Researching to a common goal

March 2, 2006 by Dave Haynes

Nice to see four competing companies putting down the gloves long enough to work together on a common goal – validation.

Outdoor Broadcast Network, Tribar Industries, and Wild on Walls of Toronto and Lightvision Media Network of Vancouver all do large-format, full-motion LED video boards on major roadways in those cities, and like most screen media companies, they are struggling to press the case with skeptical media planners.

Peter Irwin, OBN’s president and my old boss at ENN, told Media in Canada: “Really what we’re doing is taking traditional outdoor advertising to the next level and I was quite encouraged by peoples’ attitudes towards the medium in general.”

Media in Canada reported such key findings as:

* Awareness of this medium is high at 82%. Of those aware of the medium, 72% have seen video boards in the past week.

* 69% have a favourable impression of the medium overall, agreeing that they enliven the areas in which they appear (77%), communicate useful information (65%), and provide a better way to communicate information than static billboards (67%).

* Recall of advertising on video boards is on average 51%, significantly higher than industry norms.

* Those aware of video boards index higher in many key demographic areas including education (139), age (2 to 54 – index 115) and technology usage; (Internet access 137, cell phone 153, portable digital music player 185).

The research work was done last fall, and shows considerable promise for the medium.

More promising, I think, is that these guys got together and pooled the money to get solid research done. They saved costs, and now when their sales people are in pitching agencies, they’re all singing from the same song book about the efficacy of the medium.

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