In our Top 10 Trends for 2007, we suggested that outdoors would take off this year. In the post, we wrote:
8 - OUTDOOR TAKES OFF
Clear Channel begins to integrate Wifi billboards, CBS Outdoors enables digital outdoor signs to allow for audio and video ads, time-targeted and weather-targeted ads.
In fact, you are starting to see outdoor media change before our eyes.
On my last trip to Manhattan, I was greeted with digital screens in cabs fully equipped with news, sports, maps, things to do, as well as a global positioning system (I’m sure the cabbies love that last feature). Alas, it was one more signal that the world was:
- indeed going digital
- marketers were looking to reach consumers 24/7, even when outdoors away from web, wireless, TV, print or radio.
Well, next time I’m in NYC, something new will be greeting me: CBS is offering a free Wifi zone in Manhattan.
There are many interesting angles and storylines here:
1- CBS, a traditional media company is offering this. In SF for example, Google is the company spearheading the free wifi offering.
2- The area that is offering free wifi is not the optimal area, for example, Bryant Park is excluded… and one would assume that this area is not the one that would most demand free wifi in the first place.
3- Most importantly, while I am sure this was a cross-unit effort, this initiative is actually seemingly coming out of CBS Outdoors, and not CBS Interactive.
Let’s first answer #2: I think that is clever because this assures that the service won’t be crippled by too much demand. If it works, CBS can monitor performance, add capacity and extend this to other areas that require (read: would hog the network) more resources… but by then, CBS can sell more than enough advertising.
#1 and #3 go hand in hand and explain why 2008’s trends to look out for will create an interesting year.
The reason why a traditional media company is spearheading this initiative (#1) is explained largely by the fact that this isn’t an online experiment per se in the sense that CBS is leveraging its outdoor billboards, display locals etc. How do I know that? Read the initial story by Center Networks‘ Allen Stern and see who is quoted:
“This is another example of how the assets of CBS Outdoor are enhanced by new technologies,” said Wally Kelly, Chairman and CEO of CBS Outdoor. “What better way to show we are committed to turning our Outdoor assets into next-generation interactive platforms than providing free Wi-Fi service in what is arguably the busiest stretch of real estate in the world. This offering will allow us to evaluate the prospect of applying Wi-Fi capabilities across our Outdoor properties globally.”
Of course, when you hear Outdoors, you think local, indeed:
They are also giving routers to local businesses in the Mobile Zone to enhance the signals. I wonder what the signal will be like on New Year’s Eve! Just how many connections can this system handle was not disclosed.
This is actually a far bigger business news than it is a consumer news… and you can imagine that the promise of free Internet access city-wide in any area, let alone NYC is a very cool concept.
But the fact that CBS shows that it is leveraging its outdoor business to offer a Web gateway to residents, tie in local advertising and become a portal for consumers to online content, commerce and community shows that 2008 might mark the return of traditional media at the forefront of advertising.
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