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The Red Pill Might Just Mean “Chill Out”

Wow — talk about swallowing the big proverbial red pill — only that pill is the equivalent of a quaalude. That’s what, in essence, Paul Flanigan wrote today in response to tracking digital signage advertising ROI. And I think what he has to say makes a lot of sense.

Basically, Flanigan is encouraging the industry to stop and smell the flowers — to slow down — and explore the multitude of potential digital signage brings to the advertising world. As he puts it, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Neither were our traditional television measuring standards. Check it out — it’s a long read, but worth it.

So, I ask you guys out in the digital signage universe, why are we so quick to place limitations (or guidelines or standards or whatever else anyone wants to call them — they are, in fact, limitations —  all based upon an old and tired measurement system) on an industry that has so much untapped potential?

I propose we all step back, relax and take Flanigan’s red pill — let’s not think limitations — we’re killing this thing before it even has a chance to really begin.

Who Designated YOU King or Queen of Digital Signage? I BET it was YOU…

I find it so interesting that in this day and age, EVERYONE has the power to brand — or rebrand (or completely invent for that matter) — themselves via social media. It’s a trippy experience to get to know someone solely on spurts of 140 characters or less — trippy, but wonderful. I mean, what are the odds in the real world capacity that we would have the opportunity to visit, converse, and in a sense, really get to know individuals from the Twitter universe?

That being said, I must admit I am also intrigued how social media defines a new industry. Take for example, digital signage and CANs — a relatively new industry that seems to evolve by the second in both a technological and philosophical sense. Social media, has on many levels, shaped this industry. It (and I mean “us” collectively — weird concept thinking of “us” as an “it,” huh?) has dictated what is cool, what works, what doesn’t work and what will work.

So, although it shouldn’t have really surprised me yesterday while perusing through the Daily DOOH (which I love, by the way) to learn that CANs had died, but then come back, I was nonetheless, a bit perplexed to find that they had, in fact, met an early demise but had thankfully been recently resurrected (just in time for Easter, too!).

I say “thankfully” because CAN’s have not died, in fact, I know one CAN who is alive and well — ours. Furthermore, I believe this is where digital advertising will indeed take off, since CANs lend themselves very well to a “traditional” television model — except for two big pluses — audiences can’t skip through the commercials and they are “captive.” (And yes, right now I deem myself the “queen of digital signage” — if only for :15 seconds:).

Thanks to Daily DOOH contributer Chris Heap for bringing to life (all pun intended) this very serious issue of CAN extinction and how it really isn’t the end, but just the beginning. And, it may seem like I’m punking Heap, but I’m not — he offers great perspectives about the industry (and excellent headlines) in an entertaining and informative way.

For all of you other social media brand whores out there looking for their 15 minutes of fame (me included!), keep it going. We’re not only changing and industry, we’re changing the whole collective — powerful, scary and exciting.

The Measuring Matrix - What’s Real and Are We Ready to Take the Red Pill?

Much has been said during the past couple of months regarding measurements and digital signage. As more and more advertisers — and the agencies that represent them — explore the possibilities of delving into this medium, the most common question asked after CPM is, “How do you measure ROI?”

Most answers I hear in response are answers I’d expect to hear at a lame pyramid marketing scheme meeting — heavy doses of smoke and mirrors mixed with traditional means of measurement that quite frankly, don’t necessarily transcend into the world of digital and captive audience networks.

However, as measurement tools become more and more refined, and networks utilize more than just a screen (social and interactive media, for example) to relay advertiser information, it’s only a matter of time ROI statistics will become a stark reality.

OVAB and other organizations are, indeed, encouraging the industry to take the proverbial red pill, offering standardized measurement guidelines (with more acronyms to learn). And with digital signage aggregate giants like SeeSaw saying “screw you” to the proverbial blue pill combined with rapid developments in technology, it seems as if the industry is fast on its way to providing measurement statistics more accurate than ever before.

The question is: Are we really ready to take the red pill that unveils the measuring matrix?

If we want agencies and advertisers to take us seriously as a viable media source, then of course we do. If we want to charge the outrageous CPMs some of us want to charge (and then wonder why they aren’t getting any advertising revenue), then once again, the answer is a resounding yes.

I, for one, am all for it — I’ll admit, I’m selfish — I believe many networks will crumble under advanced measurement technologies and strict ROI measurement guidelines.

Since the very beginnings of developing and running our captive audience network, we all were aware standards would inevitably evolve and technologies advance. Because of this, we immediately enforced strict ROI guidelines (albeit, it was a simple strategy, but it worked) allowing us to report accurate measurements to advertisers.

More often than not, we were able to show advertisers a stellar ROI.

But, sometimes the numbers downright sucked — like sucked so horribly I hated to share the information with our advertisers. But you know what? I did anyway. And you know what? Those advertisers appreciated our honesty.

So what will it be — the red or the blue pill? I’m banking on the red one.

Captive Audience Advertising - Television 2.0

Last week’s DSE was many things to many people, but to me, it was all about what works — and what doesn’t — in the advertising arena. Many of us learned more about dealing with advertising agencies and the conundrum of making agencies understand why digital advertising is an important component to campaigns. I also received a pretty good education on how and why agencies work the way they do, and how we, as an industry, are responsible for not only convincing agencies on why digital advertising is valuable, but making it as easy (and non-threatening) as possible.

That being said, I find it easier to approach agencies with something they are already familiar with — true television advertising. True television advertising (pre-TIVO and 100 channels to choose from) was based upon (whether anyone knew it or not) a captive audience model. Viewers would watch their television program and really have no choice but to watch the accompanying commercials. This, I believe, is the golden egg to agencies — how can they “force” a demographic to watch their ads?

