Emergence and Convergence Going In To 2012

As the new year begins, the rVue cafe is buzzing with chatter about the many great advertising and technology trends we saw last year and what we can expect as we move forward in 2012. Some topics are new, some are old and some are just on the brink of becoming mainstream.

There have been four big trends in advertising technology and digital out-of-home that we talked alot about last year and we only expect the conversation to grow about each in 2012.

Mobile Payments + Interactivity – Mobile payment technology and consumer engagement via smartphones are just beginning to scratch the surface. We really started seeing the possibilities of mobile technologies blossom mid-way through 2011 with the announcements of the likes of Google and Visa entering the mobile payment market. For advertisers on digital out-of-home, there lies a lot of opportunity to not only engage consumers but to initiate purchase transactions directly from digital screens to smartphones. Adoption of using mobile payments still needs to gain mainstream momentum but we expect acceptance to really begin to pick up this year. By 2015, the value of mobile money transactions is expected to reach a whopping $670 billion.

Which leads us to our next office hot topic…

QR codes – We talked about QR codes a lot throughout last year and we can only expect the popularity of the codes to continue to rise through 2012. QR codes can be used for many different purposes from sending contact information, loading websites and even to purchase products directly from a smartphone. With the many uses available for QR codes, advertisers are rapidly adding them to campaigns. We see them in just about every type of media these days, including digital out-of-home. To learn more about QR codes and how to use them, check out our video series, "QR Educate".

Analytics - The last, and most buzzed about topic in the rVue cafe is all about data and analytics. Over the years, rVue has developed innovation around analytics to ease the burden for our network partners and to build advertisers confidence; and that commitment remains steadfast. Quality and reliable data is a vital component that digital out-of-home media needs to succeed. Advertisers want the ability to optimize a campaign based on its success and receive reporting while a campaign is running, as they would in any other media.  Networks need to easily verify their proof-of-play to streamline invoicing and the payment process. Look for continued announcements around data throughout the year as this will be a hot topic for rVue.

SoLoMo (Social Local Mobile) - Local and hyper-local targeting will continue to grow and engage consumers. Advertisements will begin to get more personal with consumers as targeting and interaction capabilities become more sophisticated.

We’re veryy excited to enter 2012 with momentum. We believe the new technological trends that lie ahead will further acclerate the adoption of digital out-of-home media.