Questions on Digital over Static Display Format Affecting Preference of Out-of-Home Plans

Having been asked several interesting questions about the efficiency of digital Out-of-Home displays recently - I have been doing some thinking and researching.

One of those interesting questions was: Given the changes in how customers consume information - ie. using of mobile and Internet media; will it be better for us to use digital Out-of-Home to feature videos and animated content?

My interesting reply was: IT DEPENDS (Haha) - truly, digital Out-of-Home is more than just a digital screen; it is actually very much dependent on the location, location and location. I also asked the client to consider the current level of his brand recognition and the content he is planning to feature to decide if animated content is the key to drive his OOH media choices.

1. Location location location - After reading the article on New York Times Square's Out-of-Home going Digital and the costs of key locations (article link here), I had replied - choose the location which will reach out to your audience best before considering the format of display. And if the chosen location happens to have a digital display format, will a video or an animated poster be more advantageous? - a learned expert once shared - if the audience is moving quickly, with little dwell time such as along a highway, go for a static display. The vice-versa is true if the location holds a good captive audience such as in Times Square where audience can linger, have an opportunity for stationary space ie. at a heavy traffic light or if the visual clutter is high, then an animated display will be very prominent and attention catching.

2. Brand recognition - a video can be well designed where by the logo is prominently placed in a split screen format etc is one way to ensure the audience viewing the video content can still link back the advertisement to the brand. However, in the Out-of-Home, there is truly a lot going on for the audience at the location - "What to buy? Where to go? Who to call?" - so video content works well for brands like Nike in a sports shopping mall like Queensway Shopping Centre or Singtel in any shopping malls in Singapore, but for an established brand like Singtel in overseas market such as in Indonesia etc, it is best to go for pure dominance and have a static display feature a simple and direct message.

Click here - Wonderbra article and here - Mike's article for more tips on tips for effective Out-of-Home design creative.

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