Article

What is out-of-home in a 'mobile' world?

With 65 percent-plus of the U.S. population smartphone-armed and dangerous, mobile technology has transformed the way people interact with the world and each other — and how brands engage with consumers who are, more than ever, on the go.

January 19, 2015

By Josh Kruter, Vice President, Digital Product, Clear Channel Outdoor

With 65 percent-plus of the U.S. population smartphone-armed and dangerous, mobile technology has transformed the way people interact with the world and each other — and how brands engage with consumers who are, more than ever, on the go.

Marketers must not only keep up with this vast, rapidly evolving landscape but also discern what actually matters amidst the hype machine that frequently envelopes technology changes.

Herewith, some thoughts for successfully connecting mobile with out-of-home... 

Please DON'T start with technology: People still come first

Winning brands don't chase technologies. It isn't about "I need an app ... beacon ... mobile video ... payments ... thing."

They start by asking, "Who am I?"; "What do I stand for?"; "Who are my customers?"; "What do they need/want?"; and "How do I find and serve them?"

Yes, the technologies we use ultimately matter. But they're the wizard behind the curtain, that we practitioners use to make magic once we know who our audiences are, what drives them and what actions we want them to take.

Know your audience(s), then take them on a journey

People live in the real world and connect to the digital. They use multiple screens. So brands need to decide what story to tell and how to tell it across these screens. They must ask, "How do I connect the platforms at my disposal to take my audiences into deeper engagement with my brand and what I want to sell them?"

There's a reason winning marketers — from savvy retailers to the world's tech giants, Apple and Google — have ramped their investments in out-of-home. They are spending above-average shares of their ad budgets on OOH, even as they do TV, online video, geo-located mobile and more. They get that "above-the-line" awareness drives action on other screens and at retail, where more personal engagement happens, last-mile decisions occur and dollars change hands.

These winners challenge themselves: "How can I use mobile to make my more general 'big screen' outdoor message personal? And how do I dynamically evolve my creative in both places to tell my story?"

They also get that, when their audiences want to engage in a conversation with them and with each other, it isn't enough to have that conversation on TwitterFaceStagram. The large screens of OOH can powerfully elevate the exchange to a real world celebration of "you" that has measurable reach and drives additional participation.

Be clear on what mobile's really changing (and what it's not)

Smartphones really have made us more mobile. They're untethering us from our desks and our couches, empowering us to be out and about far more than a decade ago.

Selfishly, as a member of the OOH industry — I love that. While the desktop Web gave the shiv to printed publications, what phones are actually cannibalizing is the desktop Web. Deep browsing at home is being replaced by multiple shorter engagements with sip-able and/or utilitarian content on the go. And more time on the go means more impressions for OOH ads.

Equally significantly, mobile is also changing what we can know about the audiences we seek to reach and when. Are the locations I'm using for OOH messaging really the best? Or, are there others I should also be thinking about? Did consumers actually see my message and then what actions did they take?

The data captured by the devices we carry reveal this, and more, in real time. When paired with the precise latitudes and longitudes that are fundamental attributes of all OOH inventory, whether digital or traditional… Well, suddenly these two media truly sound like they were made for each other.

Author Josh Kruter will be co-presenting a seminar entitled, "How to Think About a Mobile Out-of-Home Strategy," at Digital Signage Expo 2015 on Wednesday, March 11 from 9-10 a.m. at the Las Vegas Convention Center. For more information about DSE or to register for this or any other educational seminar or workshop and learn about digital signage, go to www.dse2015.com.

Josh Kruter is a brand activation and digital business leader with 17 years of experience in strategic planning and operations, product/portfolio and brand management, integrated marketing, and sales/partnership development. He has delivered measurable results for B2C and B2B businesses across multiple industries, from startups to recognized global brands. He currently oversees the digital product portfolio for Clear Channel's North American Outdoor division: a suite of solutions to connect brands to consumers on digital screens and mobile/social-enabled out-of-home inventory.