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Nov
16
Advertising won’t bail out (all) Web 2.0…or Digital Signage
Filed Under Advertising, Digital Signage
Amazing how travel schedules can disrupt your life. Montreal and New York have kept me very occupied and completely unable to sit down for 10 minutes to write. I’ve now got a backlog of articles that I have to get through…apparently I like creating work for myself.
FYI, in NYC until the the 21st so if you’re in town and want to meet up, send me an email at rob {@} adcentricity.com.
There was a poignant article in the Financial Times about Publicis’ CEOs’ comments at the Monaco Media Forum last week. I was directed to it after reading a post from Kevin McCauley over at odwyerpr. His comments were directed at the Web 2.0 crowd and the seemingly endless releases of products, acquisitions and hype in that space but are just as relevant to our industry.
Basically, Maurice Levy said
“don’t expect advertising revenue to bail out a lot of Web 2.0 companies and create your revenue model/opportunity. There’s just not enough ad money to go around.”
Ultimately, this is a warning that, while budgets are shifting and new reach based needs are required to fill voids, not everything is equal and not everyone will get money to support their initiatives/models.
Many have heard this before but as new players enter the Digital Signage landscape and decide that every little space should have a digital sign on it, it’s worth repeating a simple message:
Take great care in the locations you choose to digitally “paper up” and be very careful of how you execute because if you choose the wrong ones, you will be stuck with a very large bill.
Before you decide to jump in head first make sure you take the opportunity to learn from some of the folks who have been through it. There is a ton of learning and experience that should be adopted from those who have supported networks and helped them expand and operate; Real Digital Media, Broadsign, Digital View, Nanonation, etc, etc (there are many potential partners) all have in-depth knowledge about what works and what doesn’t. Environment, Audience (quality and size), screen positioning/integration, content, dwell time, loop lengths, spot lengths, etc, all play a role in creating value for potential buyers.
Also understand that not every environment is equal when it comes to Digital Signage installs. A Convenience Store retail chain divides their stores into classification of retail value of A, B & C locations. This is by store size, type/format, market, DMA, audience, etc. Advertisers want the “A”s. If you aren’t in that category, you’re already creating an uphill battle. Start off with the best properties and as audiences and demand grow, expand into the Bs.
On the revenue front, ultimately, plan for the (almost) worst case scenario and expect that to be your guide on roleout and offering.
Keeping to the basic rules of Network and strategic business planning will help mitigate some of your risk and ensure, when you do go to the agencies and brands for ad dollars, you won’t be repeating some of the same mistakes of the past or “moving the industry backwards” by dragging down the collective maturity as some have referred to it.
Sadly, Maurice is adding a second warning to the first message.
Even if you do have the right locations, audience, technology and content, ad dollars simply may not come your way beause there’s not enough of them for everyone.
While I agree with him in principal, the decline in some traditional channels and the shifting media landscape makes it hard (for me) to know which of 100 different “new ad opportunities” will be winners in 2-3+ years. As long as we all learn from past mistakes and help to establish and grow our industry credibility together, we have the potential for some large’ish gains.
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