This month, the Out-of-Home world marches on strong with new eye-catching tech in use. But while on some fronts it advances forward, it almost appears to take a few steps back in others! Advancements and any potential setbacks aside, this month the winners of the Creative Collection competitions were announced. We also saw two digital signage giants team up to join the battle against ovarian cancer.
And to close this digital signage news set, we look into a few tips to keep in mind before deploying your digital signage in the outdoors. Let’s begin!
OAAA lowers the measurement standard?
The Out-of-Home Advertising Association of America recently released new guidelines for overall OOH advertising measurement. However, it appears to be a step backwards and regressing an already elevated standard.
To provide some context, GeoPath—an OOH measurement service that has operated in the U.S. since 1933—elevated the standard of OOH audience measurement to a “likelihood-to-see” factor of ads. Only for the OAAA just recently to regress the industry standard for impression-based measurement to only a consumers having the “opportunity-to see” OOH ads factor. This is a clear shift downwards from “likelihood” to “opportunity” as the ad industry’s primary metric. Still, OAAA said it is not saying an absolute no to raising the OOH ad measurement at some point in the future.
“Our objective in setting a new minimum standard for measurement is to support even greater transparency to audience measurement that is timely, consistent and comparable with other channels,” said OAAA President/CEO Anna Bager.
This Starbucks creates buzz with a data-triggered LED feature wall
A Starbucks in Seoul has managed to make the coffee ordering experience exciting in a new way with a data-triggered LED wall. This 4k, 60FPS, 2.5mm LED video wall is placed on an arched feature wall. It shows animated watercolor visuals depicting a coffee plantation. The first digital art wall series included scenes from one of Starbucks’s coffee farms.
The main twist of this video wall is that it has the ability to change the visuals based on weather. For any patron at this Starbucks, it truly feels like looking through a window into another corner of the world.
Creative Collection competition winners announced!
Earlier this month, the Outdoor Media Association (OMA) announced the winners in the first quarter of the Creative Collection competition for 2021. It included 31 submissions from OMA members. It also featured a new category, “Out of Home for Good,” which explored the best way to drive action for government and charity campaigns.
“The OMA’s quarter one 2021 Creative Collection judging was highly contentious, and for good reason. We are seeing advertisers return to our channel with vigor, and in the best possible way: with big, bold, creative, and clever messages,” said OMA CEO Charmaine Moldrich.
The image above showcases the “Best Use of Multi-Format” category, advertised by Pepsi in the Taste Challenge 2021. Take a look at the full list of winners in each category!
Digital signage giants team up against ovarian cancer
Two digital signage giants, JCDecaux and Ocean Outdoor have teamed up this month behind the scenes of a campaign seeking to draw attention to ovarian cancer research. The campaign sent the message: “an ad you can’t miss, for a cancer you do”. It aimed to drive support for additional funding for research into new treatments.
“Our message is simple,” said UK co-organizer Katie Wilkins. “We want women of all ages to be aware of the subtle symptoms of ovarian cancer which can easily be missed and dismissed. And we want more research, so women with our cancer live longer.”
Tips for deploying digital signage outdoors
The pandemic is making closed off spaces less preferable to the outdoors. So it is not surprising to see businesses utilize digital signage outside more. However, before rushing into this decision, here are a few key tips to keep in mind to drive home the message and maintain the longevity of the display. There is a lot more waiting outside than just bad weather.
Firstly, temperatures on both ends of the spectrum can damage your displays. Then we have brightness, presenting a set of challenges of its own! You’re faced with the number one enemy of outdoor displays: the sun! The human factor is also big, both when it comes to theft and vandalism. And to top it all off, be sure you sign up with a digital signage software platform that offers you the ability to remotely check on and manage your displays. Like OnSign TV, to name an example!
