Putting your client in building lobbies

Putting your client
in building lobbies

News kiosks with ad messages to big-$ workers

By Kathy Prentice

    Delivering a message directly to consumers, instead of waiting for them to tune into a broadcast or pick up print, is becoming a key element in media campaigns.
    And screen placement for ads—from giant displays in shopping areas to miniature displays on banking machines—is quickly becoming a vehicle of choice.
    Screens are beginning to appear in the lobbies of office buildings, aimed at a target audience of busy professionals with higher-than-average expendable incomes.
    To find out how to place your client in the lobbies of high-end business properties, 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 flat-panel video displays on kiosks in lobbies of office buildings.

Who
   Civia Media Group, headquartered in Seattle.

How it works
    Ads appear interspersed with content on 42-inch flat-panel displays called Civia Media Terminals.
    Screens are displayed in the upper portion of eight-foot kiosks. There are four distinct viewing areas that present still and video images.
    People walking through the lobby or waiting for an elevator can read news headlines at a distance. Or they can move up close and use touch screen buttons to select detailed programming.
    Still images, full-motion video, sound, live-traffic cameras and animation are used to deliver advertising messages as well as content.
    The four viewing areas create a range of advertising options.
    Marquee banner ads run along the screen top, interspersed with breaking news and financial market updates. They’re framed by time and weather information.
    Creative is either still or static with four 10-second exposures per hour, at 56 exposures per day. Marquee banners are designed to be seen from a distance as well as close-up.
    The display view area presents ads and content as stills and as animated and full-motion video. Ads are rotated with news, traffic, weather, sports, entertainment and property information. Video ads run 30 seconds and are shown twice an hour. Static ads are also 30 seconds, on a twice-an-hour rotation.
    Interactive portions of the screen are the Newswire and Personal View.
    Newswire presents headlines, summaries of top news stores, and an interactive polling feature.
    Personal View’s interactive touch screen allows users to select content from a range of menus including news, traffic, weather, sports, entertainment, and property and neighborhood information.
    Ads on this portion of the screen can also be interactive.
    “Advertisers have the capability to drive deeper in terms of giving consumers more information about a product using video and animation,” says Civia president Scott Herrmann.
    Advertising in the interactive portions could also include sponsorship of content categories like weather, travel information, financial updates, entertainment, movie listings and event schedules, Herrmann says.
    “There are a variety of ways to communicate an advertiser’s message—both passive and interactive.”
    Viewers can be driven from one part of the screen to another, for example from marquee to interactive.
    “An auto manufacturer can have a full-motion video ad running that suggests going below into the interactive area to see what colors the car comes in, to take a virtual tour of the interior, and to get information on local dealers and prices,” Herrmann says.
    The interactive function could also be used to follow up with users.
    “You can sponsor contests, have people sign up for catalogs, or poll users on who they vote for to win the NBA All Star game,” says Robson Grieve, Civia's vice president for marketing.
    Ad copy can be updated or replaced anytime throughout a campaign.
    “People coming through the lobby have the ability to get the weather forecast and traffic conditions for their route home or to a meeting,” Herrmann says. “Within two touches of the screen they have their information and are on their way.”
    Content providers include television partners in each market to provide local news, weather and traffic updates.
    Hermann says that TV viewers are already familiar with their local news announcers and program formats. “Besides local coverage, they provide local context for national stories,” he notes. ABC and CBS affiliates are part of the network.
    Content is updated throughout the day. “For example, on Sept. 11 people were clustered around the terminals in our office buildings as events unfolded,” Herrmann says. “It wasn’t live coverage, but nearly live.”
    News updates are similar to what stations post on their web sites continuously throughout the day.
    Local television partners also tie in with promotions. TV personalities can be involved in Civia launches.
    A third of content is specific to the property where the CMT is placed.
    “There’s a directory that includes not only where a tenant is located but has an interactive screen to get more information about that tenant,” Herrmann says.
    Events like a holiday food drive can also be communicated to tenants.
    Ads are looped with content, comprising about 25 percent of programming. Ads and content are updated via an internet connection.
    Advertorial content is also offered. “An example would be a financial company offering business updates or an airline providing information on the fare deals running that week--a combination of relevant information that extends the brand,” Herrmann says.
    Seattle-based Bogart Golf, a golf instruction chain, used streaming video, golf drills and tips as an advertorial.
    “We found that a combination of content and advertising format worked best,” says president Kass Sells. “We used eight or nine terminals in buildings within a five-block area of our Seattle golf training center.”
    Branding and promotion are both achievable. “The biggest thing for us was the chance to stream content in a new location and reach people in a new way,” Sells says.
    Ads can be placed by location, market, and region or on the national network.
    Campaigns can be created using location, time of the day and day of the week.
    An advertiser can augment screen ads with on-site promotions. “On-site marketing could include some very interesting opportunities,” Herrmann says. “For instance, a car manufacturer could showcase a new model in the building lobby, or a wireless phone provider could set up a sampling program.”
    Ads work as a stand-alone campaign or part of a media mix. Product exclusivity can be purchased.
    Reconfigured broadcast ads can be used as creative for the video screens. Static ads for the same brand can be wrapped around the video screens.
    Marquee banners are static, 13 inches by two-and-three-fourths inches. Display view ads are 19 inches by 11 inches.
    Advertisers are a mix of local businesses-- including retail and service within walking distance of targeted office buildings-- and regional and national companies. Civic is aiming for a base of 25 to 30 percent local advertisers.
    “Local advertisers are typically single storefronts, small retail or service companies,” Herrmann says.

