Out-of-Home Media . Outdoor Advertising Blog . Ambient Ads

QR Technology Are Effective On Billboards Too

2012-01-29T23:56:00.004+08:00

Contributed by our colleague, Stephen:

With marketers exploring more interactivity between brands and customers, Quick Response Technology (QR Technology) has become increasingly popular especially in the outdoor advertising realm.

TPM Outdoor’s latest client, iFunds.com, embarked on an Out-of-Home advertising campaign to promote its financial portal using QR technology at our Furama Hotel giant billboard. The lightbox, strategically located at the city centre is an ideal location for passersby and vehicles from the CBD area and international visitors to the nearby Central Business District (CBD). It is also a key advertisement billboard display to target those heading into Shenton Way via Havelock Road in Singapore.

A QR code which consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background was printed on the lower left hand corner of the lightbox banner. The user than uses a camera phone with a QR code reader application to scan over it. This application then directs the user to the financial portal.

Contrary to common beliefs that billboards are too high and distant for the user to scan, TPM Outdoor have several locations with billboards low enough for the user to participate.

Back to iFunds.com, the code was estimated to be about 1.5 m from the ground level and the user conducted the scan at about 10m away from the lightbox.

It works!

Billboards not only deliver the big impact, the strong message and also the interactivity and beyond. Billboards are more than static boards; Billboards can deliver across multiple platforms and will be part of the media landscape in future.

Chinese New Year in Chinatown

2012-01-09T10:14:00.001+08:00

Chinatown Singapore greets visitors with a 108-metre long 3D water dragon and eight other dragons for the Chinese New Year 2012 celebrations this year. These dragons symbolise longevity and prosperity and are part of the annual Chinatown light up festivities.

Chinatown is the second largest shopping belt after Orchard Road in Singapore. It stretches from the start of Eu Tong Sen Street, New Bridge Road, Garden Bridge, inner streets of Chinatown and all the way to Havelock Road and beyond. Notable shopping malls include People's Park Complex, People's Park Centre and The Central etc.

Some of our clients that are showcasing their branding during this Chinese New Year period include iFunds.com and Seiko watch. Other regular clients include Winning Marketing for their winter wear line and the telcos that are targeting the tourists in the area for pre-paid services.

This annual event is one of the key highlights of Chinatown and this year it is set to attract more than two million people over the next few weeks. More details on this special event here

Capture the spirit of Chinese New Year of joy and happiness through our giant billboards today.

Merry Christmas and Thank you!

2011-12-23T19:08:00.000+08:00

Merry Christmas from all at TPM Outdoor!

Our office is closed from 27-30 Dec 2011, however, we remain contactable at 62730555 for enquries. See you next year. Looking forward to be of better and stronger service to our clients in 2012

TPM Singapore Rate Cards 2012

2011-12-16T14:32:00.002+08:00

TPm Outdoor's 2012 rate cards for Singapore has been updated and published.
Call us at +65 62730556 for details - new sites, pictures and detailed location maps

More than 40 choice displays islandwide.

The Dentsu Way: Secrets of Cross Switch Marketing from the World’s Most Innovative Advertising Agency

2011-12-11T00:49:00.005+08:00

Caught sight of The Dentsu Way on a friend's desk back in March. The tagline of the book = "The breakthrough marketing strategy from the world's most innovative advertising agency"; Shall we mention that Dentsu is also the world's biggest advertising agency now.

I really enjoyed this book as the authors used actual case studies to illustrate the "Cross Switch Marketing". Cross Switch Marketing challenges the original model of AIDMA (Attention - Interest - Desire - Memory - Action) by Roland Hall. This model illustrates the process of a consumer from the moment he comes in contact with an advertisment to the moment of purchase.

The book is peppered with illustrations and figures which makes easy comprehension. Here are some snapshots =

The Dentsu Way pg59 The Breaking In and Drawing Out Approaches for Reacing the Consumer Who Has Put Up the Information Barrier

Dentsu trademarked the AISAS model (Attention - Interest - Search - Action - Share) in 2005 as they challenged themselves to overcome the consumer who has put up information barriers.

