Place-based media company Rouge Media is expanding into digital with the launch of 1,000 ad-enabled screens that also offer free mobile charging capabilities. The 22-inch screens are capable of displaying five 15-second ads in a loop.
The new network utilizes Rouge Media’s existing locations in beauty salons, resto-bars and college and university campuses. It is the result of a partnership with DanTeb, a Toronto company that specializes in advertiser-sponsored charging stations that cater to people on the move.
Rouge Media’s executive vice-president Alison Jacobs said screens are being evenly deployed across the company’s three networks, which had previously featured only static displays.
The rollout is occurring in both primary and secondary markets throughout Canada and the U.S. (where Rouge Media launched its beauty network approximately three years ago).
Rouge is the latest in a long line of out-of-home advertising companies that have added digital capabilities to existing static networks.
“We’re in place-based environments where users are spending significant periods of time,” said Jacobs. “Mobile is at the forefront, especially in marketing, and needs to be top-of-mind right now. It makes sense that in our environment, where consumers are typically on their device, our digital out-of-home product had a mobile play.”
Jacobs said the charging stations offer brands the opportunity to “surprise and delight” their target consumers. “There’s a reason for [consumers] to engage with the screen,” she said. “It’s a natural play for us.” The stations are intended to offer a “quick boost” for consumers, said Jacobs.
How consumers interact with the screens across the various networks will be among the “key learnings” for Rouge Media as it deploys the screens, said Jacobs.
The company plans to locate the units around service areas on the more than 90 college and university campuses on which it operates, while their placement in resto-bars and beauty environments – where advertisers are promised a customer dwell time of 45 minutes – offers an opportunity for what she called “more intimate” interactions with consumers.
