Declining Advertising Channels

Magazine advertising has decreased over 15%.   Newspaper ads have dropped 20% and TV ads are on the down by 11%.

Rising Advertising Channels

Online advertising has an increase of 11%.  Phone advertising is up 18%.   Yes, that’s right, those  bothersome telemarketing calls are still working.   Billboards are still going strong.   Local digital billboards and digital signage is effective to capture on-the-go consumers.   Local papers and mail ads for community  reach still work.

Future Trends for Local

Currently there are two fronts that a local business can operate.  The online community and the ‘real or physical’ community.   It’s important for a business to stay visible in the local community with special offers and updates.    This is the physical presence that works through new forms of signage.  Digital signage is the most effective since it provides the ability to see updated real-time offerings, has a text code to download info on your phone, and is a moving image.

For an online presence, there is an experimental platform being tested by google targeting only San Diego and San Francisco, CA.   The platform will not coincide with ad words, but it will provide a one-line business descriptions for anyone searching locally. This has its advantages and disadvantages.

Searching online for local listings is biased and can be information overload.   The person searching needs to be open-minded and have time while doing a search to following a new thread.   This becomes more difficult since many people are using mobile devices and searching for a particular site with limited time.   The success of this kind of platform will depend on many factors.  We’ll discuss further in a future post.   Already, people are becoming immune to google ads and ignoring the ones that pay to get higher up on the search engines.     There are some dangerous loop holes for this kind of platform.   Really the most effective online tools is to have a following or fan page and build your customer base or you could end up getting lost in the shuffle.

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TPG Marketing provides this blog to give local businesses free Smart Business Tips and Future Marketing trends to keep your business thriving.   TPG Marketing offers local solutions to help you captivate new customers.   Visit www.tpgmarketing.com today

Digital Signage paved the way for dynamic messaging, the ability to display complex graphics and data capture.  The complexity of data capture became more detailed as the signage allowed and called for the viewer to interact or engage with it.  Today we are able to gather info about customers on such a intricate level and this gives advertisers the ability to adapt to the customer’s needs.  The number one key to success for future of a brand.

While it seems far reaching that consumers will engage with advertisements on a everyday basis, it’s just around the corner.  As more people interact with their mobile devices they become comfortable with the idea of interacting with advertisements in a storefront or on a screen in a retail store.   They willingly give up information in the hopes that brands will emerge their likes into the product offerings.  Ultimately Advertisers in Digital Signage and Consumers will work together.

Interactive and Organic

I can’t express this enough.   If you are not using a mechanism that encourages interaction, you are missing the boat completely.   Whether it’s a text offering, feedback, comments or other.   The customer will grow tired of you and your brand if you don’t listen as they make attempts to engage.   The more your brand listen and incorporates, the more you allow for the evolution of an organic experience and you end up with a product built for your niche market. –  Consumer feedback is your gold.

This is the most important quality that Digital offers.   See it, believe it, adopt it.

For Digital Signage campaigns in your local area, contact TPG Marketing.   Let’s discuss.

With any powerful and disruptive technology, there are often legal hurdles that get in the way of implementation.  It’s a testament to the power and visibility of digital signs that city councils and highway departments across the country are considering the impact of digital billboards.

Disruptive technology as anything “that disrupts an existing market,” by “improving a product or service in ways that the market does not expect,” (wikipedia).  Across the country digital billboards are competing head to head, and winning, against static billboards, TV, radio, and print advertising.

Tampa Bay says A-OK

A few months ago, Tampa Bay’s city council approved an ordinance permitting Clear Channel Outdoors and CBS Outdoors to install digital billboards along interstate highways and in commercial areas.  The city spent three months determining and voting on the issue.  Twelve billboards have been permitted, six for Clear Channel and six for CBS.  Elsewhere across America, digital billboards are being embraced in small towns and metropolises alike.

According to the Opinion Research Corporation (http://www.opinionresearch.com/), 80% of U.S. adults do not want digital billboards banned, and think, in fact, that they are helpful to drivers because the broadcast important information in clear and direct ways.

Traffic Hazard or Traffic Success?

