Understanding Digital Video/Audio Advertising in U.S. Malls.

Arbitron Inc. released a custom report, commissioned by CoolSign Digital Media Networks, which examines company’s digital video and audio advertising displays, the profile of its audience and its effectiveness in the mall environment.

Highlights of the reports findings include:

The CoolSign Media Network reaches 7.5 million consumers in the major U.S. markets. On average, twenty percent of adults, age 18 and older in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco visit a CoolSign Media mall within in a three-month period. Among 18- to 34-year-olds, the network’s reach on average increases to 24 percent.

Over half of the shoppers in CoolSign Media malls recall seeing the digital displays. Fifty-five percent of shoppers in the participating malls recalled seeing CoolSign Media Digital Advertising in the mall they visited.

Teens and young adults are most attuned to digital signage in malls. Seventy percent of consumers age 12-17 and 64 percent of consumers age 18-24 remember seeing CoolSign Media Integrated Digital Displays in the common areas of the mall.

The CoolSign Media Network raised the average recall for an advertiser by 18 percentage points. On average, consumers who noticed a CoolSign Media digital panel in the mall are more than twice as likely to recall having seen an advertisement for the featured products that day.

The sales for a major national department store using CoolSign Media Integrated Digital Displays outperformed other stores in its chain. The CoolSign Media store’s sell-through on 12 of the 15 advertised Father’s Day sale items was greater than that of stores that did not advertise specific items.

“In an era of fragmenting media choices and record adoption of commercial avoidance devices such as the DVR and Internet advertising blockers, marketers are looking for new ways to reach elusive consumers, including teens and young adults with a captive and compelling message,” said John Henderson, senior vice president of Advertising Sales and Marketing, CoolSign Media, Inc. “Digital video and audio displays such as the CoolSign Digital Media Networks are fulfilling that mandate.”
“Digital place-based media is part out-of-home, part broadcasting with elements of point-of-purchase, and we are just now learning how to evaluate its potential,” said Diane Williams, Arbitron’s Custom Media Research Analyst. “The increasing desire for more effective placed-based, broadcast-style advertising should prompt agencies to create a permanent home for this growing medium.”

“Arbitron is uniquely positioned to create custom reports that profile the reach and effectiveness of both new and traditional media,” said Bill Rose, Senior Vice President, Arbitron U.S. Media Services. “Our company can draw on a wealth of syndicated media and consumer surveys as well as high quality custom research and reports in order to develop the insights that both buyers and sellers of ad-supported media can trust as they look for the solutions that can best serve their customers.”