The Dentsu Way pg79 The AIDMA and AISAS models

The underlying assumption of Cross Switch Marketing is that people connect to different media types and it is defined as "the creation of a scenrio or path for moving the target"

pg. 105 = The three scenrio approaches are:
1. Power variation scenario - presents variations to a message using similar format
2. Timeline scenario - creates a message that changes over time
3. Split media scenario - attracts interest using a key fragment of the message and present the rest of the message using a seperate medium

The Dentsu Way pg134 Designing Campaigns Using AISAS and Contact Point Management

When Cross Switch Marketing is well executed - the campaign put together is very efficient and effective. It would also have very little wastage as the application of the message and the media is so well pathed out. To quote a client "...it was a hardworking medium".

I highly encourage every young marketer to pick up a copy of this book. I hate to say it, but it makes my Marketing 101 by the Philip Kolter seems outdated. Kolter sure did not have to deal with the Internet and the lifestyles today. Days are gone whereby consumers all watched TV at the same time and same day anymore.

The Dentsu Way pg138 The Japan Dairy Council ASK MILK campaign

As this is a company endorsed book, the first and last chapters are... euphemistically known as necessary material from the authors. It did thwart my inital attempts to start on the book which is why I am only blogging about this now. More reviews of the book here

Surabaya's Juanda named Indonesia’s best airport

2011-12-10T23:16:00.000+08:00

As reported by the Jakarta Post here, Juanda International Airport in Surabaya has been named the country’s best airport by the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry for 2011. The evaluation is based on the airport’s amenities, safety, security and cleanliness. This contest involved all 37 airports in Indonesia.

The Future After LED

2011-11-30T20:23:00.000+08:00

Reminiscence of a popular movie - Minority Report's famous scene which I blogged about here in 2008; this is a clip by Corning on A Day Made of Glass.

Personally, feels like the world has become a giant iPad. But it is also very exciting, as I think this is also the world beyond LED for digital OOH.

Royal Wedding in Indonesia

2011-10-27T23:14:00.001+08:00

Yogyakarta’s Queen Hemas pouring water on her daughter, Princess Bendara, during a traditional cleansing ritual at Yogyakarta Palace yesterday, ahead of her wedding.

2011 must be the year of “royal weddings” – In England between Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton, and in Bhutan between King Jigme Khesar and Miss Jetsun Pema. Something as splendid but slightly less world riveting is the 4-day Indonesian royal wedding in Yogyakarta between Gusti Kanjeng Ratu Bendara and Kanjeng Pengeran Haryo Yudhanegara. It was a very grand affair which was rich in royal Javanese traditions and culture.

The Princess with her sisters during the ‘midodareni’ night, one of the pre-nuptial rituals where the bride-to-be is having her last night as a single woman surrounded by her sisters and female relatives.

The Indonesian society is less homogenous than it seems. Indonesia is a unique country and has influences from a multitude of religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Islam, from hundreds of years ago. (Wiki)

In fact, Indonesia is an archipelago of 13,466 island and 33 provinces. With over 238 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country. Its largest city is its capital, Jakarta with more than 9.5 million populations. Other major cities include: Surabaya (2.7 mil), Bandung (2.4 mil), Medan (2.1 mil) and Palembang (1.5 mil)

Given that Indonesia’s geographical spread, air travel is an essential transportation mode. Indonesia’s capital airport in Jakarta - The Soekarno-Hatta International Airport is packed with millions of travelers each year. In 2010, Soekarno-Hatta was ranked 16th amongst the world's busiest airports by passenger traffic (5th busiest in Asia), there are now over 40 million passengers travelling in this airport every year and it’s still growing!

Indonesia is much more than it seems.

