Adhering to its philosophy of being “forward thinking and innovative,” Astral Out-of-Home has introduced Near Field Communication (NFC) technology for its street furniture products in Toronto and Montreal.
In basic terms, NFC is a very short-range radio transmission from a passive source (ie: a transit shelter ad) that can interact with device such as a smartphone simply by being near the device. The technology can allow for everything from mobile payments to enriched advertising experiences.
“Astral’s positioning on the innovation space is we always want to be first to market,” said Debbie Drutz, who joined the Montreal-based company as director of media innovation last August. “It’s obvious to launch something like NFC, which is getting a lot of buzz and hype in the marketplace.”
Drutz likened NFC tech to a “sticker” that can be placed on its street-level out-of-home products, and said that Astral has the ability to place the technology on as many ad faces as clients want and in whatever specific locations clients choose. A fast-food company, for example, could place an NFC-enabled ad containing a coupon offer in the vicinity of one of its outlets.
“I think the couponing is going to work really well, as could mobile commerce – ‘You love these boots, buy them right now’ – but giving something to the user that they want and couldn’t get elsewhere brings the posters to life,” she said.
Astral operates more than 5,000 transit shelter faces, columns and “mega columns” in the two markets, but Drutz said that the NFC technology will likely appeal to advertisers looking to reach early adopters – primarily males 18-34 who tend to congregate in downtown locations.
While advertisers will pay a premium if they choose to purchase specific locations, the NFC technology itself carries a “minimal” production cost, said Drutz. “I think advertisers are going to be really pleased when they see the low cost to walk in this space and [the ability to] offer something different and creative.”
Drutz said that the “obvious” advertising partners such as telecom companies have already expressed interest. Astral is still in negotiations with what Drutz characterized as “big brands.”
“It’s new, so from a partner standpoint we’re going to get the innovators and early adopters coming on board no matter what,” she said. “My gut says that conversion rates are going to be very similar to online advertising, and that’s huge.
“At this point it’s the innovation play versus what we’re going to see on the back end and how much people are going to interact [with NFC].”
The key to NFC’s success, Drutz predicted, will be the types of offers marketing partners use to entice consumers to scan the ad. “If you’re just driving someone to a website, nobody’s going to tap or scan,” she said. “I think it’s important that when we present this to partners that we’re really setting up the program properly. You’ve got to give customers something for them to scan.”
