March 3, 2009

Media firms that fear migration of their ad dollars to the Web may be missing an even bigger threat to their bottom lines: out-of-home (OOH) video. As other platforms contract under the pressure of reduced spending, OOH is one of the few areas of advertising technology that is booming. A flurry of deals last week underscored the pervasiveness of in-store video screens and the ways digital distribution and digital ad buying will fuel them. Digital signage company Park Media signed a deal to distribute video to 430 locations in IndoorDirect’s “TheBite” Network, including Hardee’s and Denny’s. PumpTop TV’s network of gas station pump video screens will get a new content management and media player system from Westinghouse Digital Electronics. The new platform delivers more targeted video messaging at the pump. And CBS Outernet’s network of in-store screens will use the SeeSawAds.com to power is ne online market where agencies can plan and buy OOH ads across its 10800 locations in the U.S. All of these developments demonstrate how video content and video advertising will flow more fluidly across the Web and OOH networks. Distribution, technology and marketing companies are positioning themselves to exploit an OOH market that eMarketer predicts will grow from $1.26bln in ad revenue in ’07 to $2.25bln in ’11...

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