Digital messaging will rise in 2013 and owners of prime real-estate (out-of-home landlords) are increasingly venturing into the landscape for marketing and revenue.

According to a new report from Accenture, “Despite the global economic downturn, significant infrastructure projects are still being planned or built, and interestingly, the money realized from selling advertising space at airports, train stations and other transport hubs will supplement the finances needed to deliver the upcoming large-scale projects.”

Opportunities for owners of public and private facilities, struggling to offset rising costs, such as airports and on-road transit systems abound. Recent US transit examples include: Cleveland renamed the new Bus Rapid Transit system the “HealthLine” promoting the Cleveland clinic and University Hospitals; the Chicago Transit Authority is in the process of selling naming rights of 11 train stations to advertisers; and the New York MTA is considering selling advertising space on the front of the subway MetroCard.

Kerry Bianchi, Managing Director, Global Lead for Media Management, Accenture Interactive, spoke with brandchannel about the biggest obstacles to digital out of home advertising in 2013.Continue reading...

UK ad tech startup Captive Media, as its name implies, is looking to reach captive audiences — which may explain why it's looking to bring marketers into the loo. The Chelmsford, England-based firm made a splash last year when its urinal-mounted-and-controlled game console appeared on the British version of Dragon’s Den as the first hands-free video gaming console of its kind. That appearance prompted Ogilvy and other British companies to sign up for a trial.

It just raised $700,000 in seed funding to expand its network of interactive units to even more bars, hotels and airports. How they work brings a whole new meaning to P.O.S. — the game action is controlled by aiming left and right. An infrared beam enables simple games and quizzes to be “pee-controlled” with nothing installed on the urinal itself other than washable stickers as points of desired interaction. According to its research, the average man spends 55 seconds at a urinal – 55 golden, undivided seconds with eyes focused straight ahead — so why not onto your brand or campaign?Continue reading...

Everywhere you look are advertisements: on your clothes, on your gas-pump handle, on manhole covers, or on the front of your subway card. But one man is aiming to create a special spot where consumers will be advertising-free. Strangely, though, it’s a place that has long been a home for advertisements: the billboard.

Artist Stephen Glassman believes that drivers shouldn’t have to be looking at advertisements when they are stuck in traffic. Instead, wouldn’t it be nice if they were looking at gardens floating in the sky? Glassman, who has been creating large-scale bamboo installations in L.A. since the 1992 riots there, would like to transform the world’s billboards into a sea of floating bamboo gardens, NPR reports.

Well, if we can bring clouds indoors, why not help more of nature float outdoors?Continue reading...

It's not exactly Coke vs. Pepsi, or Chevy vs. Ford, but the intensifying battle of the gas-pump TV networks just got a little more interesting.

Outcast just signed an exclusive deal with Fox News Channel to distribute its programming to more than 13,000 screens at gas station in 130 U.S. markets via its PumpTop TV network. Its rival, Gas Station TV (GSTV), has been adding branded content as well, including news reports from Bloomberg TV.

In the distribution battle to win valuable eyeball-level distribution via gas stations, expect more exclusive programming deals with big media brands as the duelling "networks" spread across America. It's also good news for brand marketers, expanding the quality of "place-based" or out-of-home opportunities to reach drivers.Continue reading...