Tuning In To Taxi TV
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Fragmentation of traditional TV audiences has led to numerous out of home TV networks springing up to fill the void and provide marketers with more opportunities to target consumers. However, Tom Paton, sales and marketing director for newly established in taxi TV system, Cabvision, believes that many of these systems neglect to adequately target consumers, instead offering ineffective blanket coverage of wildly diverse audiences….
There can be little debate that the way in which we market to consumers has changed drastically over the past ten years. Consumer preferences and habits have shifted and, as a consequence, marketers have had to alter their media strategy, including the channels they use and the message they put out in order to achieve cut through in what is an increasingly cluttered media landscape.
Today’s consumer, especially the younger ABC1 audience, is incredibly media savvy and increasingly media cynical. They know how, when and where they want to be marketed to and marketers who fail to take note of this will swiftly see the negative impact on their brand.
TV advertising is arguably the most powerful way to communicate with an audience. That said, in-home TV is no longer the holy grail for TV advertisers. Consumers are more mobile than ever and for a marketing message to reach its target audience advertisers have had to embrace an increasingly diverse set of TV media channels.
However, I question the effectiveness of some of these new ‘communal’ TV platforms. TV screens appear to be everywhere, from shopping centres to trains, buses to bars, but they are built on the ‘one size fits all’ premise, displaying a generic content loop to all who happen to be in the vicinity. Whilst this no doubt registers high footfall, it is simply not an effective way of communicating, let alone engaging the consumer.
The more discerning audience is willing to develop a genuine one to one dialogue with a brand, but marketers fail to capitalise on this ‘open’ state of mind, preferring to bombard consumers with irrelevant, poorly targeted messages.
It is this emphasis on engagement and one to one dialogue that I believe will be crucial to advertisers and will play a significant role in shaping new media channels over the coming years. Prior to launching Cabvision, the new in taxi TV system, we commissioned a comprehensive independent research study to gain insight into the taxi user in London. It confirmed that consumers would be in an open state of mind to receive marketing messages when in a cab, the optimum captive environment; however it is crucial to offer a variety of relevant targeted media content if you are to engender a positive mindset.
But of course new and emerging digital marketing channels have two customers to satisfy – the consumer and the advertiser. Advertisers and brands are, understandably, becoming more and more focused on ROI and expect the new entries to be able to demonstrate their cost effectiveness. Accountability and ‘real time’ measurement are therefore key success criteria, and in many instances this is where technology has a role to play.
Technology can no longer focus on simply delivering the message. Today, both advertisers and consumers need to see a tangible benefit, whether this be better targeting or improved accountability through using new technology such as GPRS, DAB or 3G.
So what is the future for digital out of home advertising channels? I see the emphasis shifting from ‘block’ in-home advertising to more dynamic, accountable and diversely targeted channels. New channels that genuinely enhance the consumer experience whilst delivering a marketing message to an interested individual are, in my view, here for the long haul.