The recent decade has witnessed the explosive development of those technological areas directly or indirectly related with spreading information or advertising among large masses of people. Such areas include “traditional” TV, radio, newspapers and magazines, outdoor advertising as well as the newest trends such as the Internet and large outdoor electronic screens.
From all sides people are assaulted with information. The number of TV and radio channels and the number of printed mass media grows daily. The streets are filled with outdoor advertising billboards. The number of Internet sites and portals grows exponentially. Such variety breeds new and unexpected problems:
· Difficult choice. What shall I watch and listen to? What Internet site shall I visit? What news channel is better?
· Effectiveness of TV or radio advertising. With dozens of channels instantly available, people tend to switch to a different channel during the advertising block and stay with the new channel to watch what seems more interesting.
· Coverage of Internet-news and projects outside Internet.
Thus, an intensive search started for new technologies that would improve efficiency of political, informational, commercial, advertising, social and other media events and campaigns. “Outdoor Video and TV” based on large electronic screens turned to be one of such effective technologies.
The “Outdoor Video and TV” technology has to be considered together with a range of other factors:
· Limited number of “key” advertising sites suitable for large electronic screens in any city.
· Focused broadcasts: the viewing audience (passersby, drivers and passengers) are unable to switch off advertising and move to a different channel.
· Improved effectiveness of advertising: psychologists have long proved that the information stands better chances of being absorbed if it is visual and dynamic. Therefore, advertising on electronic screens is much more effective than traditional static billboards.
· Information and advertising on outdoor electronic screens is not perceived as an annoying factor by the majority of viewers. It does not interrupt an interesting program or feature film and, in fact, helps to fill in the “lost” time spent in a traffic jam or waiting in the street.
· Better coverage of the audience: during various mass events such as advertising campaigns, sports events, carnivals, concerts etc. images on large electronic screens can be seen from long distances, and those who cannot see the action on stage can witness it on large screens.
· Modern digital technology: large electronic screens can demonstrate video and computer-generated images. Thus, time for creating a commercial is shortened drastically. This is especially important for Internet-based advertising.