Posts filed under ‘Future of Out Of Home’
And the 2009 Award in the Mobile Category Goes to… Sprint
Via Gesturetek.com
Recently, the closet artist and designer in me led to a growing interest in the art of Data Visualization. It turns the usual bland data and graphs that we all run into as business professionals day to day into artistic visuals that are far more pleasing to the eye as well as attention getting. They are all over our media these days, from TV to online, and now, in the digital out of home / out of home words.
When the first of the new Sprint Network advertisements came out this year, the ability to show many different data in a fun and exciting way; there was no doubt that Sprint understood the effectiveness of data visualization, and the capabilities of them. Sprint utilized motion graphics and data visualization as their basis for their campaign and used them incredibly well. They started to roll them out and blasted all the media with its goodness. “Welcome to the Now Network.” Some examples:
Of course, the discussion is not complete (at least in this site…), if it does not related it to the experiential marketing, mobile, out of home, and / or digital out of home world. The initial thought when these commercials aired on TV was “”how well or great this would work in these four medias…”
Well, it seems that Sprint and the agency thought the same way, as Digital Signage Insights covers in its Inwindow Outdoor Launches Sprint Interactive Storescapes, as well as well as GestureTek’s work. Between these two: the overall campaign is a culmination of what is possible today in the D / OOH, Mobile, and interactive worlds, and an absolutely stunning use of media, content, integration strategies, and ad planning and buying to hit us in all senses.
Whether Sprint and their Palm Pre can beat out the duopolies that are At&T / Verizon, and the IPhone / BlackBerry is yet to be determined (and probably still not doable at the end of the day unfortunately..), but with such a great campaign; there is no doubt Spint has turned some heads and gained at least some market share from the two-headed monsters.
So far, in 2009: the award in the mobile advertising category no doubt goes to Sprint and their agency.
LEGO Augmented Reality: Totally AR; Totally DOOH/Retail Marketing
Growing up on LEGOs and still collecting them here and there; the LEGO brand has been some thing that is near and dear. The “Augmented Reality: My Kind of Reality” was one of the most read post in this blog by far in just a few days (thanks to all the readers!), and it’s pretty obvious that people really like this media technology in terms of how the content is delivered as well as its potential in many different fields of marketing and advertising.
Anyway, @metaioUSwas kind enough to tweet an Excellent example of the message the previous post tried to convey (thanks you very much also!), which was Augmented Reality’s potential in the Digital Out of Home / Out of Home spaces in addition to the other media / advertising spaces. Anyway, without further a due; watch how LEGO is utilizing AR in a retail store. Perfect example of Augmented Reality meets DOOH!
555 KUBIK: An Insane Example of 3D Projection Technology
The 555 KUBIK project by Urbanscreen utilized 3D projection technology to create what looks like a living and breathing building. The video below simply blew me away in terms of the Projection capabilities / technologies that are available in the current market. Quite amazing! and obviously relevant in terms of its potential in the Digital Out of Home and Out of Home media worlds.
Augmented Reality: My Kind of Reality
Augmented Reality (AR) campaigns have been popping up at a steady pace in the past year, whether they are ad / branding campaigns, apps, and even business cards; in fact, “rampant pace” may actually be the better way of putting it.
The first AR I witness and tried out was General Electric’s “Plug Into the Smart Grid” campaign where it immediately caught my attention, and I started to think it was one of the best thing created ever since the invention of sliced bread!
Being a natural fan of tech, this reaction was quite expected; especially considering how well the technology worked, but when the professional hat came on, I also realized the vast possibilities of advertising and marketing that was attached to this new technology, whether it be in the online, mobile, and indeed, in the out of home and digital out of home worlds. In fact, Augmented Reality could be one of the rare, “once in a blue moon” options that can really tie all these medias together. That is indeed a feat in itself.
There are 2 main components needed to pull off an Augmented Reality campaign:
1) The computer generated map (I believe a process called “Chroma-Keying”)
2) A digital display with a camera that can read the Chroma-Key, and a computer that can process and display the outcome / resulting 3D visual of the Key.
In staying on the theme of this particular blog, the 1st component could be delivered by mobile devices or simple handouts (whether by Point-of-Purchase, or street teams, etc.) The 2nd component also seems very viable in terms of the digital signage world as well (whether they are digital signage with webcams / media players with the necessary programs installed, or kiosks built for these specific purposes).
So far, Augmented Reality campaigns have been mostly delivered by web and mobile medias (and a bit by OOH media), but as stated above, there is no reason to think that this technology cannot be fully integrated into the digital out of home media space, and provide brands and agencies with a new and fresh way to capture and engage the consumers to develop lasting and memorable campaigns in addition to creating interesting content. Entertainment, product demos, branding, sweepstakes are some of the things that come to mind.
Of course, with many things in the DOOH, it will take some time and investment, but the ROI may just be all worth it. Until that day comes, here are some inspirations:
BMW’s Mini Cooper AR campaign
Transformers Movie AR Campaign
Experience The Enterprise – Star Trek Augmented Reality
United States Postal Service AR Campaign
*Update*
Coraline (Movie) Out of Home / Digtial Out of Home AR Campaign (thanks to @stephenrandall!)
