The evolution towards Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) advertising is, quite literally, a sign of the times. And Movingmedia Digital is in the forefront, constantly innovating.
Movingmedia Canada Inc. is known for its network of high-resolution video screens peppered throughout the City of Peterborough and periphery, including Lakefield and now Lindsay. They’re positioned at busy intersections and high-traffic areas where drivers are likely to be stopped for minutes at a time.
For those minutes, drivers and their passengers are a captive audience. And that’s when Movingmedia really comes into focus.
“We are excellent at branding,” says Shaun Pearce, Regional Sales Director for Movingmedia Digital. “In fact, we are basically a branding company.”
That’s because Movingmedia is all about connecting an advertiser’s brand with consumers held captive by that extended red. In so doing, a traffic stop translates to an opportunity for brand awareness.
Movingmedia was ahead of the curve when the Peterborough-based company installed its first, red-on-black electronic sign about 10 years ago. In the decade since, monochrome has given way to high-resolution flat screens that rival anything you have mounted on your living room wall.
Through careful management Movingmedia has grown to command the largest chunk of the outdoor digital market locally — with plans to move into Durham, Quinte, and the Barrie-Orillia corridor.
In fact, they’re about to light up a new outdoor sign in Oshawa, at an intersection with traffic counts comparable to Lansdowne and Monaghan.
That’s all part of the science. Pearce throws out phrases such as traffic count, volume, and dwell times.
It’s for this reason that individual ads are never longer than 10 seconds. That’s it.
“But you’d be amazed at what you can do in ten seconds,” Pearce says, adding that simplicity is key.
VIDEO: A sample of a 10-second Movingmedia digital billboard ad
Movingmedia maintains a stable of digital advertising specialists who assist clients in crafting messages than can generate an impression within seconds.
“Keep it simple, and you have an excellent chance to make a lasting impression that’s going to resonate with people,” Pearce says.
Signs in high-traffic areas, such as Lansdowne and Monaghan or at The Parkway, command a higher rate than those associated with a smaller traffic count. But regardless of location, the formula is the same: 10-second ads, with no more than 18 ads in each three-minute loop.
“A common misconception is that the loop never ends,” Pearce says. But it does — at exactly three minutes. Then it loops back to the beginning.
“We have a waiting list for some signs,” Pearce adds. “We’ve actually had to turn people away.”
But Movingnedia also wants their clients to succeed, Pearce explains, and for that reason loops are considered full at the 18-ad cap. They won’t go beyond the benchmark.
“At that point, we’re sold out (for that sign),” says Pearce.
The advantages to DOOH signage remain the inherent adaptability of messaging and, Pearce says, the opportunity to “easily and efficiently update (an advertiser’s) message — daily, weekly or monthly.” Clients can use their ad space to promote weekend events or special sales, “and then just flip back to their generic branding.”
Outdoor digital signs are also independent of one another, allowing for loops to be customized for that particular sign and geographic area.
That said, signs can be networked to instantly display a common message in the midst of a serious crisis — capacity that was of particular interest to the City of Peterborough, with whom Movingmedia has recently partnered to install indoor displays at eight municipal venues: the Peterborough Sports & Wellness Centre, the Peterborough Memorial Centre, the Kinsmen Civic Centre, the Envinrude Centre, City Hall, the Peterborough Airport, the Public Transit Terminal, and the Peterborough Public Library.
The side-by-side screens display ads promoting local businesses on one screen, and information relevant to the municipal location on the other screen.
The company maintains a satellite operation in Newfoundland that has seen particular success with indoor displays. As a result, the Peterborough operation headquartered at Pido Road has just begun to explore the indoor signage market (where dwell times can be longer or, as Pearce says, “the science of the waiting room versus the traffic light”).
As well as the eight municipal venues where Movingmedia’s indoor displays are installed, the company also has an indoor display at Showplace Performance Centre in downtown Peterborough.
The primary focus, however, remains outdoor digital. Movingmedia adds about two or three new locations per year that the company has either scouted themselves, or in concert with a property owner having come to them. If and when they partner up, it’s mutually beneficial to both.
Pearce stresses that DOOH signage can and is used by a wide cross-section of clients, from small business all the way up to corporations. And as impersonal as digital can be in other sectors, the Peterborough company values getting out and talking to people, face to face, where they are.
Pearce — who grew up in Peterborough before studying radio broadcasting and media sales at Humber College — notes that the Movingmedia website has been thoroughly updated within the last few months with complete information on rates, campaigns, and sign locations.
“Anyone can go online and glean a lot of information about us, what we do, and how we can help,” Pearce says. “For anyone who may be on the fence, just pick up the phone.
“We’ll come right out and talk to you, answer your questions, and learn about your needs. We want you to succeed.”
This is where Movingmedia displays its Peterborough roots — the respect, and value for relationship-building in a grassroots, organic fashion that speaks to personal service.
“I believe strongly,” Pearce says, “that it’s our relationships that build success over time, with our clients.”
In other words, a sign of things to come.
VIDEO: One of Movingmedia’s eye-catching 10-second digital billboard house ads
Movingmedia Canada Inc. is located at 347 Pido Road, Unit #18, in Peterborough. For more information, call 705-749-9399 (toll free at 1-877-749-9399) or visit www.movingmedia.ca. You can also follow Movingmedia on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
