Industry Studies

AFFINITY GROUP MEDIA

The Digital Out-Of-Home Experts

Industry Studies

Research: 67 percent of Americans notice DOOH screens

06 Aug 2009 - Digital Signage Today.com

COLUMBIA, Md. - Approximately 155 million (67 percent of) U.S. residents aged 18 or older have seen a digital out-of-home (OOH) video display in the past month, at one or more of 17 types of public venues, according to a new study by Arbitron Inc. The Arbitron Out-of-Home Digital Video Display Study 2009 shows that the general audience for OOH digital video displays represents a cross-section of American consumers, and closely mirrors the average U.S. population.

Seventy-six percent of those who recall seeing digital video displays in the past month noticed seeing them at multiple venues. Digital video screens in retail locations alone (including grocery stores, large retailer/department stores, drug stores, shopping malls or convenience stores) reach more than 123 million (53 percent of) American adults in an average month.

"Out-of-home digital video displays, in most cases, broadcast advertising and content that are created for public environments and are distinct from network or cable TV viewing away-from-home," said Alton Adams, chief marketing officer, Arbitron. "This Arbitron study focuses on this expanding market and is designed to provide insight to help advertisers target certain consumer groups including affluent households, male adults, young adults and Hispanics using OOH digital video networks."

According to the study:

• Nearly one in five (18 percent of) Americans aged 18 or older noticed a video screen in a place serving food or beverages in the past month; 21 percent of adults have seen video displays at a movie theater.

• Twenty-two percent of U.S. adults have viewed a video screen at a gas station in the past month; 19 percent have seen video displays at an airport during the same time period and seven percent have noticed video content while waiting for or riding mass transit.

• One in seven adults (14 percent) has noticed a video display in an office building or elevator in

the past month.

• Nineteen percent of American adults have seen a video screen at a doctor's office or hospital in the past month and 7 percent have viewed video content at a health club.

The study also shows that:

• A person watching video content in a bar is 53 percent more likely to be a young adult than the population at large.

• A person watching a video display in an elevator is 88 percent more likely to live in an affluent household.

• A person watching a video screen at a sporting event is 27 percent more likely to be a man than the population at large.

• A person watching a video display at a transit hub is twice as likely to be Hispanic compared to the population at large.

How the study was conducted:

Arbitron and Edison Research interviewed a total of 1,666 people from Jan. 16, 2009 to Feb. 15, 2009. Telephone interviews were conducted with respondents aged 18 and older who were chosen at random from a national sample of Arbitron's Fall 2008 survey diarykeepers. In certain geographic areas, a sample of Arbitron diarykeepers was not available for the survey and a supplemental sample was interviewed via random digit dialing (RDD). Diarykeepers represented 70 percent of the completed interviews and RDD sampled respondents represented 30 percent.

Digital Signage Trial Yields Results

Study compares digital signage against static billboards with real commuters

Written by Fleur Doidge - CRN March 19, 2009

Outdoor advertising agency Kinetic and True Colours Distribution have completed a study assessing the effects of digital signage on real commuters passing through London Bridge station.

The trial used True Colours Distribution’s TruMedia equipment, according to the firm’s sales director, Iain Campbell.

“We wanted to measure the number of people and their attention to the signage,” said Campbell.

“People who went right looked to the right, at the digital signage. Interestingly, people who went left along the platform looked right too.”

Campbell said the study showed that people paid more attention to moving, digitised signs than they realized, especially at off-peak times of day. In rush hour, more people appeared to suffer from tunnel vision and notice less.

Nick Mawditt, global marketing director at Kinetic, said 155,000 people had passed the ad during the 11-day trial. Kinetic worked with True Colours and Titan, which lent the advertising panels.

“It was a real-life scenario, with actual people looking at a real ad,” said Mawditt. “We used a static poster ad and then for the digital signage we used three animations: one with no movement, one with a little movement and one with lots of movement.”

A little animation proved preferable to none. However, once people’s attention had been won, adding even more movement to the same ad provided no perceptible benefit.

While lots of research has been done on tracking eye movement in a laboratory, few real-world situations had been analyzed, said Mawditt.

“We measured the actual footfall and the entrances used [at the station], not just hypothetical people.”

Ivan Clark, digital and creative solutions director at Kinetic, said advertisers have queried whether more people would look at digital signage than static posters.

“Our findings allay concerns advertisers may have had about the value of sharing space with other customers using such media,” he said.

All the signs are favorable

OOH Metrics: 90 % recall digital screen ads

Thursday, 09 Oct 2008

Televisionpoint.com Correspondent | Mumbai

Out-of-Home Media (India) and The Nielsen Company have launched OOH Metrics, a research on digital OOH media in India. The study spanned six key markets of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad with a sample size of 14,574 in 175 locations.

According to the findings of the survey, as much as 90 per cent of people who come across outdoor digital screens, recall the advertisements being played on them. About 70 per cent of those who come across such screens were in the 20-34 age group.

The survey was to measure the audience size, advertising reach and brand recall from the OOH medium, the lack of which now makes the efficiency of advertising expenditure through this medium difficult to gauge. However, the findings of the survey cannot be recognized as industry metrics since it was not a combined effort of all the competitive players in the segment.

Palal Bhattacharjee, associate director, media and entertainment, The Nielsen Company, says, "Digital OOH offers a distinct dynamism that is fresh & evolving. It targets audiences who have the time & more importantly, the inclination to engage with digital advertising content. This kind of initiative on the consumer's part brings with it a competitive advantage for this medium, not easily replicable by traditional media."

With changes in the social trends, consumer lifestyle and media fragmentation, OOH TV has emerged as the medium of the future. The medium reaches out at various touch points in the 24-hour media cycle or in a day in the life of the consumer.

Raghu Venkatraman, vice-president, media strategy, OOH Media, says, "OOH Metrics is a critical step forward in ensuring the growth of the digital OOH medium. The efficacy of the medium is being continuously tested and proven via the campaign evaluation studies, but getting data on quality as well as quantity of audiences reached by us was a long felt need."

Out-of-Home Media is among the several companies that use flat-panel television screens in high-traffic areas such as malls, airports, railway stations and traffic junctions to play advertisements.