The concept of placing ads on ATM machine screens has been around for years, and no wonder. What better moment to catch a consumer's attention than when he or she is waiting for cash for use on this or that spending mission?
   The major stumbling block was a technological one. While the ad networks had sophisticated systems for delivering the ads, most ATMs were of near Stone Age design, relics of aged technologies, and thus incapable of displaying the messages.
    That's all quickly changed in the past two years. While a number of old machines remain in use, legions of new ATMs have come on line that can accept and display high-tech messages. Static, animated and full-motion images are transmitted to machines by a hodgepodge of satellites, DSLs, phone lines and diskettes.
    Currently, $12 billion in transactions are made annually on 250,000 domestic ATMs, with a projection that doubles the number of machines over the next five years. 
   The potential for getting your brand in front of a sizable chunk of the population, with cash still fresh in their pockets, is enormous. So advertisers and their agents plug on.
    To find out about how ATM advertising works, what it costs, and how to try it, read on.
    This is one in a Media Life series on buying the new out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.

Fast Facts:

What: 
     Miniature billboards on ATM screens that flash their advertising messages while customers are waiting for their cash.

Who: 

    There are scores of media companies contracting with ATM providers to place ads on their screens. Some stick to their own geographic region while others have built networks from coast to coast. Media Life spoke to four:
     €  BrandATM, based in Calabasas, Calif., provides technology as well as ad design, production and distribution.
     €  ATM Advertising of Baltimore profiles available networks on its web site for advertisers to preview.
     € ATM Advertising Solutions in Richardson, Tex., develops individual networks to meet each advertiser’s specifications.
     €  Next Generation Network (NGN), headquartered in Minneapolis, places ads on select ATMs in high-profile locations.

How it works:
    The majority of ATMs offer full-color static screens that transfer a sequence of images while  customers wait for their transaction to be approved. 
   "If the advertiser is a cruise line, for example, you could show the ship, then the inside of a cabin, and then a glacier or something else from the cruise," says Mike Szimanski, president and owner of ATM Advertising.
    "You could do the same with a car or a bar of soap."
    Audio is available on some ATM screens but is rarely utilized for advertising.
    "Audio is really tricky; 15-year-olds and 70-year-olds hear things differently," says brandATM CEO Paul Wolff. 
    Toppers are separate units mounted on or wrapped around ATM machines. They have their own screen and usually support full-motion video.
    There are three opportunities for advertising before and during an ATM transaction. The first is the "welcome" or "attract" screen that some advertisers utilize for exposure to foot traffic passing by the ATM site as well as to anyone approaching or waiting to use the machine.
    The second and most frequently utilized opportunity for displaying advertising is while the customer waits for the transaction to be approved.
    Transaction times vary from as few as four seconds to well over a minute. The machines located at financial institutions generally process cash requests most quickly. This has prompted some ATM advertising firms to move away from contracting with banks and credit unions and instead focus on building networks of ATMs that operate by modem.
     "We found that financial institutions’ aim is to make banking cheap and profitable and to that end they’ve been very successful in shortening ATM transactions," Wolff says.
    "So we’re focusing on the retail environment where the dial-up modem connection can take 20 to 25 seconds."
    The third opportunity is printing an ad or coupon on the customer’s banking receipt. A simple ad can be pre-printed on the back of the receipt material or on the front of a coupon that can be detached at a perforated edge.
     "Seventy-eight percent of people hang onto their receipts," Szimanski says.
    Though not frequently utilized, a window-in-window function can allow advertising to appear during the entire transaction.
    Images are generally wall-to-wall in a sequence lasting eight to 20 seconds per product but can last longer, depending on what the advertiser wants.
    Exclusivity is usually available by location.
    ATM networks can be made up of financial institutions or independents that could include machines in convenience stores, malls, airports and hotels.
    Many financial institutions use their ATM screens to promote their own services and products, to advertise promotions, and to air public-service or community announcements.
    Branding is the primary goal of "welcome" and "transaction" slot ads.
    The receipt is often used for promotions, including coupons.
    Marketing managers can design campaigns that appear at targeted times. For instance, business travelers can be targeted on airport ATMs from Monday through Friday, with vacation ads appearing on the same machines over the weekends. 
     The ad content is delivered by a variety of technologies including satellite, DSL, telephone lines and diskettes. The speed and ease at which programming can be updated depends on the media provider’s delivery system.
    Screens are often targeted by location. For example, ATMs located in convenience stores feature branding campaigns for coffee, soft drinks and snack foods and often include redemption promotions.
     Screens vary from 5 by 7 inches up to 12 by 13 inches, with some toppers measuring in at 14 by 17 inches and larger.
    Financial institutions usually retain the right to pre-approve ad content.
    "They generally turn down the sin products,  tobacco and alcohol," says Gary Walston, president of ATM Advertising Solutions.
    The brokers placing the ads and maintaining the ATM networks handle installation and maintenance. This includes receipt and coupon-printing.
    Creative follows the out-of-home maxim, "Keep it simple," Wolff says.
    Often static creative is recycled billboard images, while video is footage originally developed for television.
    ATM Advertising’s Szimanski believes creative could be more effective if the unique space available on ATMs were approached as a separate entity.
    "We feel the medium is not being explored from the creative aspect," he says. "We could maximize the effect with contests, with tie-ins, with interactive. It’s a whole new media opportunity."
      Advertisers are a mix between national, regional and local brands. Some ATM ad brokers cover only one local market.
    On a local level, Walston recommends placing ads on ATMs that are located within proximity to the advertiser.
    "The best way to generate response is to put an ad for a restaurant or a dry cleaners or an oil lube change joint within eyesight," he says.