26th SEA Games (South East Asian) Games

2011-10-19T11:09:00.000+08:00

The 26th SEA Games 2011 will be held in Indonesia - Pelembang and Jakarta from 2011 Nov 11 to 22. This is happening very soon...

Though such an event does not impact much on a global scale but for the 11 countries in South East Asia, this regional event is a chance for the governments, businesses and people to unite under the show of sportsmanship.

It has been more than 10 years since the last SEA Games was hosted in Indonesia. This will also be a nice showcase for the world's fourth most populous country.

23 more days to go!

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

2011-10-12T10:45:00.000+08:00

Just watched The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. Some alternate perspective esp. for my friends in the advertising industry. Here's the director, Morgan Spurlock on TEDTalks about this movie/ documentary...

In Morgan Spurlock's words, this is a "film about product placement, marketing and advertising where the entire film is funded by product placement, marketing and advertising." It also explores the world of marketing and advertising.

Spurlock touched on the thoughts of some consumer protectionism advocates and the circumstances that have forced extreme situations towards advertising - where Sao Paulo City has banned all Out of Home advertising (inclusing transit) and where in USA, a high school is so cash strapped that they are selling every inch of space including the naming rights to their school buildings.

And no, this is not a paid endorsement.

联昌国际证券银行集团 (CIMB 银行)放置于雅加达国际机场的广告

2011-09-27T12:30:00.000+08:00

TPM 连续三年投放联昌银行放置位于印尼雅加达国际机场的广告。这些展示位置集中在国际飞航起飞区(T2D 与T2E)
在这要强调对于放置于T2D的高0.8公尺，宽8 公尺之悬挂式灯箱。

这两个灯箱位于头等舱与商务舱旅客候机室前方。这些是位于机场离境区最好的广告位置之一。

印尼雅加达国际机场广告最新数据 2011

2011-09-26T10:07:00.003+08:00

AirportAdvertising at Jakarta Airport (Soekarno-Hatta) Indonesia = Updated Statistics

我们最近从印尼雅加达国际机场的相关单位取得了最新的旅客的官方数据。

在08年，只有3千2百24万的旅客进出印尼雅加达国际机场。不过在短短的一年里，人数大幅度增加了15个百分点，来到了3千7百14万。这使印尼雅加达国际机场几乎和新加坡樟宜机场平起平坐，也让印尼雅加达国际机场荣登全世界第22名最繁华，忙碌的机场。

自从2010年6月，印尼雅加达国际机场已经跃身为全球第15名最繁华，忙碌的机场。以我长期固定出差到哪里，我可以担保此统计数据。在最近几个月里，在海关排队的旅客人数已经倍增了。

印尼的成长速度势不可挡。印尼中央银行才刚把国内生产总值增长预测从4.8%提升到5.7%。看来印尼势必成为 ‘BRIC’（Brazil, Russia, India and China).里的新成员。

When the Right Outdoor Media is the Key

2011-09-26T01:00:00.001+08:00

The right use of outdoor media can greatly amplify the creative message, making the communication more impactful and prolonging retention. I read about the following two amazing executions I recently:

Referenced from Campaign Brief Aug 2011, a police recruitment campaign via M&C Saatchi, Auckland was brought to life through ambient outdoor media. The media featured real experiences of police officers on walls near where the events took place. Street artist, Otis Frizzell, stencilled images of the scene, harnessing the outdoor medium - in this case, the wall angle, to tell a compelling story.

“What Goes Around Comes Around” – is a brilliant “public service” anti-war outdoor poster campaign for the Global Coalition for peace (by the School of Visual Arts - Art Director: Jeseok Yi (New York, NY) Creative Directors: Frank Anseimo/Alfred S. Park/Richard Wilde, and Writers: Francisco Hui/Willaim Tran). The posters were designed to wrap round pillars, thus reinforcing the concept of war’s cyclical nature. The media aced the meaning of the content with simplicity and impact.

Pictures referrenced from Design Deliberation

A similarly amazing execution I had seen was Caltex’s reverse graffiti in Singapore in 2008/09. Brilliant.

