‘Centre-read, full-motion digital billboards 5.8x more effective than traditional static roadside OOH’

WOW Media, a full-motion digital billboard network in Los Angeles, partnered with Neuro-Insight, a neuromarketing and neuroanalytics company pioneering the link between brain activity and consumer behaviour, to help brands and advertisers understand the effectiveness of this fast growing medium. A collaborative study conducted in the US revealed that centre-read, full-motion digital billboards are 5.8x more effective than traditional static roadside OOH advertising.

"OOH advertising is undergoing a digital revolution and WOW Media made for the perfect case study to examine its true impact. Being a closed network of digital billboards that get over 68,500,000 weekly impressions in a concentrated area (Los Angeles) with the right dynamic feature set, it allows brands to understand the real impact a campaign might have," says Pranav Yadav, CEO of Neuro-Insight.

Neuro-Insight used a car-driving simulation with 84 (only 20 is required for a representative sample size for a neuro study) Los Angeles residents for the study. As participants watched the filmed journey, their brain activity was recorded, and a Neuro-Impact Factor (NIF) formula was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the billboards. NIF leverages second-by-second brain activity and gaze data from eye-tracking technology to evaluate how impactful the billboards are. The high-quality imagery, colour vibrancy, centre read positioning, and visually captivating full-motion WOW digital billboards created stronger memory for the ad, according to Neuro-Insight.

Neuro-Insight also examined the impact of interactive ambient lighting in conjunction with each individual ad, displaying primary colours to complement the art direction of the ads themselves. The interactive ambient lights help to enhance ads and are 5.75x more effective than static billboards without interactive ambient lighting.

Results Proved:

• In comparison to traditional static billboards, centre-read, full-motion digital billboards are 5.8x more effective and likely to deliver a more powerful in-market impact, with more impressions encoded into long-term memory.
• Front-facing, centrally positioned DOOH billboards offer a distinct performance advantage relative to laterally positioned (left or right read), static billboards making centre read billboards 3.6x more effective. Furthermore, centrally positioned billboards offer greater visibility, with the 'front-and-centre' nature of their DOOH billboards facilitating enhanced and increased consumer exposure to advertisements.
• Ambient-lit digital sites delivered 5.75x greater neuro responses than traditional, static OOH sites. This is attributed in part to the evolving narratives of digital sites, and in part to interactive ambient lighting, which significantly accentuated DOOH site performance.
• Compared to traditional static OOH billboards, DOOH, centre-read billboards (non full-motion) generated 3.2x more peaks in neuro response and drove more memory activity.

These results showed promise for the DOOH industry, demonstrating that repeat viewings of campaigns on DOOH screens can indeed enhance advertising impact, with potential wear out not appearing to be an issue.

"For the first time, we have science to show the impact digital out-of-home media has on consumers. It's all about motion, positioning, and quality. Our hope is that this helps better inform brands on how and where to spend their marketing DOOH budget," says Scott Krantz, Founder and CEO of WOW Media.

WOW Media has been changing the digital landscape with immersive billboards strategically located on the freeway leading to Beverly Hills, Bel Air, and Santa Monica and avenues that lead to SoFi Stadium and LAX.

The complete study can be found here.