Imagine if everyone actually watched all the ads. Holy brightlightsbigcity...

As the industry matures, so too does the need to understand synergy between the screen and the viewer. It is paramount that resources be applied to understanding this synergy, discovering the challenges and exploiting the solutions. This continues to be the brass ring of out-of-home messaging.

That was a hoity-toity way of saying: Viewer engagement is difficult to achieve.

The better you are, the more you collect.

After my article on whether we really need measurement, I had terrific conversations with several people, the general consensus being that any measurement is better than nothing and we need to start somewhere. I agree.

Where Do We Start?

I think I have a starting point, but want to frame it with first understanding some of the factors.

Five years ago, you could put an ad on the big four networks, have your footprint and hit most of your target demographic simply because you were on at the right time. Psychographic targeting has completely changed the landscape of advertising. It’s no longer about what, when and where, it’s now about who, why, and how.

Today, we have multi-channel campaigns, sometimes several channels within a single retail environment. For example, if I have three separate channels in my store (home theater program, computer screens, and a checkout program), I need a variation on a single spot that is bi-lingual, appropriate for the channel, and geographically segmented to each of the top 10 DMAs in the United States due to regional promotion. That’s 60 versions of a spot.

Ugh. No one has time to do that.

Many end-users (venues, network owners and operators) are not broadcast professionals or creative types. They are corporate marketers that view digital signage as a brand engagement point that will excite the customers and generate revenue. If you ask them how long it takes to make a 30-second commercial, some will answer, “30 seconds.”

Because of the agency’s historic position in the creative management of brand and product campaigns, much of the industry assumes the agency is the master of the domain: full knowledge of psychographics, content creation designed for individual targeting, media planning and channel deployment logistics, and metric measurement analysis. And there tends to be an implied assumption that all this is on the agency’s dime.

The reality is that the agency doesn’t know any more about your customer than the man or woman who walks past your storefront on the other side of the street. And none of them have the time or the budget to go and learn everything about your customer.

But you do.

Here’s Where We Start

The end user must own the testing and measurement of the audience. The responsibility of developing a concrete metric on the network’s value to the environment should reside with the end user who made the decision to install the network. The network should be part of the marketing plan.

You need the right content to develop measurement. Where do you get that? You don’t get it from any external agency; you get it from within your own four walls.

You should produce your own content because you know how to impact your audience better than anyone. Historically, I, not any agency, have produced the advertising with the greatest impact on my audience.

The cost to produce content and measure your audience will be lower because you can engage other departments and to spread the costs. For example, if you know your private label that wants to advertise, introduce them to the idea of producing multiple versions of a spot for testing purposes. It costs much less to version creative in production than go back and re-edit mastered content. If you’re large enough, engage your marketing research department to build a test and measurement study to collect sales data on the products or services promoted in the advertising and understand where the greatest impact occurred.

If you are a small venue, think about contracting a third party to do this. If you’re really small, Apple’s iMovie HD works just as well as Avid or Final Cut Pro. (I have personally created my own content with Final Cut Pro.) A $5 gift certificate to answer a couple intercept questions goes a long way for loyalty. You know that customer will come back to spend the five bucks and probably a few dollars more.

And use OVAB’s metric measurement guidelines to build your case.

Then share that information. Most agencies and other end users don’t care to know quantity sold or the cost; they want to know if your content had impact, that your content drove sales. With multiple versions of the same spot, you can help me understand the impact. As Nikki Baird put it, “…the why behind the buy.”

Some companies are already trying this. What I find interesting is these efforts are coming from brands, not agencies. I have worked with brands to create content for specific channels with successful results. I have educated them on why they need to change it for our environment and I have showed them how to do it. The result is stronger consumer engagement, and better sales.

The challenge is to stop one-off efforts and start integrating this process into long-term marketing initiatives.

