Future of Advertising: Convergence of Mobile and Digital Interactive Out of Home Offers New Solution for Ad Agencies

TORONTO, March 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Two of the fastest growing advertising mediums today - mobile and digital out-of-home (DOOH) – confirm that brands and agencies are shifting budgets from traditional advertising to digital and interactive channels that provide immediate interaction and measurement.

Helping drive this trend is Toronto-based media company iSIGN, with a new advertising technology being rolled out to agencies across North America. The company's interactive marketing solution (IMS 3.0) marries mobile interactions with digital advertising, resulting in a medium known as proximity marketing. Not a sign or a text-based advertisement, iSIGN's interactive marketing solution creates interactions with consumers' mobile phones, delivering content at moments of maximum influence.  Consumers within a certain range (from 3 to 300 feet) of a retail presence receive relevant and welcome offers through their Bluetooth-enabled mobile devices. Today, more than 90% of phones include this feature.

Signs that talk and interact

By targeting consumers when they are in store and primed to buy, advertisers can deliver branded content that is contextually relevant, encouraging consumers to take action at point of sale. Messages can range from product coupons and promotions, videos, music, movie trailers, and other rich-media content. "With technology that allows digital signs to 'talk and interact' with mobile devices that are in proximity, advertisers can deliver relevant incentives at exactly the right time," said Alex Romanov, CEO of iSIGN. "It represents a powerful union of digital and mobile technologies."

A new advertising medium for 2011 and beyond

According to a Magna Global ad forecast, mobile and DOOH are currently the second and third fastest-growing advertising mediums, with mobile projected to grow 19.4% from 2011 to 2016, and DOOH projected to grow 15.2%. Optimizing the benefits of both mediums, iSIGN's interactive marketing solution is the next step in advertising technology that is currently being tested by convenience store chains, entertainment companies and sporting arenas across North America.

Developing valuable business intelligence

iSIGN's interactive marketing solution increases the effectiveness of static forms of advertising by being able to quantify and collect detailed information about consumers.  With market research being a central component of any advertising strategy, iSIGN's solution unifies the message delivery and the information collection - essentially conducting market research at the same time that it is delivering targeted messaging to consumers. Advertisers have access to data in real-time that reports which campaign and messaging is working, and which isn't.

Interactive advertising at the right place, right time, without the guesswork

iSIGN says that its solution brings measurability and interactivity to both mobile and DOOH, without any guesswork.  Advertisers will see a dramatic transformation from simple digital signage displays that have been impossible to measure in the past, to fully measurable interactive experiences at a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising or even standalone mobile marketing efforts – a huge benefit for agencies looking for more effective channels but with smaller budgets.

"The drawbacks of digital outdoor signage have been the lack of metrics to measure consumer response and its overall lack of interactivity: our new technology allows advertisers to transform their digital signage into interactive consumer touchpoints with consumers mobile devices, and capture data and measure consumer responses in real-time, while they shop," says Romanov.  "Combined, these channels represent the greatest single opportunity for increased revenues and a new advertising base capable of interactively capturing shopper and business intelligence."

To arrange an interview or learn more about iSIGN, please contact iSIGN's Director of Media Relations, Vanessa Horwell at [email protected] or 305.749.5342 ext. 232, or visit www.isignmedia.com.

About iSIGN Media

iSIGN is a leading developer of location-based interactive proximity advertising solutions that deliver rich media, permission based messages, free of charge to cell phones using Bluetooth® connectivity. The Company's patent-pending advertising platform combines the precision of direct marketing and the tracking potential of the Web to deliver more cost effective and ROI-driven advertising than is possible via print, radio and television. iSIGN is publicly traded in Toronto (TSX.V) under the symbol "ISD". Additional information about iSIGN Media can be found at www.isignmedia.com.

SOURCE iSIGN Media