DOOH expert cites neuroscience: 'Make it memorable'

As consumers return to the physical marketplace in the wake of lockdowns, DOOH presents new challenges and opportunities. Some companies are turning to neuroscience to find winning solutions in a crowded landscape. Kevin Bartanian, founder and CEO at KEVANI, an LA-based DOOH firm, joined Digital Signage Today by email to discuss a recent neuroscience study that sheds new light on success strategies in DOOH, whose core findings are reminiscent of the classic real estate adage: "location, location, location."

Q. Tell us a little more about this neuroscience study commissioned by KEVANI and conducted by Axona Lab.

A. We firmly believe that despite the creatives running on an out-of-home (OOH) display, the sites and advertising formats play a key role in OOH campaign's success, from grabbing viewers' attention to ad perception. To this end, we commissioned the study to investigate the role of the OOH site in relation to ad retention and its impact on creative fatigue.

Factors considered included cognitive load, brand recall and emotion.

For this study, 104 participants were recruited and divided into two groups (50 and 54). In order to investigate the impact of different OOH sites on the subconscious behavior of participants, an event-related study was designed which measured the brain response to a specific sensory, cognitive or motor event. Electroencephalography (EEG) was used to map participants' brain responses and behavior to provide accurate and bias-free results. We tested 10 billboards in eight locations. KEVANI sites were grouped into prime sites (digital and full-motion) and standard sites (non-digital and murals), comparing it with other sites with similar specs. What we found is that there was a lower cognitive load recorded at KEVANI's prime sites and standard sites with respect to other sites with similar specs.

At KEVANI sites, the significantly lower cognitive load recorded is a clear indicator that OOH campaigns will perform better on these sites, where prime sites scored 8% less cognitive load and standard sites 7%. This is true regardless of the creative since there was no significant difference in cognitive load measures between the two experimental groups where the second group of participants were exposed to the site with the same creative. Our findings also showed that OOH advertising sites with low cognitive load boosted positive responses, and garnered a stronger recall rate — key components that contribute to driving real-world sales. Research showed that in OOH advertising environments with high cognitive load the human brain compensates for oversaturation by automatically paying less attention, resulting in low brand recall levels and less ad retention.

Q. Why did the study link better ad recall to location?

A. The reason that advertising placed in less saturated areas garners a strong recall rate and boosts positive responses is due to lower cognitive load, which is the amount of information that memory can hold at a given time. Neuroscience evidence revealed that a low cognitive load is associated with better ad performance, as there is less for the brain to process and sort through.

When an ad is placed on a mega-size display in a non-congested area, let's take The Towers in Los Angeles, for example, consumers are able to take in the ad much more effectively than if the same media structures were located in a congested area with a lot of visual noise. Noise in this case doesn't only refer to other advertising signs, it can be city signs, building lights, flashing lights, etc. That being said, our team has put a focus on acquiring assets that capture attention and create memorable impressions, strategically offering assets in iconic locations with minimal distractions — we've most recently announced a set of media structures called i5 Pillars on California's 5 interstate, where traffic is a constant and distractions are minimal.

This is obvious to all of us, but neuroscience helps prove the theory. The conclusion applies to all formats in any setting. The developer of a sign needs to have a very good understanding of current and future traffic flow, demand and future developments that could cause a negative or positive effect. I would recommend developers create a video mock-up/rendering of the location with a few configurations they are considering and do a relatively simple neuroscience study to determine which options will perform the best for all stakeholders.

Q. What defines quality content?

A. The best creatives are ones that resonate with a specific local audience and create a contextual relevance with the community. A creative that's the same in NYC, Miami and LA is falling short of its potential. In a fully digital world, communities will continually expect more from advertisers, since their advertising experience is changing on their mobile devices and that shift is creating a new normal in all digital formats including DOOH. The good news is, we are seeing more and more advertisers and agencies push the envelope with content — it can be as simple as a creative triggered by an event or one that celebrates the locality.

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