Even though USA Today reported “more cities ban[ning] digital billboards,” (http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-03-22-visual-soup_N.htm), more and more studies are proving otherwise.  Meanwhile, digital billboards, having proved their advertising capabilities in diverse markets, are multiplying across the nation.  Advertisers are piling on the digital bandwagon.  Even as folks ask whether digital signage is a traffic hazard, ad traffic on digital signs is booming.

The Local Local.

Surprisingly, some of the most successful digital billboard campaigns have taken place in small town America.  Super-targeted, time-sensitive ads put eyes on news that is hyper-relevant.  Morning commuters look at different advertisements than mid-day shoppers, after-school carpoolers, or late-night drivers.  Since one billboard can share multiple messages, costs stay low while views get high.

1. Speak directly to your demographic

One of the ways for local businesses to keep new customers coming through the door is to make their marketing dollars count through targeting their audience.  For example, one of the solutions that TPG Marketing offers is a fitness campaign to help local businesses attract consumers that are image conscious.  TPG created a campaign, as one of their solutions, that targets consumers while they are working out at the gym.   These consumers are interested in products and services such as beauty, health, hair, teeth, and looking younger.  Naturally, they pay attention to the advertisements that speak directly to their listening.

2. Location

All the old marketing rules still apply.  Location, Location, Location.   With new media we have access to different tactics and different tools to get their, but local businesses still have the age-old problem of location.   With advertising messages, it’s super important that you are putting up your messages in  locations that garner traffic.   Busy retail stores, coffee shops, and gas stations provide a great place for messaging to get seen.

3. Compelling Ad Form

In a study by Daktronics, the firm states, “A digital reader board with effective messages typically will pay for itself within four to 18 months.”  They further explain that the boards are also more effective than conventional media on the basis of cost per thousand exposures (CPM).

An example using Seattle’s local media options, the company says that the main local newspaper carries a CPM of at least $22.52, TV at least $5.14, and radio at least $1.80, against just $0.35 for a digital reader board.

Reports are showing that local companies are catching on and creating entertaining messages to speak to their communities through Digital Signage…and it’s working.

4.  Interact and Engage

Social media this and social media that.   What’s all the buzz about and why do it?  Let’s not forget that times were tough in the last few years for a lot of people, and when times are tough…history has shown that people gather together.  Facebook and other communities are moving us towards faster word of mouth sharing process, and it’s becoming more and more important to make friends, fans, and network with others to keep yourself in business.    The more positive/real interacting and engaging that a company can do online, the more that friends will spread the word.   This is one situation where it DOESN’T pay to be silent.

5. Call to Action

What are you asking potential customers to do?  Are you passive in your messages?  It’s time to give consumers a reason to listen to you, engage with you, walk in your store.   This is one of the most overlooked tool in messaging, even online.   If you don’t give consumers a reason to click, dial, call, spend, and search for you, I can promise you, that someone else will.  Call TPG Marketing and we’ll give you more insight on how to get a ‘call to action’ campaign up and running local

To promote its brand, Kodak is putting the faces of its potential consumers in one of the most-viewed locations in the world. Talk about the generation of allegiance! But the behavioral targeting comes into play later, when Kodak has the information of all who participated. Clearly, those who are interested in seeing their faces (or the faces of loved ones) in a public place are likely to be interested in Kodak’s various products.

In a relevant move that takes digital signage into the virtual world, Google will soon start using digital advertising in the street views within its maps! Read more here. Repeat: digital signage in virtual worlds. Here’s an example of how you can capitalize:

Twitter has launched the beta version of Local Trends, which means that we will be able to know what is trending right here, right now. This makes it possible to see what topics are presently of interest to any geographic location. Would you want to pretend this information wasn’t available before designing your ad, or use it to strengthen your message and make it timely? Beyond the more common utilities of targeting advertising, such as those used in grocery stores and at gas stations, the ability to change signage from remote locations in real time allows you to comment on world events as they relate to your product.

