Post-Christmas clearance sales, along with a record $24.81 billion in gift cards given this season, are predicted to bring shoppers out in record numbers.
To steer those shoppers in the right direction, retailers are putting up digital signage along freeways near shopping centers with uniquely targeted messages. Interactive technology enables advertisers to gather demographic profiles about passengers as they drive by and respond with information and specials tailored to their preferences.
To find out how to get your client’s message delivered to shoppers before they reach their destination, read on.
This is one in a Media Life series on buying the new out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.
Fast Facts
What
Interactive digital signage that displays ad messages in response to the demographic profile of drivers and passengers passing by.
Who
SmartSign Media, headquartered in Sacramento.
How it works
Ads are displayed on interactive electronic billboards on highways adjacent to shopping malls and directly outside of malls.
Ad copy can be changed in response to the demographic profile of the cars' occupants based on their FM radio preferences, which are tracked as the cars pass by.
Working with those profiles, advertisers can develop creative accordingly, and those messages can be changed instantly in response to who is driving by the sign. Profiles are formulated using surveys that link radio listeners’ station choices to their income, shopping habits and other data. The technology is called Radio Frequency Identification, or RFID tagging.
The signs leading into malls can even offer coupons and other specials to shoppers as they approach the stores from the parking area.
In addition to tagging, interactive features include:
-Electronic coupons issued to consumers who text message via a number that’s displayed on a sign
-Live pull, which pulls pages off the internet and then displays them on the signage in real time, providing up-to-the-minute content
-Polling, where consumers can respond via text messaging to a question posed on a billboard
Creative is provided by the advertiser. Ads can be video, animation or stills, though animation and video along highways are restricted in some areas. Stills can be used to create animation where it is permitted.
Highway signage is placed on pylons. “Freeway signs are in locations where you might not be able to get a permit for a billboard,” says president Tom Langeland. “They’re classified as digital message centers.”
Signage is used for branding, promotions, directional messages and time-triggered specials.
“We can do a poll by putting out a question like ‘Do you like jeans A or jeans B?’ and people can text message their answer,” Langeland says.
Some malls have multiple signs so advertisers have coverage at every entrance.
Video on mall signs includes television ad copy, movie trailers or spots developed specifically for the mall location.
A maximum of eight advertisers can be displayed in rotation on one sign. Advertisers can buy the network or cherry-pick locations. Local as well as national and regional advertisers use the signage.
Markets
SmartSigns are available in Atlanta, Las Vegas, New York City and 15 California markets, including San Francisco, Santa Clara and Fresno.
How it is measured
Sensors on the signs track traffic on highways outside malls. Within malls, impressions are based on visitor numbers provided by mall owners using Arbitron data, Langeland says.
What product categories do well
Highway signage most often features nearby retail outlets and other local businesses, such as auto dealerships.
Mall signage displays ads for businesses in the mall and products sold in mall stores.
Demographics
An advertiser can identify a target group by tabulating the radio listening habits of passing motorists. Detailed consumer demographic information, including shopping patterns, is accessed via a database that links radio station format to listener characteristics.
Making the buy
Lead time is five days. Ads are sold in increments of 10, 20 or 30 spots per hour. An advertiser can sign on for a week, a month or a year.
Who’s already on electronic signage
McDonald’s and Albertsons are recent advertisers.
What they’re saying
“We use media audit data to match the data we have on how many cars listen to what FM radio stations. Based on that, they break down how many of the people are male, female, even what brands they prefer.” – Tom Langeland, president of SmartSign Media
Web site info
Smart Sign Media at www.smartsignmedia.com
