The DOOHpinion Blog

In-Store Marketing Expo, Chicago (Oct 6-8, 2009)

In-Store Marketing Expo, Chicago

I’m currently preparing for the In-Store Marketing Expo in Chicago next week which i will be covering on behalf of DailyDOOH.

The event is being held 6th – 8th October at the Navy Pier in Chicago.

It should be a great event but one of the things I am really looking forward to is presentation S04: The Walmart Smart Network: Initial Results, Lessons Learned, and the Future of the Network by James Beck, General Manager, Walmart Smart Network, Walmart Stores Inc.

Thursday, October 8, 2009 · 1:30 – 3:30 PM

The Walmart Smart Network was introduced 12 months ago to improve the shopper experience and to drive higher sales lift. Since then, it has delivered impressively on those goals. Attend this event to learn how the Smart Network creates synergies with your marketing and media programs to accelerate your business with Walmart. You will hear first-hand lessons from James Beck, General Manager of the Walmart Smart Network, case studies presented by CPG manufacturers, and more. You will learn:

• How to market more effectively by partnering with Walmart on the Smart Network.
• Content development practices that deliver the most relevant messaging to shoppers.
• Optimization capabilities that offer even higher sales lift going forward.

See http://www.instorexpo.com/

San Francisco DOOH Good'ers

(Originally posted on the DailyDOOH on Sept 30, 2009)

San Francisco DOOH Good’ers

Interesting article in Tuesday’s San Francisco Chronicle entitled ‘Can billboards spruce up Market Street?‘

In an attempt to neaten up the rather neglected lower Market Street area of our beautiful city, it appears that the local authorities are seriously considering a move that would place a series of digital billboards, each  of up to 500 square feet, along a mile of prime San Francisco real estate.

There’s still some way to go before this gets implemented - endless rounds of civic hearings, citizen complaints and what not, however, I like what I’ve heard so far and in my view that sadly forlorn section of our city could do with a serious make-over.

I’ll post further developments as they come though.

Long In The (Blue) Tooth

(Originally posted on DailyDOH on Sept 28, 2009)

Long In The (Blue)Tooth

Last week I had the pleasure of sitting down with Daniel Trigub from theBlueBite management team to find out a little more about their product.

BlueBite have been receiving a bunch of good press recently for some outstanding work in delivering media content to hand-held devices via bluetooth on out of home screens.

Their execution is the model of simplicity: networks add  BlueBite’s small gizmo to their screens which creates a unique wireless address where consumers can choose to opt into or not and download content.

The cost is minimal to networks, advertisers get a measurable audience for the downloads and unlike SMS content, consumer’s don’t need to give out their cell phone numbers.  A win-win all round it seems, except – you knew this was coming didn’t you, Ed in the content department.

A prime example was a download for the CW’s Vampire Diaries.  It was the exact same trailer I’d seen the night before after Gossip Girl (yes my guilty pleasure), full of fast edits, small type and wide shots, but now reduced to a two inch screen.

Who’s interested? What’s special? Why bother? 

For CW, here’s a free idea; how about ‘Fang mail‘, i.e. downloadable snippets of content that viewers won’t see anywhere else?

Maybe viewers send a cool animation of a stinking garlic rose to someone they don’t like or a single, blood stained fang to someone they do? (maybe two fangs if they really like them) etc.

As the creative guy,  I hate to see re-hashed content just thrown on DOOH screens.  My idea may not be the most original, but content providers, especially the networks, need to figure out how to engage their audience on every screen not just the one’s they sit in front of at home.  

And here’s one more free idea for ABC. You’ve got a hot property with Flash Forward which debuted this week in the US – in the UK this show debits this evening on Channel Five, Ed so how about creating a series of short snapshots that tease the audience about what happened when the world blacked out for those 2 minutes 17 seconds?

Maybe they could all be set in different cities in order that the audience can begin to piece together the puzzle for themselves?

I’m all for technology that’s easy to use and which seamlessly integrates itself into existing networks, but let’s make sure the content is as forward thinking as the technology.

BlueBite’s got the platform and delivery down BUT I’d love to see some content providers step up to the plate with some break-though creative.