Which other outdoor campaigns you know where the Right Outdoor Media was the Key?

The Wrong Use Of LED Signs

2011-08-11T10:23:00.002+08:00

One of the key benefits of having a LED sign or LED screen is its ability for dynamic updating. Thus businesses can have the flexibility to change its message easily - thus it could be an update of the stock market or some in-store daily specials.

However, LED signs or LED screens cannot be perfect for every occasion. Spotted at a certain airport in India... the use of LED signs in this context makes me wonder about the state of the facilities within.

Daikin 2011 Outdoor Advertising Billboard Campaign 2011 Jun 15

2011-06-27T12:01:00.000+08:00

Large Format Network Buy Solution exclusive to TPM Outdoor. Snapshot of Daikin's campaign for 2011.

It is the perfect Out-of-Home media solutions for clients seeking a cost efficient and big impact buy.

The People That Makes The TPM Team

2011-06-02T14:58:00.001+08:00

May "Babies" celebration in the office last week

This is our team in Singapore. Our good folks in Indonesia are not included. The people makes the team, the team makes the company. It is an honour and pleasure working here with you all. You are TPM Outdoor ;)

Thank you

Most awe-inspiring Outdoor Advertising medium

2011-05-24T23:35:00.000+08:00

Outdoor advertising is often criticised for:
1. Not easily measurable due to lack of standard measurement matrix,
2. Becoming a "Blind Spot" over time
3. Limited space for creative and message
4. Limited to a specific catchment of eyeballs

The list above applies completely to the following below. But to me, this is one of the most awe-inspiring Outdoor Advertising medium yet:

Hot air balloon over Turkey, Cappadocia
For the Dinler Hotel chain

The Economist = Billboard boom

2011-05-06T17:14:00.000+08:00

The Economist is really upbeat about the Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising industry.

Its recent article sees the future of out-of-home advertising as rosy, and digital. As the second fastest growing media behind digital media, the Out-of-Home advertising growth is driven by spending on digital billboards and posters. But as quoted by Jean-Charles Decaux, the boss of France’s JCDecaux, though there is a real significant switch to digital, these will mainly be "inside airports, railway stations, shopping malls and other controlled environments. Ads in bus shelters and other outdoor spots at risk of vandalism will take a lot longer to move away from paper"

The analysis is simple and the overall article is very US and UK centric. Furthermore it only acknowleges the standard formats of the Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising industry. While informative, my head is spinning with more questions - What about of Spectaculars and other non-standard formats? What about countries that are less urbanised and less connected? Where are the real growth contributors within the Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising industry?

Hmmm...

Amazing Huge Camera Made from a Shipping Container

2011-05-05T15:22:00.002+08:00

Shared by my colleague Nora, a huge camera had been made out of a shipping container and a wireless link to a nearby screen. This campaign was done in 2010, it links to http://www.cr8yourworld.com which is Samsung Imaging. Smart, fun and it is a simple execution.

LED Screens Does Police Work

2011-04-11T23:26:00.000+08:00

Traffic violation of an errant vehicle posted on an LED screen above Nanjing’s main thoroughfair

Source : The Straits Times (March 22nd 2011), Xinhua News (March 4th 2011)

Beijing: A Chinese city has come up with a new way to curb traffic violations.
Early this month, the traffic management authorities in Nanjing set up 52 large LED display screens along busy roads to post text messages showing the license plate numbers of offenders.

The messages also show where and how the drivers violate traffic regulations, said Mr. He Yingwei, an official with the Nanjing Traffic Management Bureau.

The text messages are posted soon after the offenders are caught on film by any one of the 400 or so cameras situated along major roads in Nanjing.

“We hope the exposure of behavior that might cause traffic jams can deter and educate careless drivers and ensure an orderly, safe and smooth traffic flow,” Mr. He said.

