Ambient Media –Does It Have A Captive Audience?
Ambient media refers to any non-traditional or alternative out-of-home media specifically designed to reach the target audience close to the point of purchase. Also known as place-based media, the phrase ambient media was introduced in the late 1990’s during the high point of ambient music, a genre with electronic textures that ultimately created a mood or atmosphere. The word ambient came to be known as relating to being in the immediate environment.
If ambient media advertising reaches its audience close to the point of purchase or in the immediate environment, is the target audience for ambient media a captive audience, or does it just appear to be that way? This article will discuss different examples of ambient media advertising and whether the target audience is held captive or just captivated by ambient media’s attempts to entice and influence their purchasing decisions.
When I speak of a potential captive audience pertaining to ambient media advertising, I think of places or locations that a consumer will have to be in or wait for an extended amount of time. Some venues have a higher sense of captivity than others. For example,
ambient media such as framed ads on the back of women’s bathroom stall doors and above urinals in the men’s room, is just about as in-your-face, with no way to escape, as you can get. Take the same ads and put them in your favorite restaurant. If you don’t like what you are looking at, you can change you seat or your table. While you are in the restaurant, you might have to look at the ad sometime or another, but it doesn’t have to be in your face at all times.
Airports, bus and train stations and other transit or transportation venues are used as examples when talking about a captive audience. Let’s face it; consumers have to use these to get to and from their destinations, often on a daily basis. These are great places for ambient media advertisers to reach their audience, but is the audience a captive audience? I personally don’t think so. Your ad has to catch the attention and open the consumers mind to what you want to tell them. They probably can’t reach your competitor at this point, but they can possibly get up, walk around or even worse ignore your message by tuning into an iPod, book or BlackBerry.
Retailers, shopping centers and malls are the other popular venues discussed when talking about ambient media advertising and captive audiences. In these locations ambient media is increasingly more popular with the use of digital signage and interactive kiosks and displays. Is this audience captive? Again, I would say no. Although the consumer is in the store or mall for an extended period of time, they can easily walk away or ignore what doesn’t hold their interest.
One of the most simple, low tech, but creative ways of ambient media advertising that I see being used on a weekly basis is the “coupon giver” found in food store supermarket aisles. It is red or some other bright color, it blinks, and is at eye level. It is strategically positioned in front of new or popular products and spits out coupons on request. These are products that consumers may have seen, maybe wanted to try, but never purchased. But with coupon in hand, the products literally fly off the shelves. Is this a captive audience or merely an audience captivated by effective ambient media advertising?
Consumers may be isolated in a particular location for an extended period, but that does not make them a captive audience because they can tune in or tune out what doesn’t appeal to them. That is why is it is imperative for the ambient media advertiser to create useful and informative ads. Ads that speak to them and relate to their needs with benefits that answers their questions and solves their problems. A good rule to remember when developing ambient media advertising is to assume the audience is never captive. They can always walk away, tune you out, or even just close their eyes.