Captive Audience Networks.

Today’s captive audience networks are like Television 2.0 — networks that are designed to entertain and inform clients in any type of environment that involves waiting.

And although this model still faces the same challenges as other digital advertising models, we’ve had success in presenting this to agencies because, number one, it’s something they are familiar with, and number two, it gives them more confidence that the advertisements will actually be watched.

As far as creating our own box, we’ve created a value-added component that encourages advertisers not just to “sell” their products on our system, but to educate — giving consumers a reason why they need that particular product or service. For certain campaigns, instead of going for the traditional :30 spot, we offer longer spots so that advertisers can tell their story. So, most of our advertisements run for approximately 2:00, but in an informative, educating manner — a story.

Now, of course, this leads to a longer loop, and therefore a need for fresh and constant content, but that’s another blog.

Using a model agencies are familiar with and combining this with a value-add (longer ads with no additional cost) is definitely one step in the right direction. Let’s not bang agencies over the head with a concept that doesn’t quite yet fit into their world, let’s make it almost impossible for them NOT to allocate some budget money into digital. Baby-steps, but none-the-less, progress.

Effective Digital Advertising - Is There a Better Way?

I’ve always been keenly aware of large store digital signage installs. Even before getting my proverbial feet wet in this industry, I was drawn to the concept. They did, indeed, catch my attention, if only for a second. But, did they make me buy anything? Honestly, no.

I never really thought about why until I became part of it — I, like many others, go to the store on a mission — get in, buy what I need and get out. On the other hand, if the screens weren’t 15 feet in the air and gave me a reason why I need the product, perhaps it would have had more of an effect.

This week, we all witnessed the first big blow to the digital signage industry. No doubt, the failure of TESCO will definitely cause an already jittery advertising market to tighten their dwindling purse strings even more.

So how do we address this? Well, the first no-brainer is to position screens at eye-level so consumers actually see them. What good is an ad if you can’t see it? The second is a bit more sticky. Maybe we as an industry need to re-evaluate where digital signage advertising is most effective.

Recently, I was shopping at an HEB, a large food and drug store chain located in Texas. There was a digital signage application placed above (granted, you still had to look up, but bear with me) the produce section, specifically located by HEB brand pre-packaged salads. On the screen was beautiful high-definition content on how to make a delicious salad using HEB brand products, as well as an incentive of if you buy the featured package salad, you get the accompanying ingredients for free. You know what? I bought the salad and its necessary ingredients.

Now that’s effective advertising — and I believe, the future of digital in-store advertising. Furthermore, these are the types of campaigns we should be encouraging (being sherpas, once again) agencies to consider — innovative, creating your own box campaigns that not only sell a specific product, but add value by giving the consumer something interesting (a recipe), as well as plugging other brand products. A win-win all the way around.

DSE 2009 - Same as it ever was?

Despite this year’s DSE being bigger and better than ever with more innovative applications and developments, it seems as if while the digital technology of delivering information is improving, the overall system philosophy (i.e. human element) is not.

As I sat in The Advertising Agency Perspective on the Digital Out-of-Home Industry, I was impressed with the panel and their forward-thinking ways of making digital advertising an attractive, lucrative venture for companies.

And although she didn’t speak much, I especially appreciated The Americas CEO Gwen Morrison who almost scolded the audience with her “quit whining” attitude (a direct quote), as well as her straight-from-the-hip perspective of why agencies aren’t quickly biting into the digital advertising realm.

Draft FCB Director of Creative Technology Michael Davis also offered sage perspectives, stating, “Agencies have to partner with [digital out-of-home media] in order to improve product development.”

In a nutshell, the panel was able to provide very thoughtful insights and predictions, however, no solid answers. This simply was not what the audience wanted to hear. They want simple solutions and simple answers to an industry that, well, is just not simple (back to the “quit whining” admonishment — which was great).

After digesting the seminar, I believe the challenge is two-pronged. First, as Davis pointed out, agencies have to partner with us to improve product development. But it goes further than that. Agencies also have to abandon their traditional compartmental departments where the left hand obviously completely misses the right hand and start working together. Account representatives need to push their media buyers of the value and effectiveness of digital signage, while creative needs assurance that their hard work will not be compromised in a digital medium.

Furthermore, everyone in the agencies need to work together and realize that print is not only costly, but stagnant. The ability to tweak digital advertising on a whim is ROI-worthy alone. If a campaign is working well in one region, but not another, digital has the ability to quickly and effectively fine tune a message — no other media can do that at this time.

So, the second-prong challenge? The digital signage industry — those selling systems and trying to secure advertisers — will be a main driving force in educating agencies of the value of digital signage. Additionally, because there is essentially no cost for placing an ad on a screen, those who came from a traditional “CPM” model need to not necessarily abandon it, but lower it significantly. Make the cost low enough to where an agency can’t NOT buy into it. As scheduling becomes tighter and ad space limited, the CPM will naturally increase.

No doubt, the problem does not lie in digital signage technology, it lies in the people. We have the opportunity to create something — to change how information, advertising included — is delivered. And this doesn’t just consist of placing content on a screen, this is redefining the whole basis of traditional media — from creative to media buys to relaying the final product to a focused, targeted demographic.

And while OVAB and other organizations have taken great strides in developing the tools and resources so imperative to this industry, it is up to US to become the one-on-one sherpas to agencies and advertisers — the consultant, the hand-holder, the innovator and the motivator.

So, in true Gwen Morrison form, let’s stop whining and do something. Let’s take advantage of what digital technologies are offering — they will inevitably change for the better in the coming years — the question is, will we?