Outdoor digital signage has always lagged behind indoor systems and there are obvious reasons for this: Added investment; protecting outdoor digital signage from the weather and vandalism; difficulties in installation; legal permissions, and so on.
Currently, outdoor digital signage takes £1 in £8 of existing outdoor UK advertising revenue and is continuing to see year-on-year growth. And consumers want outdoor digital signage, according to recent research put out by a leading outdoor advertiser; however, existing outdoor advertisers are not satisfying the needs of consumers, the research claims.
The research, conducted by leading out of home advertiser, JCDecaux, found that consumers have high expectations of outdoor digital signage, wish to see it, and unlike other forms of advertising, such as internet adverts—which they find annoying and interrupts their online experience—wish to see outdoor digital signs on their commute as it helps to pass the time and adds value to their journey..
However, the research also concluded that consumers feel disappointed with many brands that utilize digital signage, and failing to meet customer’s expectations, and that customers wish to see more engaging and entertaining content; brands that ran simple static posters were “missing a trick and failing to meet customer expectations,” suggested the report compiler.
Making it Appealing
Making outdoor digital signage appealing is one of the challenges, but this research does demonstrate that unlike other forms of advertising and marketing—people actually want to see it.
Some of the more successful outdoor digital signage campaigns manage to engage customers in an entertaining way, while still managing to promote their brands and products. Of course, the challenges of outdoor can be such that striking the right balance can be difficult. Dwell time can be shorter for outdoor (particularly in bad weather), but it’s not just a footfall audience, but also travellers on buses, cars and taxis can view your sign, who may watch a screen for longer, especially when stuck in traffic or waiting at a bus stop.
And you don’t have to be a big name advertiser to provide outdoor digital signage to commuters. An outdoor screen placed at the front of a high street store can be often be visible to both passersby and commuters, and are often not as expensive as people think. A simple commercial grade screen placed in an outdoor LCD enclosure can provide a simple and inexpensive outdoor digital sign. Although providing the content is another challenge …
