Outdoor advertising (or out-of-home advertising - OOH advertising) has always been an integral part of advertising on a global basis. From the painting of walls and the presence of posters in ancient societies to the interactive digital screens of the present, OOH has come a long way over centuries. Whilst digital, marketing, and social media are expanding, outdoor advertising is still able to capture consumer gaze in a manner not achieved by other forms of advertising media. At Zen Media, we know that out-of-home advertising is playing an increasingly important role in the digital media landscape.
Outdoor advertising has been around for centuries. Ancient Egyptians were early innovators in the application of large stone plates for advertising, cutting out the inscription to the crowd. Billboard signs arose on the horizon in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and, in doing so, fundamentally changed how businesses could communicate with audiences. With the urbanisation process increasing, so did the demand for advertisements which could be targeted to wider, more heterogeneous audiences. By the mid-20th century, the modern billboard became a staple of city landscapes.
Zen Media, now, is poised with regards to the OOH advertising revolution because it is at the bridge between the old and new, the classic and the innovative, traditional format and next-generation digital technologies. Although outdoor advertisement has a long history indoors, there is still a huge potential for outdoor advertisement, while digital transformation is constantly changing the relationship between brand and user bit by bit.
1. Unmatched Visibility: A major benefit of outdoor advertising is its visibility. Signs, bus stops, flyover hoardings and electronic billboards are conspicuously located in high-traffic zones where they are viewed every day by tens of thousands, or even millions of individuals. No matter the situation, when it comes to the brand, there is no better exposure to OOH advertising than in walking into crowds in urban streets, on country roads, or in public transportation stations. Zen Media is aware that this type of exposure is enormously relevant, especially to companies that are looking to raise brand awareness in a saturated media landscape.
2. Non-Intrusive Messaging: In contrast to online banner ads, which may interrupt the browsing process or be placed before an online video stream, outdoor advertising is organically embedded in the consumer's lifeway. No Click Through, pop-up, or skip button is not needed. Outdoor advertising just so happens to be located amongst the greens of everyday life, allowing the client to enjoy the message when convenient for him/her. This unobtrusive, yet powerful communication technique enables brands to achieve significant impact without interring the consumer experience.
3. Memorability: Research shows that this is a reality that consumers can recall advertising outdoors better than they can recall advertising digitally more effectively. This is mainly because of size, shape and location. Visuals, designs, and selling points on a billboard are exactly the kinds of things that make outdoor advertising such effective advertising. Consumers have a high recall of outdoor advertisements long after they have gone by and they are shown to be conducive to the increase in brand awareness. Despite being onsite and therefore, as far as possible, doing exactly as Zen Media can, the fact that beneficial, eye-catching, large format, outdoor promotion will necessarily result in a higher external retention rate than using any other kind of promotion is clear.
While traditional OOH still reigns supreme, digital technologies have shifted the OOH landscape. Through the advent of digital billboards, interactive kiosks, and dynamic screens, advertisers have the opportunity to interact dynamically with consumers in real-time. Instead of static, fixed posters, digital outdoor displays (DOOH) can now provide the capability to change their content multiple times a day, taking into account the characteristics of the audience, and can also adapt to external factors such as weather, time of day, etc.
At Zen Media, we are glad to assist brands in their move to become digital. Through geo-positioning, programmatic buying and real-time analytics, DOOH advertising has been made considerably smarter and more effective than just a few years ago. Marketers today are in a position to provide, not one, but multiple campaigns on a single digital display which, through audience niche, targeted audience and geographically targeted audience, could be achieved. It may be an advertisement to buy winter clothes with the snowstorm, or it is an abrupt announcement for a local event, but the capacity to alter content immediately is a big boon.
Beyond content adaptability, digital outdoor ads can also be interactive with mobile phones via QR codes, Bluetooth, or NFC technology, leading to transactive consumer engagement. By merging physical and digital touchpoints, there is a resulting seamless consumer experience with increased engagement and conversion rates.
Even though the digital marketing industry has naturally grown to the forefront in the last few years the field is a serious and productive alternative medium of outdoor advertising. At Zen Media, we believe that, as part of the development of the coming of age of the future of Digital Out of Home (DOOH) advertising, the hybridisation of the old-fashioned world of outdoor and digital novelty is the real revolution. Keeping abreast of technological advances, Outdoor Hoardings at Juhu continues to provide the benefit that unparalleled recall, brand impact and audience interaction with creative content remain possible. In the clicks bombing era of Internet advertising, there is a need, in the physical real world there is a need, for out-of-home advertising - an analogue/real-world echo that can be used to pierce through the web of the digital noise and leave a lasting impression.
However, the sheer pervasiveness of uninterrupted digital chatter waits for hoarding advertising to continue playing an essential function in the marketing parlance of any multimedia strategy if it is handled adequately by media planners. From static billboard placements to data-driven digital billboard displays, OOH is on track to deliver the promise that brands will be seen and on consumers' minds, attention-catching, and clingers. As part of Zen Media, we're looking forward to further supporting brands as they evolve in this medium, using it to take advantage of the power of multi-dimensional campaigns, in a way that will be relevant to today's audiences.
At Zen Media, we leverage outdoor advertising solutions in Mumbai to create impactful campaigns that resonate with audiences and deliver measurable results.