Advertisers can gather data on consumers while they’re out on the town by putting survey questions on jukeboxes that patrons see when they choose their favorite tunes.

To find out how to get your client’s message in bars and restaurants coast to coast, read on.

This is one in a Media Life series on buying the new out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.

Fast Facts

What
Advertisers sponsor surveys that appear on jukebox screens in bars and restaurants.

Who
Ecast Network, a San Francisco company that provides programming for jukeboxes.

How it works
Advertiser surveys are imbedded in the programs jukebox users interact with when choosing their songs.

Games, sweepstakes and other content loop with ads. Consumers opt into a survey by touching the screen.

There are three types of surveys.

One is based on fun facts and could tie into topics like current events. The second presents questions to build demographic and psychographic audience profiles. The third is category- and advertiser-specific and could include pre- and post-survey questions regarding an ad for a new product.

Multiple surveys can run concurrently. "They’re served up to the user as screens are refreshed," says vice president advertising sales George Giatzis. "Ads load up as screens are refreshed and so different surveys pop up."

Survey questions can be developed by the advertiser or by the advertiser working with Ecast.

A call to action or incentive can be built in to the survey.

Surveys can stand alone or be add-ons to an on-screen advertising campaign.

Ecast machines are in bars, restaurants and bowling alleys.

Markets
Ecast is in 98 percent of DMAs.

Numbers
Ecast screens are in more than 10,000 locations nationwide.

"In general any of these surveys get 10,000 to 25,000 responses over a two-week period," Giatzis says. "That’s an amazingly significant sample of our audience."

How it is measured
Impressions are based on the number of users.  There are 1 million impressions per month per campaign, says Ecast spokesperson Rob Manfredo.

Research
On an average night, more than one in three bar customers are exposed to Ecast where the service is available, and 78 percent of bar patrons sampled for a 2007 Arbitron study reported noticing Ecast touch screens. Twenty-five percent said they used Ecast that day while another 12 percent watched someone else interact with the touch screen for a total of 37 percent of customers in bars viewing the screen in a single day.

The average time Ecast customers spent with the touch screen was five minutes.

The same study found that 79 percent of Ecast customers agree that using the touch screens made their bar visit more enjoyable and 60 percent reported they would be willing to try products from companies advertising on the touch screens.

Ecast consumers report that they are early adopters or among the first to try a new product at 23 percent, compared to 10 percent of the general population, according to the study.

What product categories do well
Top categories include beer and spirits, automobiles, entertainment, telecommunications and quick-service restaurants.

Demographics
According to a 2007 Arbitron study profiling Ecast customers:
Gender breaks down at 65 percent male, and the age breakdown is 21- to 24-year-olds at 22 percent, 21-34s at 58 percent, 21-49 at 89 percent, 21-54 at 93 percent, and 55 and older at 4 percent.

Advertisers can target by day part and by location.

Making the buy
Lead time is eight days. Polls generally last one to two weeks, and advertisers can buy a market or the network.

Cost is based on the length of time a survey is active.

Who’s already on jukebox touch screens
Sponsored surveys is a new program.

What they’re saying
"Usually digital signage is passive. Here’s a way to use it dynamically with full, measurable interactivity. On top, the whole thing is built on the advertiser being able to weave through the passion of people choosing their music." George Giatzis of Ecast

Web site info
Ecast at www.ecastnetwork.com