Out of Home
Your message on a network of screens
By Kathy Prentice
Feb 4, 2008 - 1:05:52 AM

Targeting consumers as they move through their day, from the first cup of takeout coffee to the last stop at an ATM or night spot, would seem the ideal for an out-of-home campaign. That day may be approaching via networks of digital screens.

To find out how to get your client’s message on screens across a variety of locations, read on.

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

Fast Facts

What
Ads on screens targeting consumers at various points throughout their day.

Who
SeeSaw Networks in San Francisco and Ripple of El Segundo, Calif.

How it works
Ads are placed on a network of interactive screens in retail outlets like coffee shops and bookstores, where consumers typically linger. The network's 20,000 locations include Border’s, the bookstore chain, the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf chain, and Tully’s Coffee stores.

The ads appear in a loop with news content.

“Coffee shops target business professionals who spend dwell time in the morning before work, college kids who hang out after class, and moms who stop by after dropping the kids off at school or working out at the health club,” says Rocky Gunderson, vice president of marketing for SeeSaw.

Creative is provided by the advertiser. “We support everything from power point to Flash,” says Ripple president Ali Diab.

Ads can be interactive, allowing consumers to respond to polls or redeem coupons by means of their mobile devices.

Advertisers can cherry-pick locations within the network. For example, a local florist or restaurant could place their specials on screens in their immediate neighborhood.

Specific slots within the network can also be bought for a personal message, for example a birthday greeting for a friend at his regular coffee spot. Ripple calls them “Shout Outs.”

Advertisers can also sponsor content segments like sports or weather reports.

Ads can be partial screen or can take up the entire screen.

Sound is available in some locations.

“Sometimes it’s by daypart,” Diab says. “In the morning it may not make sense, but in the afternoon there’s lower traffic, so we turn audio on. It’s a location-by-location decision.”

One option is buying a series of screens targeting consumers as they travel through their day, starting with stops at coffee shops and health clubs and winding up at a bookstore or restaurant with stops at ATMs and gas stations. Creative can be the same across the network or vary by location.

The SeeSaw network includes screens in office buildings, bars, restaurants, retail outlets, convenience stores, gas stations and college campuses. The Ripple network includes screens in coffee shops, tea shops, juice bars and bookstores.

Markets
SeeSaw signage is in all 50 states. Ripple locations include New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Atlanta, Houston, Detroit, Phoenix, Seattle, Denver and Washington, D.C.

Numbers
The Ripple network's 2,000 screens, combined with the 18,000 in the SeeSaw Network, bring the total number of screens in the network to 20,000.

How it is measured
SeeSaw and Ripple provide advertisers with third-party-validated traffic and viewership data.

Research
According to a 2007 “Digital Out of Home Media Attitude and Awareness Study” conducted for SeeSaw by Online Testing Exchange:

-62 percent of adults surveyed report they have viewed digital signage over the past 12 months, and that figure rises to 75 percent among 18- to 24-year-olds.
-36 percent of adults report taking an action as a result of seeing an ad on digital signage, and among those 18-24, that figure rises to 51 percent. Taking action includes making a purchase or visiting a store or web site for more information.

What product categories do well
Travel, financial services and automotive are top categories. Local businesses like dry cleaners, real estate and healthcare providers also do well.

Ads for alcohol, tobacco or fire arms aren’t accepted.

Demographics
Groups are targeting by location.

Making the buy
Lead time is three weeks for a new advertiser. Updates can be done in real time.

Factors that affect cost include the number of locations, length of ad and number of times shown.

Who’s already on the network screens
Recent advertisers include Ford, Wachovia Bank, CBS Entertainment, California Lottery and PRoFlowers.com.

What they’re saying
“They give you a base to work with. Now instead of calling 50 or 60 companies to pull together a plan, it’s done through one company.” – Gerald Troutman, vice president director of print and alternative media for Mullen Communications of Wenham, Mass.

Web site info
SeeSaw at http://www.seesawnetworks.com
Ripple at http://www.rippletv.com