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Enter Nielsen Outdoor. The research group last fall tested the Npod, a GPS-based device about the size of a cell phone. The media group gave the gadget to 850 consumers as they moved around Chicago for 10 days and counted when they passed 12,500 ad sites. Layering demographic and TAB traffic data over maps of billboard locales, the study delivered the sharpest outdoor ratings the industry has seen. Nielsen found that, on average, Chicagoans pass 66 outdoor displays each day. TAB is conducting its own industry-funded study to measure the likelihood that a person passing an ad will see it.
It's not all that surprising, then, that many national advertisers such as Unilever, Coca-Cola and McDonald's are reconsidering billboards in their ad mix. "Outdoor now has a place in the media-planning process," says Wally Kelly, CEO of CBS Outdoor. Coca-Cola is coming back outdoors full throttle this month to advertise its new beverage, Coca-Cola Blak, and its new global slogan, "The Coke side of life." According to senior vice president Katie Bayne, the brand will run ads on the top 10 boards in 28 national markets. Last year she advertised in only 10 markets. "Our target consumers are increasingly outdoors," she says. "And out-of-home ads are a surefire way to get our message to them."
That's not to say new billboard technology is free of challenges. Advertisers and privacy advocates are worried that interactive campaigns could be intrusive. Not everyone wants to be talked to by a billboard. "If somebody starts pinging phones, there's going to be consumer backlash," says Tom Burgess, CEO of Third Screen Media, a mobile-marketing and software consultant. For that reason, the newest high-tech outdoor campaigns invite consumers to opt in, say, by sending a text message. For example, Nationwide, the insurance and financial-services company, encourages visitors on Times Square's Reuters billboard to send in snapshots via a company website. Each afternoon it posts selected photos on the 23-story sign. Up the street, Walt Disney World advertises a new theme-park attraction. Send a text message to the number posted, and seconds later your phone buzzes with an SMS from Disney asking whether you want further promotions. For now, the advertiser knows only your number. Before too long, though, it could know your name too. Pretty cool stuff--and maybe just a little scary.