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where folks commute
Now, video news kiosks with full-motion ads
By Kathy Prentice
Commuters waiting in line at public transit stations now have something to grab their attention besides their morning newspaper.
Move over, New York Times, New York Daily News and other commuter eye fodder. Make room for video screens.
These are flat-panel screens that display news, sports and weather updates and even movie trailers. Mingled in, just as on television, are full-motion ads.
These new info kiosks are beginning to appear at commuter stations, and the early reaction is positive. Researchers are finding that some commuters stay at the screen to watch the entire loop before moving on.
To find out how to get your client’s video ad before commuters’ eyes at transit hubs, read on.
This is one in a Media Life series on buying the new out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.
Fast Facts:
What:
Video-screen advertising at public transit stations.
Who:
Next Generation Network, headquartered in Minneapolis.
How it works:
Flat-panel video screens are mounted in various locations at light rail stations for consumers to watch while they’re waiting in line to purchase a ticket or board a train.
The screens are positioned both outside and inside transit stations, depending on the configuration of the station, says Tracy Crocker, president and COO of NGN.
"In some cases they’re built where tickets are sold and in other places they’re free-standing," he says. There are five to eight screens per station.
Programming consists of sports scores, local weather, stock updates, business news, movie trailers, trivia and train schedules--interspersed with ads. Content is provided by AccuWeather, Exito, La Opinion, the Associated Press and other outlets. ABC News provides headlines and summaries.
Ads last 15 seconds and can be full-motion video, animated digital graphics or static reproductions. Audio isn’t available due to ambient noise.
Three-minute programming loops alternate with the 15-second ads.
A wait for a train or ferry is typically four to five minutes.
Loops replay. Advertising messages are played as many as 500 times daily.
A digital network is used to send targeted programming and advertising loops to individual screens from the NGN hub in Minneapolis. News, weather and other content is updated frequently.
Creative is often reproduced from existing TV, print or web ads.
Text is frequently added to TV creative when audio is removed.
Print ads can be animated. Fox Television uses an animated version of one of its outdoor messages.
The key to effective creative is taking advantage of the TV-quality imaging, Crocker says. "The same principles work here as in outdoor. It’s what makes a good billboard—creative graphics and the company name or a specific message. The extra piece is the animation."
Screens range from 17 inches to 27 inches across.
Branding is the primary goal of these 15-second video ads.
Promotions also appear in the ad slots. "Fox TV very specifically customizes their ads with local stations’ call letters and numbers," Crocker says. News stations also run promotions for news stories that will appear later the same day.
Ad content can change to target demographic groups. For instance, advertisers can target commuters in the early morning and other consumers later in the day. "You can use the same ad slot to run juice in the morning and soft drinks in the afternoon," Crocker says.
Exclusivity by product category can be negotiated.
Advertisers are typically national brands.
Ad placement can be geographically targeted.
"From a creative standpoint, it’s a nice opportunity to move in and out of a market quickly. It gives us the ability to attract viewers by zip code, allowing us to target the specific demographics of our TV audiences, ranging from dramatic shows such as 'NYPD Blue' to court shows such as 'Divorce Court,'" says David Tetreault, director of advertising and promotion, syndication division of Fox Television.
Advertisers buy portions of or the complete NGN network, which includes convenience stores, fast-food restaurants, elevators, gas pumps, office buildings and pharmacies, in addition to transit stations.
Video-screen advertising in specific locations like the New Jersey Transit platforms and ticket stations often is part of multi-venue campaigns. "The feedback we get is that we complement their traditional media mix," Crocker says.
"We’re using it to supplement our conventional media buys—radio, cable, transit, billboards," Tetreault says.
Markets:
NGN screens are currently available on 27 New Jersey transit platforms and will soon be available on New York Waterway (ferry) stations.
Plans to expand into other markets over the next 12 to 18 months are underway, according to NGN’s Crocker.
Numbers:
How measured? NGN uses Nielsen Media Research, Audits & Survey Worldwide, Scarborough and Accutrack to measure audience size, ad recall, brand awareness and audience efficiency in different markets.
Research:
Recall rates for NGN screens were 50 percent higher than outdoor (billboard) advertising and 100 percent higher than television. Sources: Nielsen Media Research, Perception Research Services and Nielsen Media.
In reaction to NGN screens, eighty percent of consumers on site watched the screens while they waited and 30 percent said they stayed longer than they needed to in order to finish watching a segment (source: Nielsen New Media Research, Feb. 2001).
In another study 87 percent of the NGN audience reported that they thought programming was "good to excellent." Overall 76 percent said it was a "very good idea" to have screens and 73 percent said the programming and advertising were "informative" (source: Nielsen New Media Research, Feb. 2001 and Audits & Surveys Worldwide, Mar. 2000).
All research was conducted using random samples of NGN sites throughout the U.S. and is not specific to transit stations.
What product categories do well?
Financial, media, some consumer goods and retail are categories especially well suited to rail platforms, Crocker says.
Demographics:
NGN-targeted demographic groups for the entire network of screens are young adults, upscale consumers, moms with kids and Hispanic consumers.
Making the buy:
Lead time is typically 48 hours. Factors that affect pricing include number of locations, length of campaign and targetability, with a higher degree of targeting costing more. "Volume discounts are built into the rate card," Crocker says. A minimum buy is $5,000.
Contract lengths vary. "You can buy all the sites for one day--or one site and commit for two years--or anything in between," Crocker says.
Contact the Minneapolis headquarters or check offices listed on NGN’s Web site.
Online planning and buying are available.
What’s unique:
Flat panel video screens are already seen by millions of consumers each week on screens in privately-owned public venues like quick-serve restaurants and convenience stores. Screens on light railway platforms--publicly-owned public space--are unique.
Who’s already on transit platforms:
Fox Television, U.S. News & World Report, AT&T, Verizon, Bell South, Pepsi, M&M Mars, Dr. Pepper, ESPN Radio, UPN, Business Week and H&R Block.
Web site info:
NGN at www.ngn.com
April 30, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
-Kathy Prentice writes about out-of-home advertising for Media Life, penning her stories from the resort town of Traverse City, in the upper reaches of Michigan.
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