JOLT, an outdoor media business, has what appears to be at first glance a strange sideline in electric vehicle (EV) charging.
But using the EV network means an app is needed and that means a direct connection with the audience.
JOLT has a pipeline of thousands of screens in development across Australia, with the out-of-home (OOH)/EV charging network having a presence in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide in partnerships with local councils, land owners, Endeavour Energy and Ausgrid.
The company has also recently expanded to the UK with plans to move into Canada.
Michael Selden, JOLT’s head of sales and platforms, says the charging network is validated under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
“We’re recognised for lowering emissions and we have a position in market where we supply back the carbon credits to the advertisers as a form of third party verification for the positive impact the ads are having on the screens, which allows us to deliver the other side of our business,” he said.
Sam Hannaford, the programmatic director at JOLT, says the app gives a one-to-one connection with audience.
“It actually means that we're a first party data business as well, which I think is quite unique in the digital out-of-home advertising space,” he says.
“Obviously, that's something that we're looking to scale up in the short term future, but I think long term, there's some really interesting applications for how we can use that first party data and there are some really exciting products that we will be taking to market in the near future that are kind of built around that.”
The app provides EV users with information about JOLT’s charger locations, navigation to their closest charger, and real-time charging status updates.
JOLT's OOH screens are primarily integrated within the EV charging kiosks and the network allows brands to engage with both broadcast roadside audiences as well as its premium EV driver audience for the approximate 33 minutes it takes to charge their cars.
Upon launching in 2021, Audi, Telstra and Woolworths signed on as the inaugural advertising partners.
Since then, everyone from banks and insurers like Macquarie Bank, CBA, NAB, Allianz and Suncorp to car manufacturers like Mercedes and BMW – not to mention the likes of Amazon, Myer, Nine, Stan and Binge along with both the Federal and South Australian governments – have all gotten in on the action, with Hannaford saying more advertisers are signing up at the same time that the network usage itself has grown by 600% in the past year.
“We've seen a really significant increase [in advertisers] in 2023 from 2022; more than double the number of advertisers have come on board, so it's a huge growth trajectory for us,” he told AdNews.
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