes use of all the appealing elements of television. It too can be used to target specific, desirable demographics. But unlike cable TV, digital signage also offers the added benefit of reaching shoppers at the point of purchase -or more accurately at the point where a buying decision is being made. Advertisers forced by the recession to sharpen their thinking and reassess media choices should keep in mind that more than 70 percent of consumer buying decisions are made at retail, according to the Point of Purchase Advertising Institute.

Albert Einstein is often quoted as saying that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Given today's economic climate, advertisers can no longer afford to make tried-and-true media choices. Declining budgets are forcing them to reassess their options in a bid to remain as effective as they have been in the past with fewer dollars to spend. Mindlessly remaking old media decisions would be insane, and ignoring how digital signage can help achieve desired goals would be downright crazy.

One of the fundamental strengths of digital signage is its ability to leverage all of the communications and persuasion strengths of broadcast TV on a highly targeted and affordable basis.

Digital signage offers those with something to say a way to convey their messages in a targeted, effective manner that cuts through the noise of distraction and focuses the attention of a sought-after audience on a specific action, concept or mood.

Over the next few columns, I will explore this concept by laying out the advantages digital signage offers marketers, advertisers, corporations, educational institutions or anyone else with a critical message.

The fundamental advantage of digital signage is its ability to target a desired audience with a specific message via a medium that leverages all of the things that have made TV the reigning champion of modern communications. In other words, digital signage is the ideal medium to narrowcast a specific message to a target audience –thereby sidestepping the expense of paying for a mass audience when only a small percentage of that audience is of any interest to the communicator.

Consider buying commercial time on a local television station. TV delivers the well-proven persuasiveness of video as a medium, but it also carries with it a rate structure based on the size of the market and the number of people who tune in. Cable TV and IPTV refine this equation a bit, since both can offer geographically targeted ad buys within the market they serve. But even that alternative delivers tens of thousands of viewers who never have had, nor ever will have, any interest in the communicator’s message.

Contrast that shotgun method with the rifle-like precision of communicating via digital signage. Digital signs aren’t positioned willy-nilly. They hang in specific locations for an obvious reason: they are in close proximity to areas that attract people. For instance, a grocery store’s produce stand attracts shoppers interested in fruits and vegetables; a factory lunch room draws hungry company workers; the entry way of a university science building attracts science majors. The examples go on and on.

Couple this geo-relevancy with a digital sign’s ability to play back video, graphics, text, animation and audio in a fashion that –if done properly- is indistinguishable from the quality of high definition television programming, and this fundamental reason why digital signage is so powerful becomes crystal clear. No other video-based medium offers the impact of TV to such a highly qualified audience for so little investment.

If the use of digital signage is commercial, so much the better. What other video-based medium gives marketers the opportunity to influence, cajole and direct shoppers so close to the point of purchase? Literally, a well received digital signage message could mean the difference between a sale and no sale, selling one brand or another, or selling complementary items –think “Would you like fries with that burger?” – or a single piece of merchandise.

To wrap up, the fundamental strength of digital signage is its ability to leverage a powerful, familiar form of communications to deliver persuasive or informative messaging to a select group of people who by their very proximity to the sign are likely to have an interest in the message being communicated.

In future columns, I will address the other reasons, such as relationship building, dynamic messaging and dayparting, that make digital signage one of the most important communications media to have emerged over the past several years.