i-media, which runs the advertising screens at motorway service areas, has launched a way to buy motorway advertising by the type of person on site instead of by location. It is a clever idea, but it comes with no published prices, so the first job is to find out what the targeting costs and whether a well-chosen screen bought late would do the same work for less.
What’s happened
On 12 October i-media launched ANPR Audiences, which lets an advertiser choose an audience and have its ad triggered when that audience is present at a site in above-average numbers. It uses number plate recognition, together with partial postcode data and audience profiles from Starcount, which i-media says are drawn from aggregated open banking and mobile location data. i-media says the system covers more than 1,000 screens at 134 motorway service areas, offers over 50 ready-made audience segments, and works without collecting or processing any personal data. Lloyds Bank is the first advertiser to use it, and the announcement says nothing about prices or minimum spends.
Why it matters to out-of-home advertisers
The thinking behind this kind of motorway advertising is sound. Nobody wants a screen for its own sake; they want the people walking past it. Service areas suit our kind of client, because drivers stop, get out and walk past the screens, often on the way to somewhere specific. An auction house can reach people travelling in from the counties its buyers live in. A fight promoter can reach the roads into an arena city on fight weekend.
But read the announcement closely. The ad is triggered when your audience “over-indexes” at a site, which means when there are more of them there than usual. It is still a public screen. Everyone else on site sees your ad too, so what you are buying is a better mix of people, not a private showing. That can be worth having, but it is not the one-to-one targeting you get online, and it should be priced accordingly.
Targeting also tends to cost more than plain screen time, and the tighter the audience, the fewer times your ad is likely to play. For a sale or an event with a fixed date, you need enough plays in the last fortnight to be noticed. A narrow audience at a premium price can leave you with a tidy report and too few people reached.
This is where buying late comes in. In our experience, screen time still unsold close to the date can often be bought for less, and you can do a good deal of targeting for nothing by choosing the right service areas on the right days. Buying out-of-home late is what we do for clients, so for any brief we can put two prices side by side: the audience-triggered version, and standard time on the same screens picked by road and date. Then we work out what each costs per person you actually want to reach. If the formats are new to you, our guide to out-of-home advertising covers the basics.
One more point for regulated businesses such as claims firms. i-media says the system works without collecting or processing personal data. If your compliance team will want to know how number plate and aggregated banking data are handled, ask for that explanation in writing before you book. We would ask on your behalf.
What we’d do
Start with the map. Good motorway advertising begins with geography. List the service areas on the roads into your saleroom, venue or region, and the days that matter. That costs nothing extra and may get you most of the benefit.
Ask for two quotes on the same screens and dates. One audience-triggered, one standard. Ask how far above normal your audience has to be before the ad plays, how many plays you can expect, and what the report will show. We would get both quotes for you and tell you which gives you more of the right people for the money.
Test it around one date. Pick one sale or one fight night and set one measure before you start, such as catalogue requests or ticket sales by postcode, so you know whether the targeting earned its extra cost.
How VCM can help
We plan and buy out-of-home late, so you get the screens that suit your audience at the lowest price we can negotiate, with or without the new targeting. Take a look at how we buy out-of-home advertising, then get in touch on 0333 577 1848 or at James@vcmweb.co.uk. Send us your dates and the area you want to reach, and we will talk your plan through and tell you what it should cost right now, no obligation.
