The Alternate Screen – Narrowcasting the Masses

In his 2002 science fiction film, Minority Report, Steven Spielberg predicted that in the year 2054 digital outdoor advertising will be calling out consumers' names. In the film, Tom Cruise's character is confronted with digital signs that call out his name as he walks through a futuristic shopping mall. “John Anderton, you could use a Guinness right about now,” a billboard announces as he walks past.

Another ad scans his retinas, proclaiming: “…Lexus. The road you're on, John Anderton, is the one less travelled.”

If you are reading this article, it inherently implies that you have some personal gain in exploring the content mentioned in these few pages. Or, maybe it is captivating enough for you to sit up and take notice. It is this captivity that I intend to talk about: about how a medium can move from being a passive, mass-targeted one-way communication agent to being an interactive, two-way catalyst for a brand. I will discuss, in particular, outdoor as a medium.

If there is any media that is vast in its scope and interpretation, it is outdoor. Any consumption of messages that happens outside our home comprises outdoor – from hoardings to pamphlets, posters, activations to digital screens. We are bombarded with all sorts of messages the moment we step out of home. A large portion of this sort of advertising becomes passive. We see but do not look; we hear but do not listen. So, in such an environment, when the consumer in all probabilities is not receptive to any brand communication, how do marketers catch them when they are not choosing to consume that media?

The reality stated in movies such as Minority Report could be a reality much sooner. This causes us to look at the increasingly interactive mode that outdoor media is choosing to become – being increasingly enabled by an adoption of a newer and wider scope of technological innovations. There can be one flipside of unwanted intrusion with such messages leading to a certain sense of aversion but this problem would answer itself if the communication is targeted and relevant.

The new reality

Three-dimensional outdoor ads that talk to mobile phones, adapt messages to certain situations, access social network profiles and combine holograms, mood lighting and smells, could all be on the streets by 2012 (Source: The Up Front & Personal Report) although it will take a while before these

kinds of innovations hit the Indian market. But, nonetheless, it merits a thought as to how personalization of messages can be the next big thing to revolutionize the outdoor medium.

The digital outdoor sector covers screen-based advertising within five types of out-of-home environment, categorized as: transport networks, leisure venues (such as health clubs, multiplexes, restaurants and pubs), retail environments, commercial hubs, and finally niche locations (hospitals and so on). About 60% of these digital screens are located in cafes, pubs, salons and gyms (Source: Digital Agencies – Live Media and OOH Media) where the consumer is present in a relaxed frame of mind and hence is bound to be receptive to any sort of communication. These arenas provide us not only with width (longer duration of time) but depth (captivity) as well. This then gives the opportunity for advertisers to push their communication when it matters and in a manner that results in action.

With over 65% of the world’s population expected to dwell in mega-cities by 2050, technology-led outdoor innovations are going to be driven here. There have been certain trends and emergent technologies that are trying to enchant the customer with a degree of personalization on a never before seen scale.

Gladverts – These are digital, out-of-home ads that react to consumers’ moods by using emotion recognition software (ERS) and cameras to detect patterns on faces corresponding to happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise and disgust – tailoring ads to their mood. For example, if they see a sad customer walking by, they can display an ad for a chocolate bar or a spa massage.

Gyms – Brands like Gatorade, Burn and other energy drinks; sports gear and apparel companies; health foods and so on cash in on the opportunity to talk to the consumer when it is actually the moment of truth for them and they are doing their best to keep fit. Apart from the regular digital screens, there are also smaller personalized television screens for individual consumption, mainly in cardio sections. This is an opportunity waiting to be explored.

The same goes for Pubs and Restaurants where the element of fun and loosening up is of utmost importance. Beyond being the obvious place for liquor advertising, brands like those of travel and

tourism that are a catalyst for the consumer in a fun and ‘let-go’ space can use this trigger very well to their advantage.

In-cinema advertising – I still prefer to call this a form of outdoor advertising in the sense that it is consumed when the consumer is not in their own home. It is a captive environment but the last where advertising should be mindlessly bombarded as is being done now. In a total mood for entertainment, the last thing a person wants to see is 15 minutes of useless advertising that simply delays the cinema viewing experience. An interesting answer to this could be to talk about products and brands that a person might think of after watching the film itself. An interesting case in point here is that of the recently released Zoya Akhtar’s Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. The ad break in the film featured European tourism destinations and an interesting ad by Turkish Airlines crafted to lure the audience, who after the glimpses of Spain in the film, may already be thinking about taking a vacation.

In-flight and in-train entertainment – Stuck in a seat for 3-4 hours and nowhere to go… Where else will a marketer find its consumer in such a state where any form of communication and entertainment would be a welcome relief? Currently, brands are resorting to plain vanilla advertising, sampling and regular ads to cater to this audience. But if we have a thoroughly bored yet ready-to-pay attention consumer waiting to be fed communication that engages, interesting brand stories can be woven to talk to them. Business class passengers can be targeted on gadgets like smart phones and tablets, giving users the virtual experience that otherwise cannot be provided in the hustle and bustle of a retail scenario.

Neo to Morpheus:          I thought it wasn’t real.

Morpheus to Neo:          Your mind makes it real.

Why can’t a Matrix-like virtual world then be a reality for consumers? This can be content rather than advertising-led which ultimately is the route that marketers will have to take if they want to engage rather than talk to the consumers.