Static advertising media are an inseparable part of roadside infrastructure. Driving on a motorway with your family, you can be sure that billboards will appear in your field of vision. The development of technology means that this type of advertising is also evolving. Thanks to automatic licence plate recognition technology (LPR or ANPR) and advanced data analysis algorithms supported by artificial intelligence, billboard advertisements will soon become personalised and dynamic. This means that every driver, regardless of the type of car, will be able to see advertisements tailored to their interests and needs.
The evolution of outdoor advertising
LPR is a licence plate recognition technology that has already been used for some time in various fields, such as vehicle flow management, access control or traffic monitoring. In the United Kingdom, this technology is beginning to be implemented to personalise billboard advertising. Thanks to cooperation between advertising agencies and companies such as Peugeot-Citroen, Volkswagen, Toyota and Lexus, drivers can view advertisements tailored to their interests.
How does it work? When an LPR system camera registers a car of a given type, the relevant advertisement is activated on the billboard. This means that when driving a family van, you will see an advertisement for interesting holiday destinations, and when you switch to a sports car, you will receive information about the latest exclusive watches. This personalisation is the key to effective advertising, because it reaches audiences in a more precise way.
Agencies have perfectly profiled audiences, so it is enough to create just a few versions of an advertisement that highlights the features of a car that are most important for a given group. For some it will be a spacious interior, eco-friendly solutions, and for others an elegant silhouette, etc. When we add to this the fact that digital billboards can display many different spots tailored to the specific needs of the recipient, we can easily increase the likelihood that we will reach the right customer – Oskar Kolmasiak, ZnajdźReklamę.pl
The evolution of outdoor advertising
Oskar Kolmasiak, sales team leader at ZnajdźReklamę.pl, a company offering comprehensive advertising campaign services, emphasises that thanks to this technology advertisers minimise their clients' losses. Billboard advertisements can be adapted to the preferences of different audience groups, which increases the likelihood of reaching the right customer.
If we want to catch someone's attention, a billboard will certainly be noticed. The boss is not looking out of the window? No worries, someone will send him a photo. An Australian company gained something more through personalisation of the message. It did not distract attention. The information reaches finance directors or their direct superiors. They see that the advertising company is really trying to win the contract and has gained knowledge about their potential needs. We do not know whether they will sign an agreement, but we can be almost certain that the business ice has been broken – Oskar Kolmasiak, ZnajdźReklamę.pl
How do personalised billboards on motorways work?
It is not only billboards that adapt to the external situation. An example is Virgin Trains, which uses real-time traffic data to encourage drivers to travel by train. The railway advertisement is switched off when traffic is flowing smoothly, and appears when the weather or road traffic conditions favour train travel.
Marketing is moving towards dynamic messaging
Marketers are increasingly striving for dynamic messages, because they attract attention more than static advertisements. Personalisation of billboard advertisements allows consumers to feel that the content is current and tailored to their needs.
However, that is not the end. The marketing agency Innocean Australia decided to use personalisation in advertisements intended to reach individual recipients. A campaign was prepared that is directed directly at finance directors of various companies. The billboards with the message are placed in such a way that they cannot be missed. As a result, the drivers of finance directors see advertisements with messages tailored to their industry and needs.
Marketers strive for dynamic messages because they know that they will attract recipients' attention much more than static content. Such advertising is perceived by consumers as much more current and also fulfils an important informational function for them – notes Oskar Kolmasiak from ZnajdźReklamę.pl
The global digital out-of-home advertising market is growing every year. In 2022 it reached a value of nearly 17 billion US dollars, and forecasts indicate further growth, reaching around 36 billion US dollars by 2028. This shows that personalisation of billboard advertising has enormous potential and is becoming an increasingly important tool in the world of marketing. Thanks to modern technologies and data analysis, advertisements on motorways are becoming more effective and personalised than ever before.
