Outdoor advertising company Adshel today announced that it will roll out Australia’s largest permanent network of beacons.
The deployment will see beacons installed in over 3000 unique locations across Adshel’s network of advertising panels in Australia and represent the country’s first, large-scale and data-rich outdoor advertising offering.
Traditionally used in a retail environment, beacons are small, wireless devices that communicate with smartphones through Bluetooth, within the vicinity of the beacon location.
Operating in a similar way, Adshel’s beacon network will initially take a ‘Listen and Learn’ approach to build insights on the best way the technology meets the needs of consumers and advertisers. This includes enabling advertisers to leverage their existing customer database to generate additional non-intrusive data through time of day positions and movement trends.
The data generated by the beacons network can also be used by advertisers in profiling Adshel outdoor sites, improving audience targeting.
Adshel CEO Rob Atkinson said: “Adshel’s Beacon network will reposition the way outdoor media is bought and sold. In combination with Adshel’s almost 15,000 advertising panels, it will deliver advertisers more data, insights and accountability while utilising the unique engagement small format outdoor advertising offers.”
Over time, the network will give advertisers with beacon enabled smartphone apps the opportunity to send geo-targeted and contextually relevant communications to consenting customers when they are in the area of a beacon enabled Adshel panel.
Mr Atkinson continued: “We want to continue working with our advertising partners in ways that deliver more effective campaign planning and reduced media spend wastage. We believe our beacons offering further demonstrates our commitment to innovation.”
APN News & Media CEO Michael Miller said: “Internationally, beacons have proved their effectiveness in marketing campaigns and we can expect them to similarly deliver success locally for advertisers utilising Adshel’s leading small format outdoor network. Adshel’s leadership in beacons will change the conversation around outdoor advertising accountability and enhance Adshel’s digital broadcast offering.”
Clear Channel Outdoor CEO William Eccleshare added: “The launch of Adshel’s nationwide beacon network marks a key development in the evolution of our medium. As media agencies and advertisers increasingly move towards data-aided planning decisions, we are committed to providing flexible and intelligent solutions that not only ease the buying process but ultimately deliver the campaign effectiveness and ROI they expect. This latest innovation will help ensure Outdoor’s rightful place on the media schedule.”
