Adshel knows what the future of outdoor looks like, according to its chief commercial officer, Mike Tyquin.
“We have a strong view about the future of OOH in terms of what it means to be digital – and it is not as simple as just converting paper posters to digital screens,” Tyquin said.
“There are things that need to be done, and we think data is one of them.”
Its recently announced roll-out of Australia's largest network of beacons - 3000 nationwide - is part of this play. While it might seem like an additional way for advertisers to get content, by using the network to send push notifications to consumers, Tyquin said the real focus of the network is currently in building up the accountability of the outdoor medium.
“Brands are now doing quite a lot of work in-store and online in terms of understanding their customer behaviours, but the missing piece has been what they are doing when they're not in that space,” Tyquin said.
“What we wanted was to be able to say to specific advertisers: 'Here's an opportunity for you to understand exactly what is happening with your customers, and not in a general sense of the total population, but for your customer group.' Beacons, in our view, are the best available technology at the moment to do that.”
Initially Adshel is taking a “listen and learn” approach with the technology: the beacons will be unobtrusive and won't send out notifications.
Tyquin said that while the Outdoor Media Association (OMA)'s audience measurement tool, Move, is “fantastic”, there was a clear demand for advertiser to know exactly where their audience is in an outdoor environment. He said, giving advertisers that information will help outdoor take a bigger slice of ad spend. It will also help with sales automation which is another area Adshel is eyeing.
“There are a number of things that we think need to happen for OOH to successfully migrate into digital , and this is one of the key initiatives for us in that space: it will help on the accountability front,” Tyquin said.
“It will give advertisers a much clearer line of sight on their customers and where they are in relation to OOH activity so that they can plan and buy, rather than a more general presentation which is what they've generally had.”
But he doesn't doubt that “within the year” advertisers will start to use the network for push notifications and says Adshel will be ready to use the beacons in that way “when the demand is there”.
“For an advertiser to go down the push notifications route they would need to be very comfortable about their relationships with their customers, and know they could make that a positive experience,” Tyquin said.
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