Mr. Lu Jianfeng, a lawyer in Nanjing, said that with the new practice, drivers would be alerted immediately after they breach traffic rules.“In the past, I was not informed of my mistakes until the annual vehicle check,” he said.

However, Mr. Chen Yong, another Nanjing resident, thought it was not easy to spot the screens.

Some drivers also said they would feel uncomfortable if private information, such as their license plate numbers, was made public.

Besides Nanjing, traffic congestion has become a headache for many other cities in China, which is now the world’s largest car market.

Beijing Bans Luxury Ads Over Wealth Gap Worries

2011-03-30T13:52:00.000+08:00

An advertising billboard outside a DSquared store (an Italian high-end fashion label store) in Sanlitun North Village, a new centre of luxury brands in Central Beijing.

Nothing like a billboard in a high traffic area to shout out in your audience's face. It is good news and bad news for outdoor media owners. But now we all know - Out of Home media works! And bigger the better.

Rest of the news report here - sourced from: The Straits Times (Tuesday, March 22nd 2011):

Beijing: China’s capital has banned outdoor advertising that promotes hedonistic or high-end life styles as the government to ease public concerns about the country’s widening wealth gap.

The Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce said in a recent statement that businesses were given an April 15 deadline to rectify such ads, along with any that excessively promote “foreign” things.

It gave no details on which “foreign” things were considered objectionable. Such promotions help create a politically “unhealthy” climate, it said. Violators could face fines of up to 30,000 yuan (S$5,800), the state-run China Daily said yesterday.

Newly forbidden words include “supreme”, “royal”, “luxury” or “high class”, which are widely used in Chinese promotions for houses, vehicles and wines, it said.

The authorities in the south-western mega-city of Chongqing last week issued similar rules that barred real estate advertisements from using phrases including “best”, “unique” or “irreplaceable”.

Chinese officials are struggling to cool criticisms over a widening income gap at a time when high inflation has put economic pressure on the country’s hundreds of millions of low-income farmers and industrial workers.

Premier Wen Jiabao said earlier this month that “resolving unfair income distribution” would be a major objective under a 2011-2015 state economic plan.

Brokerage firm CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets predicted in January that China would become the world’s largest luxury goods market by 2020; accounting for 44 per cent of worldwide sales and bigger than the entire global market is now.

Incredible India in Billboards also known as Hoardings

2011-03-19T01:26:00.000+08:00

Some online research for an earlier blog post had given me an impression that Out of Home advertising in India is a bit like this:

However, after some field research during a whirlwind trip in India, comprising of New Delhi and Bangalore, I really like some of the billboards (aka Hoardings as they are known in India) spotted. Here's my take of Incredible India from the view of Out of Home media.

(1) These are airport advertising by JCD in the Bangalore Airport. Seat advertising featuring the recent Cricket World Cup held in India. Simple, clean and effective media use.

(2) Nike- I Bleed Blue. Precisely because it was the Cricket World Cup when I was there, every other advertisement was in Blue or the Tri-Colours. However, the graphic and tagline "I Bleed Blue" from the Nike ads created a very emotive feel from me.

(3) Many public convenience facilities in Delhi, such as public toliets and drinking posts, are being built and maintained by outdoor media owners for the rights to place billboards on these facilities. I think this is a great win-win situation especially since India's overall public infrastructure has much room for improvements.

(4) Here, is a typical bus shelter in Bangalore taken in the day-time. They are Build Transfer and Operate (BTO) project with a short 3 year operational contract. This is undertaken by a local media owner. Not exactly the common standards for bus shelter design, but not exactly incredible... yet.

(5) Here, the bus shelter taken at night-time. This bus shelter is more like a couple of giant lightboxes grouped together! Not user friendly at all since it was very glaring to be inside one of these bus shelters and the heat generated by the lamps made it very uncomfortable for the users.

*** Not relating to Out of Home Media.... ***

(6) The Taj Mahal! Truly Incredible India, a very magnificent part of India!

