In-elevator advertising company Captivate Networks has rebranded as Captivate, adopting a sleeker, more modern logo and enhancing its screens in an effort to increase its already high viewer engagement.
In Canada, Captivate operates approximately 2,000 screens in 200 buildings in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and Montreal. It also operates 10,000 screens in 1,500 office buildings throughout the U.S.
The biggest change to the Captivate product is a redesign of the info window, which provides viewers with time and temperature information. The company has added a dynamic background sky that changes to match the weather conditions, as well as a drop-down screen featuring stock prices, long-term weather forecasts and sports scores.
Captivate’s research shows 92% of people riding in office tower elevators currently engage with its screens. Scott Marden, the company’s senior vice-president of marketing, research and client development in Chelmsford, Ma., said the new-look screens could push that number closer to 100%.
According to internal research from Captivate’s “Office Pulse” panel, approximately 76% of Canadian viewers prefer the new screens, with the “look” cited as the leading factor, followed by “readability” and the size of the clock/weather.
In December 2013, Captivate’s then-owner, Gannett Co., spun the company out into a separate company it co-owns with U.S. private equity firm Generation Partners. Marden said the company has spent the past year focusing on growth, improvements and advancements in its products.
“[Generation Partners has] added quite a bit to our company in terms of momentum, acquisitions, partnerships and the screen presentation,” said Marden. “The technological advancements you’re seeing now are all part of that momentum.”
Captivate claims 220% growth in viewership over the past five years, to nearly 12 million monthly unique viewers.
Marden said revenues have increased as the company adds increased functionality to its screens and works with advertisers to incorporate more native advertising, a feature he described as “growing by leaps and bounds.”
Currently, about one-third of Captivate’s advertising is based on content adjacency with an increasing number of advertisers now looking to run their own content alongside their ads.
The remaining two thirds of Captivate’s advertising is a blend of run of schedule and screen domination, where advertisers commandeer the screen with a larger ad unit, the use of brand colours, etc.
While business-to-business comprises roughly half of Captivate’s total advertising revenue, the company also attracts advertising from key verticals including automotive, entertainment, financial services and travel.
Captivate’s target audience is adults 25-54 with a household income of more than $100,000 and an approximate 57% male skew in Canada.
