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Journal of Retail Analytics

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Platt Retail Institute (PRI) is an international consulting and research firm that focuses on the use of technology to impact the customer experience. In an omni-channel environment, PRI works with its clients to develop marketing strategies that build brands by integrating various customer-facing technologies. PRI clients include retailers, media companies, financial institutions, hardware and software companies, educational institutions, and other businesses.

Out-of-Home Media as the Gateway to Mobile Commerce and Retargeting

By Mark Boidman, Managing Director, Peter J. Solomon Company

ew technology is delivering a more capable and cost-effective out-ofhome media platform to bridge our everyday lives and our physical world to digital media and digital/mobile commerce.

I consider out-of-home media as any form of media that engages with you when you are outside of your home, in contrast, for example, to your home television or desktop computer. Out-of-home media is content and advertising delivered on displays that can be found in both public and private environments, including retail stores, hotels, stadiums, restaurants, airports, on highways and streets, and corporate offices, among various other locations, and can also include mobile phones used in these locations. New technology in out-of-home media provides interactivity and flexibility to these installations, yielding something far more dynamic than traditional outdoor vinyl billboards. Today media launch times are faster and content is streamed across digital networks. Digital technology and hardware costs continue to decrease, making this medium increasingly costeffective. Geolocation (identification of your geographic location through your mobile phone or tablet or other Internet-connected device) and other technologies are transforming traditional media and marketing channels. Personalized Digital Media and Mobile Commerce Geolocation technology is a massive, untapped game changer that will revolutionize our physical worlds with personalized digital media and digital/ mobile commerce. GPS-enabled smartphones are everywhere, and nothing will stop geolocation, not even privacy concerns. Imagine having checked in for a connecting flight and the airline closes its door to the aircraft a moment before you arrive at the gate. Now think about what geolocation technology can do to change the outcome. It is only a matter of time before your airline tracks and knows your exact location and holds the door open a moment longer or knows that you are too far away and decides to more efficiently pull away from the gate moments earlier than its planned departure. Or perhaps the screens in the airport lounges only come on and stay on when you are physically in or approaching the lounge. Or the specific content displayed on the screen in the lounge welcomes you by name as an elite frequent flier. Geolocation and indoor positioning system technology are also bridging the physical world to digital/mobile commerce. In the quick service restaurant sector, for example, consumers are increasingly ordering via a mobile device that provides them with a method of ordering and higher level of

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engagement. KFC is experimenting with location-based services to alert restaurant employees when consumers are within a geo-fenced area around the store, which triggers an order placed via mobile app to be freshly prepared for the customer. Quick service restaurants can use this technology to gain better control over their customers and the customer experience. It is these types of technologies that cause digitally connected consumers to increasingly want and expect digital engagement everywhere. Even my home shower is controlled digitally, complete with remote control. And consumer data from intelligent signage and other systems, in-store or in-venue, is being used to increase sales and improve the customer experience and engagement. Fortunately no one is collecting data on my home shower (that I know of). Digitally connected consumers and mobile technology provide out-of-home media companies with a new ability to track an audience and its behavior and should work with existing Traffic Audit Bureau (TAB) Out-of-Home Ratings and other forms of out-of-home media measurement. Out-of-Home Media as a Gateway to Retargeting Contextually relevant out-of-home media content, coupled with geolocation and consumer behavior data, provide a unique opportunity to retarget viewers with behaviorally triggered mobile communications, including advertisements. We have been spending time recently with companies that develop table-side tablets for restaurants and bars. It occurred to us that these tablets could serve as an out-of-home retargeting platform to maximize future engagement and conversion. For example, a table-side tablet is promoting a drink special with Hersheys chocolate syrup (out-of-home media content that is contextually relevant to the location). A consumer buys the drink special. Whether or not the consumer pays with his or her mobile phone, data is captured, and the next day, as the consumer approaches a supermarket, he or she receives an offer for Hersheys chocolate syrup (or potentially another brand of chocolate syrup). This form of media and advertising retargeting is efficient and trackable, especially as mobile technology has the ability to capture the complete path to purchase, including at the physical cash register with PayPal, Square, and others. xAd, the mobile advertising platform, and Posterscope, the out-of-home agency, have partnered to launch a new capability, which they say will enable this form of media retargeting to consumers who have seen specific out-ofhome media content with relevant mobile communications. xAds measurement product then tracks actual in-store visits that occur after the media exposure and retargeting, to measure campaign performance and ROI. It is this kind of analytics and ROI that we have seen as directly related to advertising spend given the proven uplift in conversion and ultimate delivery of the right ad creative at the right time of day and in the right location. The future of advertising will carefully hone in on where you have been, where you are, and what you may do next, to develop consumer patterns in the form of a predictive algorithm. This is not the future of personalized advertising this is or should be advertising today. If you are thinking that this sounds like that scene from Steven Spielberg's 2002 sci-fi thriller, Minority Report, it does. In one frequently cited scene, Tom Cruise walks through a shopping mall and an iris code is used to trigger digital media displays of advertisements based on his mental state and context. There are multiple examples of out-ofhome companies we know well today using facial recognition and other technology coupled with digital signage and/or a network of screens that can adapt content based on gender and age. Retargeting adds the benefit of being able to anticipate customer needs before such needs are even expressed. By

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understanding the needs and movements of your audience, mobile content can be optimized and delivered at the precise time and place. Spectacular Out-of-Home Media as Engagement Opportunity Consumers are increasingly engaging with digital out-of-home media and digital signage on the ground, including in-venue (e.g., restaurants, transit stops, medical waiting rooms, etc.), however, there is real opportunity to engage with millions of people using spectacular billboards in locations with high dwell time through the use of social media, gaming, photo sharing, digital commerce, and retargeting. Spectacular billboards are among the largest digital signage displays in use today and in heavily trafficked locations such a s Ti m e s S q u a r e , S u n s e t Boulevard, or the Las Vegas strip, and often incorporate special effects. We have been actively raising this unique, underused, media opportunity to various diversified media and retail companies as the medium to reach their consumers. There is no question that the future of digital media is the ability to connect with consumers who want spectacular, instant gratification. Companies with digital platforms that continue to focus on consumer and mobile interaction will be rewarded. Those with iconic media in iconic locations (e.g., spectacular billboards in Times Square) are best enabled to engage consumers with cutting-edge technology.

Mark Boidman is a Managing Director at Peter J. Solomon Company within its Media, Entertainment, Communications and Technology Group. He is a leading investment banker in the out-of-home media sector.

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