Imagine this: there has been much outcry about PG&E’s responsibility in the recent San Bruno, California fires. You are a watchdog agency with a digital billboard in  downtown San Francisco. As news of the fire breaks, you change your screen from “Your Watchdog Co. has over 30 years of experience …” and the clever video you produced to “PG&E should have used Your Watchdog Co.” followed by live footage of the fires and news updates on the disaster that could have been prevented. “We save lives.” There’s not much more to say.

As the possibilities of digital marketing evolve, TGP is here with the answers. Give us a call. We’re ready to help.

Digital media allows users to customize their experiences, which means they can tune-in and tune-out what they want or don’t want.  This is great for users who can fast-forward through commercials.  Why bother with radio ads when you can queue up a daily digital playlist, personally tailored to your mood?  This brave new digital world is great for the consumer—and poses a problem for the advertiser!

Whether it’s fast-forwarding through commercials or tuning out by plugging in, people use the digital world to filter out real world interruptions.  A bus ride is a lot more fun when you’re listening to your iPod or texting with your friends.

So why not engage people directly on their own digital terms?  Digital signage opens the floodgates for new forms of advertiser – consumer interaction.  You’ve seen the smart barcodes popping up in catalogs and on cutting-edge storefronts.  It’s a simple sign that links the real world to the digital.  Aim your smartphone at it, take a picture, and new information is delivered.  Point a webcam at it and a browser window is launched that actually interfaces with the code.

Digital signage can engage an audience used to drowning out the analog world with digital content.  A savvy advertiser can compete with the consumer’s digital distractions, providing information that is relevant to the consumer’s immediate location.

Examples of such displays are everywhere.  From highway signs that flash your current speed (slow down!), to carnival cruise lines building digital aquariums with fish that can be steered by your cell phone (check it out here: http://vimeo.com/3747070), digital signage grabs people and captivates them, turning their eyeballs towards your product or message.

A week later, your main competitor unveils a rival product with even better features than yours. What do you do? Your advertising is ruined; not only does it boast of features that have been topped in a week’s time, but it reminds the public that you were unprepared for this and have but a loser’s set of options: continue to promote an inferior product, or take the ads down early.

If you used digital signage, however, this would not be a problem. You could simply change your ad to focus on the features in which your product excels. Or you could refrain from comparison and simply show off the beauty of your design.

The ability to modify your message according to the rapidly evolving market is not so much an advantage today as it is a necessity. The world of human interests is moving faster than ever. It used to be that you could put a stick in the mud and a sign on the stick and call that advertising. But it’s 2010. More people spend 8 hours a day staring at a screen than they do reading writing on walls.

It’s important you catch our attention when you have it. A moving screen compels us to pay attention. We are drawn to it because it is speaking to us, and it is speaking our language: fluidity, real-time relevance, interaction. You are left with a choice: advertising that corresponds to its audience or advertising that is painted, like a house, and left to dry until it peels—or is peeled—off the wall. Ever seen Who Framed Roger Rabbit? You don’t want to be Betty Boop.

Want to find out more about digital signage? Contact TPG today.

If digital signage is the current evolution of static ads, what will be the future of digital signage?  Here are some exciting technologies already in use in digital signage, media, and marketing.

3D

Many companies are on board, pushing the limits of digital signage with three-dimensional graphics.  One of the most popular displays of 3D digital signage advertising was on display in the New York City subway system.  CBS Outdoor and N4D teamed up to create ads so compelling that even New York City’s frantic commuters stopped in their tracks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFG4BIlsX-M

Demographically self-tailoring digital advertisements.

In July, a consortium of Japanese railway companies launched a pilot program of 27 digital signs equipped with cameras able to detect gender and age.  So far the digital billboards only collect data.  They do not act on it in real time—yet.  The data is useful in determining who looks at what ads.  The cameras can detect a viewer showing interest within a single second. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iDd1xzYx7CaahlxkLnvo4Xtcksug

Motion-tracking Digital Signage

Armed with nothing more than a webcam, digital signs are able to track viewers’ movement, including pointing, touching, and waving.  Nothing grabs viewer attention like an ad that responds to your gestures.  Other technologies allow projections on bars that react to drinks, billiard tables that change texture as the balls roll across them, and screens with faces that smile and track passing viewers with their eyes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX97NxTLV34

Implement a good marketing Strategy

All of these technologies will attract views.  Once you’ve got their attention, it’s time to get your message across.  As with any media a comprehensive strategy is essential in order to maximize the return on your marketing investment.  New technologies help attract new viewers.  TPG Marketing helps you get your message seen.

