Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising has many different types of mediums. But one of the most exciting ways you can make your ad campaign stand out is through the use of mobile advertising. By placing your ad on a truck-side, passersby from all kinds of geographic areas will be able to watch your ad in motion. The great thing about truck-side advertising and mobile billboards is that you’re able to choose where your ad will go and what sort of demographics will be able to view it. Through the use of modern technology, great progress in the OOH industry has been made possible by creating mediums such as digital billboards, Geopath, and augmented reality. This article will assess the history of mobile advertising and how it has advanced to where it is today. Furthermore, I will explain how Geopath works to measure and analyze how consumers interact with OOH ads as well as how digital billboards and augmented reality can be used to increase consumer engagement. To showcase how these modern technologies truly thrive in OOH advertising, this article will also demonstrate several examples of amazing mobile ads that increased brand awareness and had an awesome return on investment.
A Brief History
In 1891 the Associated Bill Posters’ Association of the US and Canada was formed in Chicago. This was later changed to the name, Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA). This association was created in order to analyze and communicate information about how the advertising industry works as well as to provide a national organization that would coordinate advertising services for the first time ever. In 1900 the association created a standardized billboard structure which would then be able to mass produce billboards for major companies such as Coca-Cola and Kellogg. In 1931 Outdoor Advertising, Inc. (OAI) was created for the promotion of outdoor advertising, which then joined OAAA to be part of one company. In 1975 the first campaign was developed to measure how effective a billboard would actually be for creating consumer engagement and impressions. Now, the OAAA is coming up on its 130th birthday, maintaining its success in today’s society and continuously adapting to the changes in the industry. As we now enter the third decade of the 21st century, there are many ways to advertise outdoors including: billboards, truck-side, posters, and more. With the expansion of technology, companies can now take their ads even further with the use of augmented and virtual reality, thus creating a whole new way to advertise with digital out of home advertising (DOOH).
Geopath
A company known as the Traffic Audit Bureau for Media Measurement changed their name to Geopath in 2016. This is a non-profit organization that measures and analyzes how consumers interact with OOH advertisements by using mobile data. They provide services such as location measurement, consumer insight, and market research to showcase how consumers are able to engage with outdoor advertisements. By creating a rating system, the company is able to provide metrics to track consumer data. This is an incredibly useful tool for advertising companies to analyze how well their ads are working to increase brand awareness, consumer engagement, and to apply it to future projects. By shifting from the perspective of the advertiser to the audience itself, Geopath is able to provide deeper consumer insights and a better understanding of the effectiveness of OOH advertising in the long run. When considering how Geopath has impacted modern OOH advertising, Kym Frank, CEO of Geopath recently stated, “The emergence of outcome-based planning and buying that we saw take root over the past two years will flourish in 2021, especially as more granular data becomes available across all platforms. Consumers who were previously restricting their mobility will emerge from their homes – hungry for experiences and interactions. Marketers will look to leverage this increased out of home activity so that they can make up sales ground lost in 2020.”
Augmented Reality
Lots of advertising mediums benefit from using augmented reality, including mobile ads. Augmented reality is used to manipulate one’s environment through a smartphone by displaying objects on camera that are not actually there. It is the perfect example of how modern digital technology can be used to increase consumer engagement and improve hyper local advertising. Augmented reality allows the user to interact with the advertisement in an extremely comprehensive way, whether that be downloading an app and taking a picture of the ad to get free perks from the company or using a QR code to browse the company’s latest products and services. This helps build a company’s reputation by allowing the consumer to feel as if they are part of the business itself. Unlike traditional hyper local advertising, augmented reality allows the user to immerse themselves in the smartphone’s screen by viewing products and services as if they were right in front of them. For example, you can use your smartphone to place different furniture in your room to see how it would look in real life, or even catch Pokémon as if they were right in front of you! Augmented reality is the future of advertising and mobile billboards and truck-side ads would benefit greatly by implementing it into their marketing strategies.
San Antonio Shoes Mobile Ad Campaign
San Antonio Shoes is a family owned American manufacturing company founded in 1976 in San Antonio, Texas that specializes in handcrafted men’s and women’s shoes. They recently partnered with the advertising company Bulldog Mobile Billboards to display trucks in Manhattan that had huge windows in them so that passersby could see directly into the trucks. The purpose of this ad campaign was to promote the company’s shoes by offering free foot massages for those that entered the trucks as they travelled around the city. Not only was the consumer able to check out the tiny shoe store inside the truck but they were also able to relax with a massage, increasing their happiness and making them more likely to make a purchase from the business. This is an awesome example of mobile advertising done right as the consumers were able to interact directly with the company, just like an augmented reality experience would be. This modern approach to OOH mobile advertising gives companies a great opportunity to stand out; by being innovative and creative there is no doubt that your brand will increase consumer engagement and awareness, just like San Antonio Shoes was able to.
Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation
Movia recently partnered with Ontario’s Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) to promote their lottery, casinos, slot machines, and gaming centers. OLG has been around since 1975 and was created to promote fair and responsible gambling for the province of Ontario as well as to give back to the community, as they have donated over $50 billion dollars throughout the years to various charities. Their campaign used 12 trucks over the span of three weeks to target the demographic of young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 in the suburbs of Toronto. With the use of Movia’s patented beacon technology and Geopath, they were able to get interesting data about the campaign, which showed that they hit over 17.5 million impressions and that 61% of them were in the main targeted demographic and geographic region. By using a mobile OOH advertising strategy (truck-side ad in this case) and combining it with modern technology, OLG was able to get the best possible return on investment as they not only increased their sales with this marketing strategy, but they’ve also gathered the proper analytics and data that can be used in future marketing campaigns.
SPCA Ad Campaign
The Ontario SPCA and Humane Society is a charity that was established in 1983 to prevent animal cruelty and help with overall animal well-being. They wanted to create an interesting OOH advertisement that would promote their cause to as many people as possible, thus they partnered with Bulldog Mobile Billboards to launch a truck-side ad campaign. These truck-side ads were digital, so they actually had a screen instead of a static poster, that showed the Humane Society’s latest video of different animals interacting with people. They also included their company’s information, “Free fix for your pets” and their phone number to promote spaying/neutering pets to prevent overpopulation and stray animals. This ad campaign was a success because it used modern technology (digital truck side advertising) to promote the company’s cause by showcasing the cute animals in motion; something that would not have been as easily achieved with a plain static billboard.
Final Words
With the use of modern technology such as digital billboards, Geopath, and augmented reality, mobile advertising has definitely come a long way. By gathering analytics to generate as much information as possible about your target audience and creating exciting and engaging advertisements, you will surely be able to increase brand awareness for your company. Furthermore, you will be able to see who’s really looking at your ads and how you can reach this audience with even more precision. With these advancements in technology and the impact they have on the advertising industry, it becomes evident how much consumers will be influenced by the future of mobile advertising. This makes it the perfect opportunity to invest in mobile advertising for your company in the New Year.
