Digital vs non-digital advertising in Hong Kong

“Going Green, Recycle and Protect the Earth”, was a message endorsed by the Hong Kong Environmental Department showcased through a banner ad attached on the side of the bus. That is, a form of out-door advertising, often refer to as Out-Of-Home (OOH) advertising.

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers Entertainment & Media Outlook 2012, OOH advertising generated US$7 billion in revenue in North America in 2011 and the Asia Pacific region generated twice as much in the same year.

In more popular cities, such as: Hong Kong, New York, or London, etc. OOH advertising is seemingly ubiquitous.

Traditional or non-digital OOH advertising revolves mainly with street advertising, premier panel, posters, and bus and taxi advertising, just to name a few. These media elements combine with a force of physical presence that digital OOH advertising cannot offer and the creative boundary for traditional OOH advertising is without limits.

For instance, the money booth, the drenaline sensation where the participants can partake on the adventure, relinquish the moment, and share among the others, is truly an innovative experience like no others.

Also as a secondary by-product, it is where the word-of-mouth marketing strategy comes into play. These static properties, as a result, could be much more viral and effective over a long period of time in terms of branding, while digital trailers and previews could be over within the matter of seconds or minutes for promoting seasonal products.

However, due to limited spacing and fiscal budget, these presences may not sustain the driven skew of high advertising demand. Digital OOH advertising imports a large variety of different advertisements on a single panel display, making it more sufficient than traditional OOH advertisement, where it can display only one advertisement at a time.

Digital billboard, for instance, was first introduced before the mark of the millennium. To this day, a significant number of traditional billboards have gradually been converted to digital billboard both in terms of revenue and the aesthetic aspect.

Using motion graphics and effects to attract perspective consumers to purchase their products Studied shows human being are more appealing with movements rather than static imagery, e.g. television and photograph. Over the course of the last decade, digital OOH advertising had expanded to retail chains and transit rides, attacking the waiting period and extra foot traffic, but it does not stop there.

Shopping malls, train stations, and commercial buildings, etc., now consist of multi-touch screen panels for people to fiddle with in order to tailor different individuals to engage advertising on a personal standpoint.

Some airlines are also beginning to engage in the same aspect. It is safe to say that digital OOH advertising is evolving and growing at a much faster pace than traditional OOH advertising services mostly due to its flexibility and adaptability. Not only that, the future for digital OOH advertising goes beyond our wildest imagination.

Billboards will later filter advertisements through different social profile network, such as: Facebook and YouTube, and also through weather condition, real time synchronization and radical context to sculpt each advertisement display within your personal preferences.

Whether there is an advantage doing digital or non-digital OOH advertising, certain gridlocks will always be shared between the two media elements. After all, there will never be a "perfect package" designated for a vendor in advertising, because our most pivotal role is to provide the best knowledge and the most effective strategy on an advertising campaign, and to acknowledge the purpose and objective behind it.

In other words, at the end of the day, how to make effective use of different digital or non-digital OOH advertising mediums to create more interest in a company’s products and services with the viewing public is the most vital consideration for advertisers and media buyers.