PS. if you’re over-worked and too busy to bother, I might recommend contacting Jones Digital Media, but that would just be shameless self-publicity, which, of course, wouldn’t be tolerated at the DailyDOOH

Flat Panels Go Home

(Originally posted on DailyDOOH on Sept 4, 2009)

Flat Panels Go Home

Silicon Valley’s first city hosted the Display Search Flat Panels Go Out of Home conference and Dylan Jones was there to cover it for us.

Biblical references can be a little like buses; you wait for ages for one to turn then three come at once. So it came to pass at the Flat Panels Go Out Of Home conference where the biblical metaphors came so thick and fast I wondered for a moment if I’d accidentally wandered into a revival meeting.

Let’s look at the highlights, at least from the creative guy’s perspective…

Lyle Bunn, bringer of light, providing a historic leap of faith that connected Sir Francis Drake, the Industrial Revolution and LED TV’s. Let’s hope Lyle’s not insinuating we’re all a bunch of pirates out there in the DOOH world.

Jeff Porter of Scala presented an image of Moses hurtling down the mountain, hoisting a couple of flat-screens above his head in place of the tablets. I did notice the screens were blank: maybe the content creationists were late delivering?

Rob Butris of National City Bank’s solemn sermon on how to ask investors for money to launch your digital network hit a serious note. Three words; “proof of concept” or be prepared to give away a big fat chunk of equity. Build it and they will come? Not on his watch

Praise be to Cisco for creating a  ’Digital Signage Academy’ for digital out of home experts, from software deployment to content and creative and providing their clients with a 360 degree digital signage solution. Not sure HP and Intel were quite there yet with that approach, but conversion is on the cards. I’m sure.

Chris Connery from Display Search as the moderator went off script with his references to Confucius, but kudos to Chris for keeping the day moving and the presenters on topic.

Pierre Richer from NEC took a school-teacher-like approach to close the shenanigans and warned of the gathering storm if the industry doesn’t buckle down and set some standards for media delivery with one platform that connects all digital place-based media networks; prophet of doom or seasoned realist? Like most things, the truth probably lies somewhere in between.

The big news, at least from my perspective, was how many of the big technology companies were in attendance.

The cynic in me would say it’s because for most of them it was a quick jaunt down Highway 101, but when you get the likes of Intel, Hewlett Packard and Cisco coming to the party and talking about serious investment in Digital out of Home (Cisco even teased us with the promise of a major announcement towards the end of the year) you’ve got to remind yourself these companies didn’t get to be successful by making dumb investments

As I keep saying, I’m the creative guy who’s passionate about content, but from where I was sitting I begin to wonder if this is the future of Digital Out Of Home.

We’ve all heard the complaints of DOOH being too fragmented and littered with too many small players; maybe these tech giants will be the harbingers of consolidation for the industry?

Overall, the conference hit the right notes between bullish optimism and stark realism; dare I say, DOOHptomistic?

And as a final word I’m sure Lyle Bunn won’t mind me paraphrasing the throwaway line of his: “content is not king, relevance is king

The most persuasive gospel of the day, and one certainly I can live by.

Scenting Machines in Action

(Originally posted on DailyDOOH on August 27, 2009.)

Scenting Machines In Action

Bebe Stores Inc. have launched their new ’signature’  fragrance in the US with a whiff of a rather good idea. They’re using Prilotec’s “scenting machines” in strategic areas of their stores to pump out the fragrance to unsuspecting customers as they browse the racks for a good deal on a zip-fronted leather min-skirts.

Cut through the marketing speak about “emotional connection to the scent” and“undeniable feminine fragrance” and I think they’ve actually got a pretty good idea. The smart move is of course, the less is more school of perfume application: release the scent in only a few key areas of the store and it’s far more powerful.

But, let’s take this a step further; what if Bebe had in-store screens with an interactive display that customers could actually press on an image of the bottle and it triggers the blast of scent?  Or even some basic visualof the perfume bottle being pressed and it actually releases the scent? A double whammy for the senses, Bebe.

Will any other retailers or out of home venues jump on this?

How about Walmart’s “meal deal special”  blasting out ‘eau-de-pepperoni pizza’ at around 4pm every day?  (Is the Smart Network that smart yet?)

