JCDecaux’s NFC Outdoor trial produces positive results

In March 2012, Kinetic and JCDecaux launched the largest trial of Near Field Communication enabled 6-sheets in Reading. Working with 13 clients from GroupM agencies, campaigns ran across all the poster sites in Reading and in the Oracle shopping mall, over a 4-week period. The results depicted that over 3000 people in Reading scanned the poster sites and their reaction was overwhelmingly positive (78%) about this particular experience, highlighting that it was the ease-of-use of NFC which was the key to the trial’s success. Brands which provoked the most positive interactions among the trial’s participants did so through the combination of relevance, dynamic content and strong call-to-action. Overall, there were strong download conversion rates: including an average of 28% for video content, rising to a high of 49% when the content was new and previously unseen. The research amongst Reading’s Smartphone users showed that the key to success was the relevance to the consumer and experiences that built upon an existing brand relationship. Brands attempted at attracting new customers through voucher redemptions. One of the key findings from this trial was that the highest activity was where the poster site was in proximity to the store and in the area around the University. Redemption rates for the vouchers increased across the four-week period (rising from 7% to as high as 18%) as consumers became more familiar with the technology and the possible reward. Significantly, the research found that 87% of people with NFC-enabled phones are likely to repeat the experience, while 80% of non-NFC phone owners said they would like to use it in the future. Richard Brooke, Communications Buying Manager at Unilever said, “As one of the UK’s largest advertisers, it’s important that we continually explore the emerging digital world to get a glimpse into the future of marketing - and even play our part in shaping it. The Reading trial gave us the perfect opportunity to experience this way of opening conversations with our consumers through four of our brands - Vaseline, Toni & Guy and Magnum – and we’re pleased that the results proved to be so positive. The four-week trial showed that we can successfully combine the out-of-home channel with mobile technology to create a rich and deeper engagement with our consumers.” David McEvoy, Marketing Director of JCDecaux said, “With Smartphone penetration set to increase and the rise in NFC-enabled phones, there is a great opportunity for Outdoor advertising to provide consumers with engaging and interactive campaigns on the move. The study showed that consumers saw the experience as a gateway for more information about brands, attracted by the prospect of vouchers, videos and competitions and through the links to social media.” Nick Mawditt, Global Director of Marketing and Insight for Kinetic commented, “The Reading trial shows that technology is driving the potential for interactive engagement through NFC. The experience of interactivity elicits overwhelming positivity around the brand, able to drive both the conversion and the retention of customers.” This study revealed a new opportunity for brands to attract, retain and deepen customers’ engagement by using mobile interactivity in their Outdoor campaigns.   See our previous blog post on JCDecaux One World’s Guide to NFC Outdoor Advertisinghttp://www.jcdecaux-oneworld.com/2011/12/jcdecaux-oneworlds-guide-to-nfc-outdoor-advertising/