However the journey to Agra to see this wonderful, beautiful monument was unforgettable (and unrepeatable) too, especially since everyone raved about how good the roads were. Maybe it is a joke that I did not catch then. But the journey took almost 6 instead of 4 hours drive and the roads were clogged with traffic PLUS hundreds of tractors, over-loaded trucks, camels, cows, horses, donkeys and even elephants.
...

(7) Spotted on the roads. Incredible India. ;)

Non-Advertisement: Donation to the Japanese Red Cross for Emergency Relief

2011-03-17T11:37:00.001+08:00

In our own little way, TPM will be contributing the the Japanese Red Cross - Earthquake Donation with a company and personal donation. The personal donation is our staff's own initiative and I am grateful to work with such a bunch of caring people. We also have several Japanese clients and our thoughts and prayers go to them.

We will be donating via bank transfer directly to the Red Cross and we hope these funds will reach to the local level soonest and with the least hassles.

TPM would like to do more, please let us know how.

Life's short. Do good.

Update: TPM is donating S$4,000 as a grand total from both company and team. Thanks guys!

5 Design Lessons Learned From Billboard Ads

2011-02-21T16:26:00.001+08:00

Five design lessons learned from Billboard Advertising by James Adams via Design Juices, article here

A bit of a flip from our previous blog sharing from Paul's "pauldervan: random thoughts on marketing". Paul's key principles were summariesed as: Single image. Of a person (that you'd notice). Strong contrast in colour between image and background. Short headline. Easy to read. Well branded. Simple message. And loads of space.

Addressing from a design point of view, James' article echo similar priciples summarised as
1. Minimise the Amount of Text Used

2. Use Simpler Design Elements

3. Consider 3D Elements
- by varying Tint or Tone of the advertisement
- by using Three Dimensional Objects

4. Incorporate Pictures for Ads in Long-term Campaigns

5. Integrate Objects of Differing Sizes

On top of a high traffic location, these 5 design principles will ensure that your billboard advertisement can grab more eyeballs.

Indonesians in Singapore

2011-02-21T14:33:00.002+08:00

January and February 2011 consisted of TWO new years celebrations and TWO Valentine’s Day and a full week of work last week. So now that we are done with the distractions ;p, here we are - TPM is armed and ready to make the best of 2011 with your brand!

Singtel at Jakarta Airport International Departure (Soekarno-Hatta) Indonesia

Separate update on the passenger statistics at the Jakarta Airport (Soekarno-Hatta) Indonesia here

Singtel welcomed the Chinese New Year for travellers coming in from Indonesia to Singapore with a vibrant red message. The advertisements were located at the Indonesia side of the Ports of Call. The message featured the Blackberry and Pre-paid service strongly to remind, the communications loving, Indonesians that they can still stay strongly connected when in Singapore.

Singtel at HarbourBay Ferry Terminal (International Departure), Batam Indonesia

Indonesia is the top contributor amongst the Top 15 Markets of inbound tourists to Singapore. Leading the pack with 176,000 visitors, this is a 23% increase of passengers compared to 2009. According to the Singapore Tourism Board statistics, most Indonesian tourists arrive via air and at about 34.9% of them come via sea transport from the nearby Riau Islands.

Topping the charts again, Indonesia beat P.R. China as the top spender in Singapore. The third and fourth places go to Australia and Malaysia respectively. Indonesians spend about 40% of their total expenditure in Singapore on shopping while the rest is spent on medical treatment and accommodations. Interestingly, Americans spend at least 48% of their total expenditure on accommodations while South East Asians spend an average of only 25% on the same.

The growth in Indonesia is gaining strong momentum and the Bank of Indonesia (BI) has just raised its GDP growth forecast to 5.7% from 4.8% as seen in a Jakarta Post article on 2010, Sept 3. With Singapore’s continued reputation for being a regional Healthcare and Fashion hub, Indonesian tourists will remain our top inbound tourist market.

Is your brand reaching out to them?