Or Downy’s laundry detergent wafting that “just laundered” aroma right at the point of purchase?

And how about New York’s Taxi TV?  Forget your fruits of the forest pine air-fresher and blast out some of that genuine New York hot-dog scent.

As in-store marketing goes, I see this as another trend in the ’store within a store’ concept; making a customer’s store visit a whole experience not a chore. You’ve already got them to your store, the question is how are you going to keep them there longer and spending more?  Of course, it might put those annoying, department-store perfume spraying ninjas that seem to pop up from nowhere out of work, but that’s a small price to pay for progress.

As for Bebe, kudos for innovation at the store-level but I’ll be interested in seeing who’s going to take the leap and marry sound, vision and aroma in one multi-sensory experience. AdSpace Networks?  

Those mall screens are catnip to teens, add a whiff of  Abercrombie and Fitch perfume and let’s talk about a captive audience. 

Is GSTV Running on Empty?

(Originally posted on DailyDOOH.com on August 19, 2009) 

Is GSTV Running On Empty?

Could it be that Gas Station TV’s journey is spluttering already? Especially with earlier this week’s decision by BP to award a multi-year contract to Retail Media Company (RMC) out of Los Angeles – RMC plan to build out a network of screens in a thousand or more BP and Arco branded gas stations in addition to placing screens in the attached convenience stores.

Here’s some fuel for debate:

Let’s look at the evidence as I did last week when I visited a local Arco station in Northern California for my weekly fill-up.

At first things look good for GSTV, the screen is large and set atop the gas pump for easy viewing, but as soon as the programming loop kicks in, my heart sinks faster than the fuel gauge on a Hummer.

Immediately I get the impression that the current set-up is yet another example of someone with a genius idea of putting up screens but as clueless as a Toyota Prius in a NASCAR race as how to program them.

There’s a great opportunity here for the Retail Media Company to shift this programming into high gear and actually create something that engages the viewer.

For what it’s worth, here are a few fundamental changes I’d introduce immediately…

• Audio: It’s hard to hear in the environment. Install some technology that breaks through the ambient noise and use less deep male voices; they sound muffled and incoherent.
• Consumer Experience: Look carefully at what’s going on. How are they interacting with the screen? Do they stand back as they’re watching or lean in for a closer look? This is going to determine your programming strategy.
• Clean Executions: The space is cluttered enough without burgers and slurpees flying over images of pizzas and ice cream. Keeping it simple is going to win you fans and sales.
• Text: Use it! Don’t rely on sound alone to deliver your message.
• On-screen host or not?  I’m on the fence about on-screen hosted approaches in general; they can work, but need to be very well written, have great casting, and above all, be relevant.

In speaking with Adam Bleibtreu at Retail Media Company (Adam was President and Co-Founder of GSTV until he left in March 2007, Ed) he told me that the RMC screens will be interactive, providing the customer with a choice of programming.  

This is a plus, in my opinion: the less content you force-feed to a consumer the better. And how’s this for a smart move? They’re also planning a Spanish language version of the programming in highly Hispanic skewing neighborhoods – targeted and relevant; how’s that for a concept?

From the four minutes or so it took to fill up my car, I had the distinct impression the current GSTV is running on fumes and I’m excited to see a company with the content and creative pedigree of Retail Media Company now in the driver’s seat.  

And, before we completely exhaust the automotive analogies; Question “Are we there yet?” Answer “No, but with Retail Media Company at the wheel we’re a few, freeway miles closer”

Interview with Kelsey Group CEO

(Originally posted on the DailyDooh.com on August 5, 2009)

Interview With Kelsey Group CEO

Berkeley, CA- I’m sitting at a table at a Tully’s coffee store waiting to talk to the CEO of the Kelsey group, Neal Polachek. I want to get his perspective on how his company is approaching the digital out of home space and what recommendations they’re giving their clients.

Before Neal walks in, I take my espresso and grab a window table to look at the colorful tapestry of life around these parts. There’s a RippleTV screen tucked high in the far corner of the café, playing some colorful content and scrolling news about the latest Lindsey Lohann train wreck that nobody else in the café seems to be taking any notice of.

