A brief introduction: Hi there. I’m Gabi Schaffzin, Director, Creative Development at LocaModa. I’ll be posting alongside LocaJayne on The Web Outside. Feel free to bug me with questions or comments about anything; I’ll gladly talk digital, creative, dooh, sports, food, movies. Whatever you’d like.

Enough of about me, though:

Now that the highly touted Arbitron Out-of-Home Digital Video Display Study has been out for over a week, we here at LocaModa thought it was about time to chime in.

If you haven’t seen it yet, the aforementioned study can be found, free, online [pdf link]. It gives a great overview of the number of American adults who recall seeing a digital out of home display in the last month (spoiler alert: 67%, or more than 155 million). While these figures have lead to an overwhelmingly positive industry-wide reaction (and deservedly so), we think it’s time to start asking some harder questions. Bill Gerba begins to scratch the surface when he notes that this study will not “put to rest any lingering doubts over our medium’s viability as a communication channel.”

Over 155 million seeing your screen is great. But do they see your content? Do you even know who is seeing it and when? And if so, do they find it relevant? Neither a large study, nor a recorded stream of viewers looking at your screen could provide this level of granular insight. Instead, it is making sure your screens are dynamic and interactive that will get you there.

Digital out of home provides us with the greatest mix of television’s attention-grab and the web’s contextual relevance and measurability. We know that. But are we taking advantage of it? Arbitron’s study was a great first step to understanding who may be looking at DOOH screens. As Mr. Gerba puts it, “it’s solid research from a reputable firm.” But it’s up to the networks and content developers to bring the granular – and extremely necessary – analytics to their screens, be it through mobile, physical, or online interactivity.

If you haven’t already, check out LocaModa’s latest press release, which shares the results of our recent Jumbli campaign, including promising emerging Digital Out-of-Home trends and some great user engagement breakdowns by area code. We also name the top three interactive cities based on our data, which are actually pretty surprising.

Speaking of interactive cities (and no, that isn’t a hint)… We’re headed to Vegas today through Friday for the Digital Signage Expo. We’ll be in Booth 1924, and Stephen Randall will be speaking twice during the event, so be sure to check out his panels and stop by our booth to say hello!

See ya there!

Along with all of the the inauguration Wiffiti hustle and bustle, LocaModa has also been popping up on industry sites today.

Check out Matt’s article on Hello Viking about the New Big Three:

The problem is customer behavior has changed (duh) and the triad of TV, radio and print has not (double duh).

The obvious question: Can we re-master the triad? Can we to give brands a new trilateral paradigm so that dollars can flow confidently again?

I think yes.

Want more? Part one of Stephen’s feature article, “Making the Most of Mobile Marketing,” can be found in the latest Digital Signage Expo newsletter:

During the past 10 years, consumers have evolved from having a passive relationship with traditional media to actively controlling the media around them. The expectations of this new “Connected Class” (often tagged as “Mobile Millenials” or “Digital Natives”) have been set by Google, Amazon, YouTube, Facebook and other popular online destinations. As such, marketers can no longer expect broadcast messages to have the same impact they once had: Interactivity on the Web and mobile devices is driving an impression-based media industry toward expression-based models.

A lot to chew on a Monday; but hey, it’s a holiday…

The snow is all kinds of serious here in Cambridge, but what better time to cozy up with a latte and some Nielson numbers? Hey, It’s New Year’s Eve, let’s get crazy…

Upon reading The Television-Internet Connection yesterday (a Time article from ‘07 that is still particularly relevant), I was struck by the stat that 37% of the U.S. population over the age of 12 use their computers while watching television at home (Solutions Research Group). Because LocaModa focuses on building products that are cross-channel (i.e. work on out-of-home signage, web, mobile), it’s not surprising that such a significant chunk of the population is already habitually multitasking their “screen viewership,” yet it is a bit surprising that it’s happening so quickly.

Read the rest of this entry

That’s tall.

Built by Daktronics, the ENORMOUS screen takes over the entire side of the 35-story “Podium” office building, part of the Dubailand development project.

The screen is scheduled to run “messaging, art, and advertising,” and seems like it would be a perfect opportunity for interactive apps.

Now, I wonder how long it would take Usain Bolt to run down that monstrosity? I suppose you’d need to charge that as wind-aided…

In any case, LOOK AT THIS THING:

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