Stars of the big screen
Published: 14 November, 2011
The use of screens in shopping centres is an area that is continuing to grow and evolve, with malls looking for a comprehensive strategy.
The Mall in Luton has recently installed a 184-inch HD iconic screen, managed by digital out-of-home specialist Ramvision, to complement its existing portfolio of Clear Channel digital six sheets, Mall TV - which features regional ads and promotions from tenants - and lift ad sites supplied by Limited Space.
“The new iconic screen has meant that we’ve absolutely incorporated a full digital catalogue,” says Stephen Rister, commercial manager at Capital & Regional. “But we’ve kept it uniform, limiting it to 4-5 media - if you’re putting out fifteen different messages, the mall becomes cluttered and people get blind to it.”
The iconic screen has been placed in the highest footfall area of the mall (footfall currently stands at 478,000 per week) which links to the entrance nearest the train station and is mounted above an open space allowing for high visibility.
The management team is looking into utilising the screen to show part of the Olympic Games – providing they get a licence from the BBC and can strike a deal with Ramvision so its brand clients don’t lose out.
Large-scale ‘iconic’ screens certainly do have the wow factor but as Ramvision managing director, Paul Masterson, explains they aren’t right for every location.
“Sometimes big isn’t best,” he says. “It depends how far back you are able to stand. At the Mall in Blackburn for example, there’s a height limit, so you have to think about the most effective use of space.
“There are several factors that dictate what will work and what won’t. Different locations require different solutions.”
Ramvision allows 10 seconds in every 60 second loop to the shopping centre for their own messages, whether it be used to advertise opening times, a fashion show or an Easter egg hunt, and will help out with the creative.
Now, more and more shopping centres are working on their screen strategy from the early stages of development. According to Masterson, screen sites were an intricate part of the planning process at Trinity Walk in Wakefield.
The same is also true of Westfield Stratford City, where Westfield’s national account manager, Chris Lynham, attended meetings every Thursday for two years before the centre’s launch, in part to discuss what he calls its ‘digital revolution’.
Westfield Stratford City has some of the largest outdoor LED displays in Europe, 100 digital advertising posters and almost 400 displays in videowalls around the vast building.
Once the building was up, CBS Outdoor UK (which is responsible for the centre’s interior screens) tasked its head of London 2012 strategy, Fiona FitzGibbon, to stand with a board - representing the digital walkway screens - in each proposed location while they were photographed from every angle to check that the sightlines were clear, ensure they wouldn’t obscure shopfronts or signage, and to make sure they worked with the curve of the building.
Speaking at one of the monthly The Screen events, held at Westfield Stratford City in October, Lynham said: “The screens are fully integrated into the infrastructure of building - the totems were even designed by the same architects as the rest of the centre.
“It was a complex process,” he admits. “Even with six weeks to go we were still struggling to work out how to master the technical side.”
The next step for Westfield is to begin delivering its own content – highlighting marketing events and operational messages as well as looking into delivering its own lifestyle and music channels.
“The larger formats are higher impact,” says FitzGibbon. “And Westfield Stratford City has a greater expanse of larger formats than any other shopping centre in the UK.”
There are iconic, or as Westfield call them ‘spectacular’ screens at each of the scheme’s major exterior points, making them visible at the train station exit, from the bridge connecting the centre with Stratford high street and in one of the main squares adjacent to John Lewis and close to the 24-hour Aspers casino – for those who don’t have London 2012 tickets, it’s this area that will secure the best views of the Olympic Park.
“At every entry point, you can’t fail to see best in technology, creatives and brands,” says FitzGibbon.
Travel hubs too are embracing digital signage with vigor. As part of Gatwick’s £1bn improvement plan, EYE has rolled out a new digital network including a spectacular/iconic screen in the South Terminal arrivals hall – people can use a code to text welcome messages to loved ones, displayed on the screen for all to see – walkway screens in the North Terminal and others in the baggage collection area.
There are also touchscreens in the departure lounge which passengers can use in all sorts of interactive ways – from playing games and taking photographs to using YouTube.
But how effective are screens in encouraging passersby to spend?
Jim Campbell, Retail Solutions, HP Personal Systems Group, EMEA, believes all this investment in digital screens, and ad sites in general, could be going to waste.
“There is a proliferation of screens within shopping centres and I question the viability,” he says. “Advertisers will give good reasons why they should be in shopping centres but as for the consumer - I wonder around and see all the displays but I don’t see anyone looking at them. It becomes part of the wallpaper and subliminally you shut off.
“I predict it will become a challenge for mall owners and retailers to get their brand messages out.”
EYE commissioned research to underpin its £3.5m investment in digital screen technology at Gatwick.
In the report, two thirds of passengers said they would be influenced by digital advertising technology and almost 80 per cent said that touchscreen technology would add to their journey – at airports.
So are people more perceptive to advertising in airports than in shopping centres?
Ninety per cent of participants agreed that airports suit new technology but when they were asked where they’d last seen digital media, 72 per cent of the 420 participants said shopping malls, closely followed by airports at 69 per cent and train and bus stations at 58 per cent.
And it could depend on centre size.
A study into digital media in shopping centres by Kinetic Worldwide and Clear Channel found that shoppers respond better to digital advertising in larger malls because they are consistently happier and more engaged.
Cutting-edge face-tracking technology from Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute was employed over seven days on a Clear Channel digital screen at Westfield Merry Hill to capture shoppers’ expressions or moods and contact duration, as well as their gender and approximate age. This followed an earlier study, conducted in Westfield Royal Victoria Place, Tunbridge Wells.
The initial study showed engagement levels differed significantly at the weekend to the week, and towards the end of the day. However, in the top-five mall people were in a consistent mindset throughout their visit, remaining engaged all day and during both the week and weekend.
