This post (and blog) have moved.
Please visit: http://www.robgorrie.com/2007/07/10/target-newspaper-budgets-for-digital-signage-ad-revenue/
Thanks!
July 10, 2007
Target Newspaper Budgets for Digital Signage Ad Revenue
Posted by Rob Gorrie under Advertising, Digital Signage[3] Comments
July 10, 2007 at 7:10 pm
I left the newspaper business after 20 years, thoroughly frustrated that the great, great, great majority of my colleagues saw the Internet as little more than a fad, but a great way to boost their egos by putting their stories and columns online.
In the late ’90s a huge chunk of a tyoical daily’s revenues came from recruitment ads and classified line ads. Smarter people than me, and then dumbass new media manager me, all suggested these dollars were going to be eroded because online was simply easier.
I love the newspaper business, but it has forever been changed by online. Another medium that likely does a better job on local advertising is very bad news for those ink-stained wretches and they’re not a bunch who adapt quickly to change.
July 12, 2007 at 8:39 am
[Does advertising Ford on Digital Signage work better at Gas stations or in health clubs or in elevators?]
Do they know or starting to have an idea or it’s just too early for any assumption ?
July 12, 2007 at 9:33 am
they’re starting to. A number of qualitative research studies have been done, many of them focused more on the “retail” side of the Digital Signage business as opposed to the “place based” side of Digital Signage (e.g. malls, transit, etc). Each Network has been forced by the media companies and Brands over the last year to hire various research companies (Arbitron, Nielsen, TNS, Forrester, etc) to take a look at this – it’s spotty because it’s just “a network” to prove their value but I’ve amassed a lot of data from various sources that starts to paint a picture.
“Ford” may be a bad example as the brands or creative agencies haven’t really bitten on too many individual research studies themselves but categorical/segment studies have most definitely been done. (e.g. advertising “Trident” at convenience stores lifts the entire “Gum” segment 2% at convenience stores – which is really hard to do)
The real interest I’m now getting from a lot of the creative agencies (not the media agencies) is a high demand from senior creatives of understanding “what content works” and what doesn’t. Now that that interest has been identified, many of the creative agencies are starting to use similar DMAs or stores and performing A/B split ad campaigns based on creative. Unfortunately, many of these tests involve only the creative agencies and not the media agencies themselves and the learning is not being passed from those creating the content/advertisements to those buying the advertisements (media planners/buyers) & Brands. This is a healthy generalization – There’s a few media planners who are getting very active in the space and really spending the time to learn and do quantitative studies to add to the qualitative ones.
On the research side, you’ve got various approaches from companies like Video Mining and DS-IQ who, respectively, can track eye-balls on screen or sales uplift at till. Each method has it’s benefits dependant on the goal of the ad campaign – which needs to be understood long before you actually advertise
We’ll see a lot more of the tests of what works for individual brands in ‘08