When we first started marketing the digital OOH platform, prior to launching our first 4 digital bulletins at the end of 2006, we, at Norton Outdoor presented it as a completely different media platform than traditional outdoor. We asked everyone who would listen to set what they know about outdoor advertising aside, and apply the mindset of internet advertising on displays that just happen to be in, as a creative guru in our industry terms it, “the people’s space.” My dad has always called digital OOH the “OutdoorNet.” We went on to explain that people are going to expect, if not demand, more timely content than what is typically utilized on outdoor displays.
Despite persistent pleading and prodding by those of us here, and I’m sure most other digital outdoor operators (and even manufacturers), much of the content that we see on digital outdoor displays is not that much different from traditional outdoor designs. While this content seems to be working for these advertisers, we believe that there is still tremendous room for these advertisers to attain far more ROI from these digital displays.
As part of our mission to exceed our advertiser’s expectations and achieve their goals, we thought it might be helpful to put some recommended best uses and practices into the Norton Blog. Today’s submission is conditional scheduling.
As the name suggests, conditional scheduling for digital OOH refers to scheduling content based on preset conditional benchmarks. It’s really just an “If/Then” scenario. For example, if the forecast calls for temperatures to be at or above a specific benchmark, then “Design A” will run, if it is below the benchmark, “Design B” runs. We have done this for a few clients, with products ranging from donuts & coffee to some of the finest automobiles on the road (I wanted to do trade, but was vetoed!). Some examples of these conditional scheduling scenarios are included below:
Busken Bakery
Scheduled Iced Latte for nicer weather
Scheduled coffee & donuts if the forecast called for cooler temp’s
Mercedes of Cincinnati
If the forecast called for snow, they brought out the SUV’s!
If the forecast was nicer, they showed different vehicles
Cincinnati Reds
If the Reds win, we celebrate!
If the Reds lose, we look forward to the next game
There are myriad possibilities for conditional scheduling, and it will be exciting to watch as the use of this aspect of digital scheduling expands. Really all that is needed is a feed from which data can consistently be pulled (such as an RSS feed), and good creative for whichever outcome occurs. Conditional scheduling allows brands to provide a good or service that meets their target customers’ needs based on what is happening NOW!
To find out how your brand could benefit from the use of conditional scheduling on digital outdoor displays, please contact us. We can be reached at www.norton-outdoor.com/contact.html. You can also reach us via Facebook or on Twitter @NortonOutdoor.
Mike Norton
EVP
Norton Outdoor Advertising
