Battered by cutbacks, the public sector in the UK is finding digital out-of-home media a cost-effective way of communicating with the public.

In Scotland, for example, marketing firm Kommando and communications agency Story used the wearable screens of Kommando’s Nomadix Screenwalkers in a government-funded campaign to demonstrate the benefits of insulation.

At the entrances of shopping centres, the Screenwalkers attracted attention in several ways: playing TV ads for Home Energy Scotland, inviting consumers to a booth where they could discuss the issues, and even showing passers-by how heat is lost from their bodies via a thermal imaging camera. The Kommando team also employed Apple iPads to give demonstrations of how insulation works and to collect contact details.

Further south, another unusual out-of-home medium – Digiadvans’ screen-equipped trucks – have been used by two county councils, in Surrey and North Yorkshire, for recent road safety campaigns.

And also in Yorkshire, the City of York Council turned to screens to provide transport information to bus passengers.

Restrictions on development in the historic city centre mean that York has no main bus station, so council officials had to explore other channels of communication. Their solution: screens at key locations around the city, and at the park-and-ride hub where visitors to the city can leave their cars before being ferried on buses into the centre.

Said Darren Capes, the council’s transport systems manager: “Traditionally, we had used signs which were low technology, for example dot-matrix LEDs. We wanted to move into full-colour technology and also to be able to put other information on to the street via electronic passenger information content management, as well as bus timetables.”

The new installations are controlled by the Electronic Passenger Information (EPI) system from specialist RSL.

“RSL’s EPI allows us to control signs from different suppliers and consume data from a variety of sources. Traditionally, we would have to use one manufacturer to supply all our signs, which required expensive, bespoke software to allow data to be aggregated. This means that we can get the best value and save the public money because we are not limited to using one sign manufacturer,” said Capes.

www.digiadvans.co.uk
www.kommando.co.uk
www.rslweb.co.uk
www.storyuk.com

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