Markets
    Current locations include Seattle, Portland, Las Vegas and San Francisco. New York, Chicago, Los Angeles. Philadelphia and Houston will be launched by the end of this year.
    Civia recently announced an agreement with TrizecHahn, a public real estate company specializing in signature business properties, to install Civia terminals in more than 30 core markets in the U.S. over the next 18 months.

Numbers
    Currently Civia Media Terminals generate more than three million impressions per month.

How measured?
    Building population provides a base for the number of impressions, Herrmann says. “We can start with those numbers and do a periodic site observation to count people and note the percentage who view the terminals.”
    “We also track the screen touches on each terminal,” Herrmann says. “We know exactly what information was sought on what day and at what time, and then we can automatically generate reports.”
    Bogart Golf offered a free lesson to customers who mentioned seeing the kiosk ad, providing feedback on traffic to the site.

Research

What product categories do well?
    Business-to-business products, accounting and legal services, health care, health clubs, auto manufacturers and dealers, banks and other financial services, consumer packaged goods and entertainment.

Demographics
    The average age of those working in CMT locations is 40.
    Average employment income is $65,400, and 84 percent have completed graduate and postgraduate study. The internet is used on a daily basis by 78 percent.
    Audience by profession breaks down as:

Finance, 18 percent
Technology, 16 percent
Legal, 15 percent
Real estate, 8 percent
Consulting, 8 percent
Health care, 7 percent
Other, 28 percent

   Source: Civia focus groups and interviews.
   Targeted groups include “Mega Milers” and “Power Pedestrians,” as defined by a 2001 Arbitron Outdoor Study.
    Mega Milers are commuters who often make purchasing decisions during their workweek, with 35 percent preferring to shop close to their workplace or equally close to work and home.
    Nearly half, or 48 percent, have household incomes exceeding $75,000. Arbitron defines this group as difficult to reach via traditional media channels like television and newspapers.
    Power Pedestrians, compared to national averages, are young, have high earning power and are less accessible by television and daily newspapers than other consumers. They are primarily ages 18 to 34. Half have household incomes over $50,000. They walk more than seven miles per week.

Making the buy
    Lead time is two to three days, with creative in hand. “It’s almost immediate,” Herrmann says.
    Campaigns can be structured in three-, six- or 12-month cycles.
    Factors that affect pricing include length of contract, number of buildings and terminals, and number of markets. “On a CPM basis we are competitive,” Herrmann says.

Who’s already on Civia Screens
    Bogart Golf, Boeing, Las Vegas Visitors, Nestlé Quik, Columbia Sportswear, NEC, Balance Bar, The Vault FITNESS Magazine, FX McRory’s Restaurant, The Metropolitan Restaurant, King County Library Systems, Puget Sound Business Journal, Plexus, Inc. and U.S. Micro.

Web site info
    Civia Media Terminals at www.civia.net

Etc.
    While Civia has launched its media terminals only in office buildings so far, shopping malls and hotels will soon follow, Herrmann says.

-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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