November 2009 Newsletter

Feature Story

Standing Out in a Fragmented World

Article by: Kim Ramser, DOmedia Business Development & Industry Relations Guru

Media fragmentation is something we have all been hearing about for years. We know it’s a reality. With TiVo, satellite radio, channel and web surfing, consumers can selectively weed out advertising messages at will. On the other hand, we all know that out-of-home reaches customers while they are active and mobile, and “choosing “ to ignore is not as easy.

But let’s face it—media isn’t the only fragmented element we are dealing with.

What about consumer fragmentation?

Gone are the days when the working population jumped into the car and traveled into the city to work. You could put up a couple of bulletins on the major highways and a few posters on the surface streets, and depending on the way they were facing, you could target morning or afternoon commuters in the market. Now, with companies moving to the suburbs, people working from home and increasing public transportation use, it isn’t that easy. 

Now, add in buyer fragmentation.

Where are the buyers? Gone are the large agencies and buying services you could call on in New York, Chicago and L.A., and be assured you would get your 25% of revenue in national business. Sure, they are still there, but with budgets decreasing, more advertisers pulling their buying in-house, smaller regional agencies who typically don’t buy a lot of outdoor or alternative media turning towards the medium, there are more places to target.

With all this fragmentation, how do you effectively and efficiently compete?

Be Involved in the Community—Using your medium to help out your community can go a long way if done right. Go to your local police department and help them catch a criminal. Some billboard companies have even donated billboard space to the FBI, leading to thousands of arrests after people called in to report someone they’d seen on a billboard. Go to the Chamber of Commerce and use your media product to tout a restoration project or something else worth attention in your community

Be Involved with Social Issues—Get in touch with your industry trade association and put up some of the great public service copy to reach out to the emotional side of media buyers in your community.

Be a Creative Consultant—Make sure the copy you put up is copy you are proud to put up. I know everyone already knows this—and we have gotten much better over the years—but there is still copy out there that could use a makeover.

Be Green—Get attention by using solar panels, environmentally friendly materials, or use natural elements as creative material—grow grass on a billboard or run motion sensors in a bus shelter using solar panels.

Be a Mixer—Do you have more than one product offering? Do you have one product offering, but have a great relationship with someone who offers similar products? Team up and provide a product mix to reach that fragmented consumer population. If you have sandwich wraps and the guy down the street has a video network in sandwich shops in the area, think about how you can reach your target in more than one way with the same message.

Be Visible Through Search and Campaign Tools—You never know where the buyers are tapping into resources to find companies and products. Being in search and campaign planning tools can extend your sales force. If you are operating in Santa Fe, maybe an agency in Louisville will find you.

With that said, one way of increasing your visibility is to make sure all of your information is updated in the DOmedia system. If you haven’t been on the site in awhile, a lot has changed. Taking a peek at the additional functionality and info input fields would definitely be worth a few minutes of your time. Part of those changes includes our Campaign Planning Tool (CPT) that is currently being tested. If you would like more information about the CPT or just need your login credentials to update your information, give us a call at 866.939.3663 or email clientservices@domedia.com. Our Client Services reps will be happy to help!

Using some of these steps should help you stand out to the buyers in your market and maybe even increase your reach to other markets as well. Good luck!
 
back to top »

What's New @ DO

Take Control of Your Media:
Introducing New Tools for DOmedia Sellers

Here at DOmedia, we’re in the business of helping you DO what you already DO… easier! Want to move your inventory tracking system from napkin into the new millennium? Want to improve the way a buyer views your inventory? That’s why we’re introducing two new tools this month: welcome to DOinventory & DOimprove!

DOinventory
DOinventory was created to help you manage and share your inventory availability with your team while also keeping it up-to-date in the DOmedia marketplace.  Accurate “avails” help buyers find what they are looking for in your inventory. With DOinventory, you can update availability in real time, and you can update it as often as you’d like! Holding all of your billboards and street furniture in Chicago and Denver for 3 days? Or maybe a client has reserved your mobile billboard in Detroit for one day. One asset or 100 assets—always know where they stand by keeping your inventory availability maintained in DOinventory.

DOimprove
DOimprove is a new toolkit provided for one reason: to help you improve your media listings by giving you the chance to see them through the eyes of a prospective buyer. The first resource being offered is an audit service – conducted by an independent, third party expert – to validate the attributes considered most critical by media buyers. They can highlight your competitive strengths, point out opportunities for improvement and alert you to anything that needs immediate attention. Upon successful completion, DOmedia will also highlight this in your media profile, thereby differentiating your offering. For a new client, the validation provided by an audit can be the difference between “in the plan” and “maybe next time.”

To take a look at DOinventory or DOimprove, log in from the home page then click on My Account.

DO the Math

Out-of-Home vs. Internet

Source: The Media Audit, 2008

According to The Media Audit's 2008 Annual Report, adults who are heavily exposed to the internet have almost identical income profiles to those who are heavily exposed to out-of-home. This means that by including out-of-home as a major component of a media buy, you get the lucrative upper-income internet visitors plus all the additional 15-20% of the population that doesn't go online.

back to top »

Creative Corner

Aircel Floats the Boat

We already know that the growing field of OOH marketing is the best way of attracting consumer attention, with inspiring campaigns that push the limits of creativity and consumer interaction. What you probably didn't know was these clever marketing campaigns can also demonstrate a social consciousness that can become a lifesaver.

This month, DOmedia recognizes and applauds Aircel, a telecommunication company in India, for their socially-motivated billboard campaign near the Milan Subway in Mumbai, created by outdoor agency Primesite. Not just any billboard, Aircel's billboard displayed a large inflated life raft tethered to the billboard with a simple message: In Case of Emergency, Cut Rope. Day after day the oversized orange and blue raft hung perilously above the busy Milan Subway - notorious for flooding during the monsoon season. Then, as if on cue, the rains began and the floods followed, stranding pedestrians and making the subway virtually impassable.

With traffic at a standstill, the lines were cut on Aircel's billboard boat and helpless pedestrians were ferried to safety. At the moment the life raft was released, the full potential of Aircel's seemingly simple alternative marketing campaign was unleashed. The raft provided tangible and immediate help that won the support of Mumbai residents and garnered untold media attention for Aircel. One local headline even stated, "Aircel did what BMC (the government) did not."

The thoughtful planning and timing of this campaign not only resulted in great press but also humanitarian aid. With its success, Aircel is now planning similar campaigns in Delhi and Kolkata, India. Now that is definitely out-of-home marketing with a conscious that really floats our boat.

back to top »