The table, I realize, has a built in screen (covered with a coffee-stained slab of Perspex) and keeps asking me, very politely to touch it “here”.  I dutifully comply, after all it’s what I do, and I’m curious as to what’s on offer.

The interface is an early 90’s web page design with a dodgy dial up connection. All this wizardry is brought to me by SF Gate, (the online adjunct of the San Francisco Chronicle), the screen proudly proclaims and I wonder if this is not just another symptom of the woes suffered by that ailing newspaper!

This is pretty serendipitous, I think to myself, I’m here to talk digital outdoor media with a leading expert in local media and I’m surrounded by it, even in the student and hippy-haven of North Berkeley.

First, some background. The Kelsey Group is the leading advisory firm covering the local media community.  They help their clients navigate the increasingly challenging waters of the local media marketplace both in the US and globally. I’d heard they were in the process of taking a long, hard look at the digital out of home space and wanted to quiz them on why now.

I’d also been impressed by Neal’s forthright manner and clear thinking when it comes to evaluating media opportunities…

Neal Polachek- We view the current state of advertising as being in rapid transformation as advertisers seek more and more accountability for their ad dollars and media companies work harder and harder to deliver contextually relevant advertising that delivers measurable performance.

DJ- And you’re now looking at the digital out of home space to deliver that relevance?

NP- Well, the digital out of home space is intriguing to us because as we view the media space through our unique “local” lens, we see digital out of home as yet, one more important platform for advertisers to message their existing and potential customers.

DJ- What kinds of questions are your clients asking you about the space?

NP- The most important question clients are asking about is when this market will really ramp up.  Since today there are so many players in the space, there’s been a bit of a hesitation on the part of advertisers to really leverage the opportunity.  In addition, many national advertisers are waiting a more comprehensive network offering which would enable a more scaled media buy while still offering the ability to target geographically.

DJ- Why do you think your clients are asking for more information on DOOH now?

NP- While DOOH is yet one more media platform, it may well be one of the better platforms in reaching deeply in the local markets with real time messages and offers.  I certainly expect that we’ll see a day in the not too distant future when a consumer will be altered via a DOOH display that good tickets are still available to a local event and that this week’s sandwich special is almost sold out.  DOOH has the potential to deliver real time messaging. While mobile offers this too, there are more privacy issues related to mobile than DOOH.

DJ- What aspects of the DOOH space do you think have real potential? Retail? Interactivity? Localization?

NP- I think that all three have great potential.  Retail is certainly a sector where much has developed since PRN entered the space almost a decade ago.  There’s lots more to play out in retail as it relates to moving products. In terms of local and interactivity, this is where there’s significant future opportunity.

DJ- Do you think DOOH is like the Internet a decade ago? For instance, everybody thinks they should be part of it, but don’t know quite how to play yet?

NP- DOOH is in some ways just another Internet advertising platform, just like mobile is – DOOH depends on an IP distribution platform to be successful so that meaningful content and relevant messages can be pushed to individual locations – there, DOOH is the part of the Internet advertising eco-system already.

DJ- What’s the biggest challenge you see out there for DOOH today and what advice would you give to the industry right now?

NP- I think we’re going to see a continued expansion of players in the DOOH space for maybe another 12 months – then we’d expect a number of players to push for consolidation so that national advertisers have the necessary reach via DOOH to matter and local advertiser can be sold via larger national selling organizations.

DJ- Thanks for your time, Neal.

As Neal leaves to navigate his way through the street musicians and Green Peace activists, I’m left wondering how the future of DOOH will play out.  If media buyers are already finding it frustrating negotiating the multiple offerings, what happens when more networks come on-line and new venues are developed? Consolidation seems inevitable and is already happening with the Danoo/NCM/Ideacast merger. 

The likes of Adcentricity and SeeSaw Networks seem to get the problem with their cross-network placements and aggregation services, but still it’s a minefield out there for media-buyers and advertisers alike.

I turn back to my ‘Interactive table top’ and tap on the movie trailer link.  A few minutes pass before a message alerts me it’s unable to connect.  So, I order another coffee, check out the RippleTV screen and see if I can find it in me to care about who Britney’s dating today and if Lady GaGa is actually a bloke from Hobooken who’s known as Derek to his family. 

Poker face?  In this climate, looks like we’re all going to need one.