Under the magnifying glass: The benefits of display digital advertising (Part II)

Part II: Dynamic use of display DOOH Following Tuesday’s post on the General Benefits of Display DOOH, this second part of our three-day series of insight pieces on the new opportunities brought by the medium will be focusing on the dynamic ways in which advertisers use display DOOH - adapting their messages to target specific audiences but also fully taking advantage of the communication possibilities brought by the increased penetration of these products into an ever increasing number of display DOOH environments.   Display digital OOH is undergoing successful implementation across all major OOH environments.   In the Airport environment it enables brands to speak to their audience through Iconic giant displays and particularly through the flexibility of networks. A whole new type of communication is made possible: advertisers are now displaying targeted messages to passengers in their own language or according to their destinations and travel purposes, as they depart, arrive, or take a stroll down the Duty Free areas.   Guerlain successfully targeted the affluent airport audience during the launch of its perfume “La Petite Robe Noire” by using a variety of digital formats across Paris-CDG 2E, the airport’s international hub, to get specific messages across. A Large Digital Iconic Screen enabled Guerlain to first introduce the product to a wider audience of passengers and the general public, thanks to the strategic location of the display at the centre of the 2E departures hall. The message on the large screen was then retransmitted on the digital networks located around the duty free areas, engaging on a personal level with the passengers by speaking their native language and acting as a reminder for potential purchases.   IBM took a different approach at Heathrow Airport. As a sponsor of the Wimbledon tennis tournament the brand decided to communicate on matches, either to indicate that they were taking place soon or to give live scores of those that were in progress. IBM used the information on the departing flights’ destinations to communicate directly to passengers with regard to their national players’ status in the competition.   On the street and in the public transport environments display DOOH is also developing under many different forms and in many locations. As well as broadening the targeting opportunities for advertisers these environments increase the possibilities for engagement with the audience thanks to the proximity that they offer to the point of sale. In a good example of this engagement approach British Airways, the leading UK Airline, chose ground transport to advertise their many flight destinations. Digital 6-sheet screens at Victoria station, departure terminal for the Gatwick Express, were used to invite commuters to the central hall of the station to play on a flight-simulator in an attempt to win free tickets to exotic destinations. Every 15 minutes, the highest scoring “pilot” won a pair of tickets to the destination that was advertised for that day. Each winner had their moment of fame by being announced to the entire station on a giant digital screen that displayed their face and the destination won.   In a different way, leveraging Oslo’s main train stations’ proximity to their stores, H&M took advantage of the atmosphere of rush and stress which characterises these environments to communicate a very peaceful and graceful scene to commuters. The brand used the digital panels in Oslo’s train stations to advertise for its new Conscious Collection, which focused on ecological recycled materials and higher awareness of a more sustainable fashion product. Thanks to the use of motion made possible by the digital nature of the screens, commuters could see the model standing in a peaceful and sunny apartment, surrounded by tropical plants and walking towards them wearing different pieces of the new collection, as if in a live fashion show.   Taking advantage of another opportunity for flexibility, Heineken ran a dynamic campaign on the Cromwell Road Digital Gateway in the run-up to the UEFA Champions League final in Wembley. The brand showcased multiple powerful and ever-changing creatives across all nine giant digital locations, displaying a great sporting storyboard to the affluent audience that travels through this digital corridor between Heathrow and central London.   A recent campaign by Benadryl demonstrates the ability of DOOH to deliver a flexible but very relevant message to consumers through the high audience environments that are roadside and malls. In order to promote its new Social Pollen Count App the brand is running through this summer a dynamic, reactive, location-specific DOOH campaign to alert hayfever sufferers in real time of the potential high levels of pollen in the air. The displays are regionally activated when the pollen count is very high and provide localised pollen map readings based on the exact location of each individual digital outdoor site. Benadryl chose two environments that are particularly relevant to their target audience; roadside locations enable the brand to speak directly to people as they suffer from high pollen levels while out of home and mall locations act as a reminder of the app already advertised on the roadside panels and as a call-to-action for the possibility to buy Benadryl products from pharmacies in the mall.   This Benadryl example is a clear demonstration of the benefits of flexible communication brought to clients by DOOH: a call-to-action close to the point of sale but linked by a time-sensitive relevant message is a powerful enhancement to display OOH in these large audience venues. Uniqlo also put this strategy to good use at the So Ouest mall in the hyper fashionable Parisian suburb of Levallois. As the north of France suffered from cold weather conditions, Uniqlo took the opportunity to advertise for its latest range of cashmere jumpers and trousers. The point of sale locations enabled the brand to drive traffic directly to the store and the digital motion enhanced the colourful ranges of clothes that characterise the brand. Do not miss our third insight piece, dedicated to the future opportunities brought by display DOOH.