Markets:
    ATM machines are available in virtually all American markets.

Numbers:
    How measured? The number of users at each ATM machine measures delivery of guaranteed impressions.
    A percentage of  traffic at a store or other outlet is determined to represent walk-by traffic.
    On the average, a single ATM completes 4,000 transactions monthly, according to ATM Advertising.
   Specifically, convenience stores average 500 to 700 transactions per month per machine. Financial institutions average 4,000 transactions each month, with some in New York City completing 10,000.

Research:
    What product categories do well? Technical companies, amusement parks and resorts, soft drinks, packaged goods, telecommunications, restaurants and other retail.
    It’s no surprise that dot.coms are fading here, as they are in other venues.
    The so-called sin products, tobacco, alcohol, x-rated entertainment, generally don’t advertise on ATM screens.
    Products that could be in competition with a specific venue can be rejected. For example, a bank or credit card company not associated with the financial institution that owns the ATMs would probably not be approved for an ad.

Demographics:
    The general ATM user profile is a consumer 18 to 49 years old who has a bank account and owns a home; sex is male and female in equal numbers. Total household income averages from $30,000 to $40,000.
    "The key component is that they’re accessing cash," Wolff says. "They’re in the commercial environment acquiring spending money."
    Approximately 44.1 million households use ATMs.
    The highest use is by consumers in the 18- to 24-year-old range, with seven to nine visits to an ATM monthly. 
   Use declines with age to between four and six visits per month for 25- to 49-year-olds.
     "It pretty much drops off after that," says Szimanski.
    Targeting demographics is possible using zip codes, specific retail locations, and county demographics. Critics worry that confidential information about banking customers might not remain restricted if participating financial institutions profile their customers for advertisers. The banking industry replies that ads are aimed at specific regions and not at specific cardholders, which could result in different copy being displayed in neighboring zip codes for the same product.

Making the buy:
    BrandATM : Provides both ATM marketing and their brandAVCOMM, a video modem or topper, that plugs into existing ATM machines via phone lines, providing full screen video with audio. 
   The brandAVCOMM is 12 inches deep by 9 inches wide by 3 inches tall, with full-motion video and optional audio. The brandTOPPER comes in a flat 15-inch screen with full-motion video and optional audio. Both operate using a standard RJ11 telephone connection.
    The exterior of the boxes or toppers that support brandATM screens can be modified with signage to tie into the ad campaign.
    Machines are available in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Florida, New York, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky.
    Factors that affect pricing are how many transactions occur at the ATM site, the demographics of the site, the amount of foot traffic, the number and duration of ads, and the contract length. Prices range from $75 to $220 per month.
    Lead time is generally seven days.
    Contracts are usually on a monthly basis.
    The sales office is in Calabasas, about 10 miles inland from Malibu.

ATM Advertising: Advertisers may test-market or execute a trial buy.
    ATM Advertising has a network of 10,000 machines, or about 20 percent of available ATMs, with coverage in all major DMAs.
    Lead time is about three weeks for a standard ad and seven weeks if couponing is involved.
    Factors affecting pricing include location, length of campaign, how economically the network can upload copy, transaction volume, and whether units are simple screens or toppers. Contact the sales office for specific prices.
    Contract lengths are at least 30 days and average two to three months.
    The sales office is in Baltimore.

ATM Advertising Solutions: Factors that affect pricing are type and size of buy, type of ad, static or video, and location (DMA). Prices range from $30 to over $100 thousand, based on CPM.
    Contract lengths range from 30 to 90 days.
    The sales office is in Woodlands, near Houston.

Next Generation Network: Places advertisements on ATM screens only in high-profile, high-traffic locations.
   Contact the Minneapolis sales office for prices and other specifics.

What’s unique:
    Ads generally are terminated whether or not the cycle is finished when the transaction is completed. This is done to avoid consumer complaints about additional wait time.

Who’s already on ATM screens?
    Compaq Computers, half.com, Subway, Sonic, Quick Car Lube, Coca-Cola distributors and others.

What they’re saying:
    "Nobody turns their back on an ATM" is the industry motto. But brandATM’s Paul Wolff disagrees. He says, "The ad has to be visually competitive with what consumers see on TV. There’s no remote control but they can turn their heads.
    "One bank that had 980 million transactions figured that people utilizing their ATM sat and looked at that screen for the equivalent of almost 2,000 years in that one calendar year." 

Web site info:
BrandATM at www.brand-atm.com
ATM Advertising, Inc. at www.atmadvertisingonline.com
ATM Advertising Solutions at www.atmadvertising.com
Next Generation Network at www.ngn.com

-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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