"This is the second audience study that Nielsen has conducted for Adspace, making it a powerful tool for tracking progress on key audience metrics," said Bill Ketcham, EVP, chief marketing officer, Adspace Networks.
"The dramatic increase in the percent of mall traffic viewing the Smart Screens is particularly noteworthy, and suggests that consumers are more engaged with the medium."
Adspace attributes the increase in viewing to a number of improvements made over the last two years. More engaging editorial content was rolled out in response to extensive consumer research. In addition to the Today's Top Ten program, which highlights the best deals in the mall that day, the network has added "Essentials", a collection of seasonal items, and newly launched "Trend Alert", which showcases the must-have trends of the season.
"The content has always been a key differentiator for Adspace," Ketcham continued.
"We have conducted a significant amount of research to understand the mall shoppers, and give them programming that captures their attention."
Adspace has also significantly increased the caliber of its advertisers including strong participation from Hollywood studios, consumer packaged goods brands and telecommunications companies. Importantly, all content and most advertising is now shown in high definition.
"The viewer only sees 25 percent of the color spectrum with standard definition content," said Keith Kelsen, author of upcoming book Unleashing the Power of Digital Signage - Content Strategies for the 5th Screen.
"High definition delivers 75 percent of the color spectrum, and the higher resolution makes the screen appear to be a natural 'window' to the world, enhancing its memorability."
Further, the Nielsen study shows commercial awareness increasing dramatically among total mall visitors. Ads from Sony Pictures, Claritin, Olay and Estee Lauder were tested and the average awareness score increased 44 percent versus 2007.
"This landmark study will provide additional comfort to those brand marketers who are aggressively moving dollars from traditional television to our network," said Dominick Porco, chairman and CEO, Adspace Networks.
"Our continued progress in delivering higher levels of viewing and commercial awareness makes our value proposition even more compelling versus television."
The new study also brings to light compelling improvement in CPMs. With impressions increasing 30 percent, the network's cost per thousand viewers declines from $4.89 to $3.76 against people age 12+, based on the current rate card.
Further, the study measured the audience metrics recommended by the Outdoor Video Advertising Bureau, a forum created for interested advertisers, agencies, place-based video networks and their suppliers. OVAB defines an impression as a person in a screen's viewing zone that notices the screen and is in the zone for a length of time equal to the loop length (i.e., in a position to see every commercial in the loop). According to Nielsen, Adspace generates 4.9 impressions per viewer, and 3.2 impressions per average mall visitor, representing a 49 percent increase versus the 2007 Nielsen study.
On-site exit interviews were conducted in six cities with malls that are representative of the Adspace Digital Mall Network footprint. Each mall was visited during three different dayparts and resulted in 703 interviews conducted among persons age 12+ selected at random. The fieldwork was conducted in September 2009.
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