Go local with Digital Signage in your area.  TPG Marketing offers campaigns tailored to your needs.  Contact TPG today.

Solving problems while pumping gas

A common occurrence happens daily at the gas station: consumers are pumping gas, sliding their credit cards, and spending money they don’t have.  If you are a local law firm, this is an opportune time to get visible and message customers about resolving debts and foreclosures.  Digital Signage at gas stations are successful at captivating their audience as they is watching their dollars spin with the gallons.   A great feature TPG Marketing offers with Digital Signage ad placement is a text code that sends a consumer your law firm’s info on the spot.  Now, you’re generating local leads to people that most likely have some money to pay that retainer.

Meeting a need that is in demand

Foreclosures have increased since the economy fell and many are scrambling for real help.  It’s times like these that consumers are very open to finding new answers.   This answer comes through engaging the consumer at the right time with the right message.   TPG Marketing understands this and has an in-house graphic artist to get your landing page and messaging in place for a Digital Signage campaign that will drive leads to your firm.   You pick the locations, and we work with you to design and message the ad.   Now is the time to extend help.  The debt in America will double and triple in the next ten years and its time to start solve consumer’s problems.

Local campaigns and special offers

Everyone is after a deal right now.   Groupon, Social Living, Giltcity, and other coupon-type businesses are targeting locally to offer price cuts for everyday products.   As part of your Digital Signage Campaign, we encourage you to run an offer too.   For example: a free consultation for clients that have over $10,000 in debt and call today with the text offer.  Digital Signage and TPG Marketing allow you to change the text code offering multiple times over the course of a 3-month campaign to present new deals.  To keep it fresh.

Digital Signage is a widely accepted form of advertisement that costs little.   Find out about locations in your local area and start generating leads today.

Contact TPG MARKETING, Susie Polmar, 1-888-665-1113, spolmar@tpgmarketing.com TODAY.

When we compare advertising throughout the years, it’s clear why newspapers, radio, and TV ads are getting ignored.   People have zoned out to ads unless they appear informative, interactive, or similar to the Internet.   Today, people don’t see, listen, or respond to ads that are not compelling them to action.   The good old days of the family crowding around the TV to fall in love with their favorite brands…are over.   Today.  Ads are ignored and customers refuse traditional content.

1. OFFLINE to ONLINE

Why Digital Signage is compelling?  It incorporates the look and feel and content of the World Wide Web and the use of mobile devices.   This makes this form of advertising acceptable and encouraged.  Offline to Online is the way an advertiser must play the game.

2. IMPRESSIONS AND CONVERSION

The amount of impressions for each view and the conversation rates are higher than other local forms of advertising.   Currently TPG Marketing has contracted with over 100,000 Digital Signage locations nation-wide.  This enables a business to choose from an array of places to show their message.

3. FLEXIBILITY

Previous advertising was set in stone, carved on the side of a cave wall with hieroglyphics.  Once submitted for print, that’s it.   You have a one-time shot at the free throw line and it’s the winning point in the National Championships.  Oops!

Digital Signage lets you update or change your text service offerings (we’ll explain when we talk) as many times as you want in the course of 3-months.   It’s also a moving visual and highly captivating.  Your eyeballs like to move around.

This isn’t the day when a TV show would commercial break and we’d all sit and watch the commercials of a hot western guy galloping (in slow motion) on a black stallion, while lighting up.   Viewers would run out to buy a pack of smokes hoping to start growing body hair and turn into the tall dark and handsome.   We loved Marlboro.   We wanted to be the Marlboro man.    Those days are over.

We have Tivo, Apple TV, YouTube, Internet, online magazines, and earphones to intercept all of that noise.   It was a great time in history.

Contact TPG MARKETING to get a local campaign started today.