A Case of Consolidation: Outcast & AdtekMedia
The need for “consolidation” has been talked about within this sector for awhile now; whether it be on the network or agency sides, and the recent partnership between Outcast (a.k.a. Fuelcast), and AdtekMedia (a.k.a PumpTop TV) seems to be the prime and excellent example of this need.
Here were two different networks targeting the same locations and demographics. And as insiders know, this is an example of the “pain” that media planners/buyers at agencies have to go through in terms of sorting through the duplication that exists in much of the industry.
According to Outcast, PumpTop TV partner on at-the-pump digital network:
The consolidated venture creates a national network with more than 12,600 high-definition large screens in 15 of the top DMAs reaching more than 20 million active consumers each month. The reach in these markets equates to a top-5 ranked prime-time show on network television, but without the negative impact of DVR ad-skipping or multitasking.
Indeed, the partnership has built a huge and more relevant network, that is definitely more “buyer friendly,” and hopefully ties in the research and methodolgies/metrics together as one. These two companies already seem to have merge their messages together somewhat with the website(s), where their domains lead to the same intro page, which is also good brand communication.
Very smart move for the two companies, and a model for the industry.
Two Cool Techs for DOOH: The AMOLED Prototype & ASUS ‘Seamless Experience’
This AMOLED pic and the Vid below via Engadget
Kinda like MSFT’s Surface. But when companies start looking into certain technologies; the tech’s gotta be pretty close to reality/everyday.
Pictures and videos speak (or write) a million words…
MIT’s Futuristic Bus Stop Design Makes Digital Out-of-Home Drool
Those whom know me well out there know quite well how much of a sucker for technology I am and like to think as a futurist in many things including media. This is a site based on OOH and DOOH, but when a glimpse into the future comes along (whether it be a concept or not); it is very exciting.
It wasn’t long ago (last week actually), when I was discussing and suggesting similar technologies and visions with a certain someone working on a very relevant / similar environment. He is also a futurist in my eyes, and dubbes himself a geek at times (probably why we got along right off the bat). He shared the vision I had, but being more experienced than I, stated that the concept I suggested was too expensive to execute. Ah.. budgets.. But it always great to get confirmation that you are conceptualizing the right way, and by MIT, no less.
And well: Here it is! A vision of a DOOH future! A bus stop with projection, network, and interactive capabilities! The mother of all public transportation stops with perfect information distribution capabilities. Public transportation is likely to be around in the future, and as are the “eyes” outside the home, so this all bodes well for this particular environment. Special thanks to @saaze & @JohnRyanGlobal for bringing this to my attention! For further details on the project, go here: EyeStop. Enough talk; pictures speak a million words.
Digital Haiku
Photo won from a gentlemanly game of poker from DailyDOOH.com
Twitter’s great, and digital signage is great. Integrate social media and Dightal Out-of-Home; even greater. Let people get use their Haiku writing skills to bring unique user-created content to a big digital screen? The icing on the cake.
Titan Twitter First (For London At Least) reports that the OOH giant, Titan Outdoors, created a campaign where consumers can create their haiku poems and submit them via Twitter. As mentioned, not the first time Twitter is being incorporated into the Digital Out Of Home world, but it is certainly another excellent example of how different medias; in this case, social and DOOH medias, can be integrated to create a unique and fun campaign. Content creative costs have to be pretty low as well. Want your Haiku to run on a large digital sign at Kings Cross Station in London? Then submit your Haikus via your mobiles (or otherwise) to @kingsplace between May 18 to May 22.
An excellent concept!
The Game Equation: Videogames + Digital Signage = Effective Engagement
You don’t become one of the most well known brands in the world and history from nothing. The recent Coca-Cola Israel campaign utilizes videogaming and digital signage in a way that has not quite been seen in the industry yet, or at least to my knowledge. The theory is simple: use the effective ability of videogames to engage the consumers, and digital signage as the communication platform; actually in this case, as the controller as well!
The result? Just look at the crowd of people waiting to try it out. REAL Impressions.
Carnival Cruises Sleeping with the Fishes and Digital Out of Home
Ships and cruises have been buying up Digtal Signage and DOOH concepts recently, and perhaps, there has been no better friend to the Out of Home and Digital Out of Home sectors overall than the Carnival Cruises brand these days. AdAge covers one of their newer campaigns that highlights much of what was discussed in the previous post. Using Moblies to create you own fishes (and move them around) on a large digital display install on the street. Watch the video to get the details, but few key things that stuck out was:
1. They are NOT cutting their marketing budgets in this tough time: Smart – the campaigns they run now will help them not only in the short-term, but in the long-term as well. Case in point: P&G during the Depression, as discussed here and Bonita blog.
2. Integration of DS, Mobile and Web: Wont go into the DS, Mobile, Web (as well as Interactivity/Engagement) parts – read the previous post for that. But always like to stress the importance of Integration of media here.
3. “Fun” always helps to get “Eyes”!: The use of gaming concepts is starting to really take off; tho I find this particular campaign a bit crude. Still, Carnival has been light years ahead of the competition. There should be a lot of ops where mobile, and even, console game concepts and techniques can and will be used in DOOH to create some very good campaigns in the future.
Anyway, a near-perfect video in terms of relevancy with the previous post, and enjoy the fun Friday vid!