Agencies do get it, and they do care. What they need is open-source collaboration with retailers and brands to build the expertise to develop multi-channel content so that end users can get back to engaging the customer and making money.

So there’s a starting point. On your marks…

It takes two...

During the Digital Signage Expo, there were tremendous learning opportunities from many disciplines in the industry. I was excited to attend “The Advertising Agency Perspective on the Digital Out-of-Home Industry” and hear the thoughts on the agencies’ role in out-of-home directly from that side of the fence.

Instead of an hour of constructive discussion, it seemed to expose the differences that are shaping this young relationship between agencies and venues, with a few biting opinions from the panel and some tension-filled questions from the audience. Listening to the both, and based on my own experience, I see a few major sticking points on both sides. But I also see a way to work toward a partnership.

Agencies lack or fear the loss of control over media planning and lack the resources to understand the amount and complexity of the venues where their clients want to promote. Because there is such a desire for creative customized for each and every venue, the risk of too many versions or diluting the creative for the sake of a venue logo or slogan is prohibitive to the basic nature of the creative – create amazing advertising for the masses that will target the demographic. (I’m willing to bet many non-drinkers think the Bud Light ads are funny, too.)

One panelist said agencies support venues going straight to the client to develop the strategy for advertising in the venue with the agency coming in for “product development” after discussions have started.

This is a major mistake by the agency. If the client sees a speed-to-market opportunity, the agency will be bypassed. Period. I know this. I have done it. The agency is not happy.

Venues want unique content that differentiates them from every other venue, but do not want to invest in resources to either educate the agency on the brand strategy of the venue or plan and manage the execution of the creative. Most venues simply want the ad and the money that comes with it. This is understandable. Until “metrics” became the topic du jour, most retailers did not concern themselves with them. They knew their CPM or traffic and handed over a rate card. But with audience measurement and demographic definition, the need for proper measurement has put pressure on retailers to teach back their audience metrics. This work takes valuable resources from the normal retailing business model of selling stuff. In this economy, it’s even harder.

So what do we do?

Ashley Swartz, CEO of North America Ag8, provided some outstanding perspective, offering several points from understanding how media planners operate down to understanding the retail brand, saying that “Digital is a dialogue, not a monologue.”

Here are three things both venues and agencies can do. Right now.

First, understand this won’t happen overnight. It’s easy to take the client’s money if they come straight to me, but that is not a good plan. Venues are not “creative,” and in many cases do not know these clients as well as the agencies. The client has a strategy as well, and if the agency has been working on the product for a while, they can only benefit the end result. If you ask some corporate people how long it takes to make a 30-second commercial, the answer you’ll hear is, “30 seconds.”

Both agencies and venues tend to worrying about tomorrow’s statistics instead of focusing on today’s customers. With the emergence of metrics like OVAB’s, there is a tremendous fear of failure that prevents a lot of trial and error; grass roots efforts that could provide a foundation for building solid statistical measurement. A lot of people are waiting to jump into this before they see the metrics defined. But there are customers walking through the stores today. Those customers are not waiting for the metrics to find the right product or service.

Second, start talking about this tonight. There is simply no reason that phone call (or text message?) should not be made. The sooner the discussion starts, the sooner the differences are understood and the relationships are built. Spirited discussion is key to sustainable relationships. Venues need to share what they know to help the agency do the best job it can managing expectations, and agencies need to embrace the networks and develop great creative.

Finally, listen. I have learned as much about effective communication for my audience from the creative minds at the agency as I have from the creative minds inside my own building. While venues may have the book on the audience, a TV screen hanging in their environment is still a relatively new thing, and most don’t understand what really goes on behind the screen to produce strong creative. And with the effort to keep the TV from looking like “TV,” the desire for targeted and effective promotion is paramount.

Since managing Best Buy’s in-store program, I have worked through just about every scenario with and without the agency as a partner. I have learned two things from this: Almost every time the agency is my partner, the creative is better; and I still get my money from the client for the ad buy.