It can be scary for marketers to put the first foot down in the vast landscape of Digital Out-of-Home Ad Networks. Helping brands make large strides in the space is Adcentricity, an aggregator of DOOH Networks, that adds a level of human know-how to strategic campaigns. Now, the company has developed a new offering called “Research Lite†that will allow brands to measure their success more effectively.
Adcentricity’s timing couldn’t be better. Brands are increasingly turning traditional advertising models on their heads requiring agencies to provide proof of performance.“Research Lite†can help meet these expectations by offering a prepackaged research component that can be added to DOOH Network campaigns. The research provides a detailed, quick snapshot of how effective a brand’s plan is across multiple networks. Select networks provide proof of play and efficacy on their network, but as CEO, Rob Gorrie told me, “(Adcentricity implements) research for the campaign’s needs, not of the networks needs.†Research Lite provides an opportunity for a third party perspective to analyze the bigger picture.
“There’s a lot of pushback on digital out-of-home in general because of the lack of research to quantify an advertiser’s return on investment,” said Gorrie, in another interview, published by Mediaweek. “Advertisers don’t necessarily have $100,000 to conduct research. We wanted to make Research Lite really consumable.”
The five packages starting at $4,200 are expandable and include tailored questions from the brand. Teaming with Peoplecount, the award winning research partner in TAB’s Eyes On Ratings, Adcentricity can provide quantitative and qualitative data within the first week of launch. According to Adcentricity, the research includes “detailed insight with defined criteria that are in-line with campaign objectives including demographics, awareness/notice, acceptance, advertising recall (aided/un-aided), sales uplift, brand awareness, top of mind awareness, and purchase intent.†This information can be used to adjust or tweak elements for a more effective campaign, instead of waiting to analyze results after the campaign is over.
During a pilot execution of Research Lite, a Verizon Wireless study found 79 percent of customers noticed the digital screen and provided insight into “consumer brand perception, competitive services, purchase intent, market opportunity, ad creative impact and more strategic findings specific to the service and initiative.†The research also provided evidence that the campaign reached the target demographic with almost half of the interviewees being within the income level, age range, and specific occupation.
As with other emerging media platforms, Digital out of home can feel like a risky proposition for advertisers. However, the DOOH space is proving it can be effective, highly targeted, and now, increasingly measureable.