http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/12429179p-13151446c.html http://www.fresnobee.com/local/v-printerfriendly/story/12429179p-13151446c.html
[Pix] A device on a billboard at Blackstone and Shaw avenues can detect what FM station is playing on radios in passing cars. The technology helps advertisers tailor their ads to the traffic demographics. Diana Baldrica / The Fresno Bee Device points electronic ear at Fresno motorists By Jeff St. John / The Fresno Bee (Updated Sunday, July 9, 2006, 7:04 AM) Careful the next billboard you pass may be listening. At the intersection of Blackstone and Shaw avenues in Fresno, one can tell what FM station you're tuned to as you drive by. While the technology can't yet hear you singing in the car, it does give advertisers a glimpse of your buying habits. The electronic billboard at the northeast corner of the intersection compiles listening tastes of passing motorists and uses that information to decide which ads to show. In the past four years, Sacramento-based Smart Sign Media LLC has put up about 30 of these signs around the country, including one going up on Highway 99 in Turlock, said Smart Sign President Tom Langeland. By tracking the radio stations, then cross-referencing that data to surveys that link radio listening habits to income, shopping preferences and other demographic information, Smart Sign can offer advertisers a snapshot of what type of consumer is driving by at different times of the day, week or year, Langeland said. His company uses the information to sell ads, and in some cases to decide which ads to show at different times, he said. "Weekends are different than weekdays; night traffic is different than day traffic," he said. "It's that kind of stuff we're figuring out, and it's very interesting." He offered few examples of how radio station data have influenced advertising on the Fresno billboard, but did drop a hint or two: Electronic eavesdropping suggests students are driving past in the afternoons, making it a good time to advertise off-campus housing. Targeted marketing is becoming more popular as a way to match messages with the people most likely to be interested in them. Web sites can track users' shopping preferences and show them tailored ads. Specialized cable television channels allow advertisers to target specialized audiences, and television trend trackers like A.C. Nielsen are beefing up technology to link demographic data to viewing habits. "As the market becomes more fragmented, you'll have all kinds of ideas coming out" for helping advertisers reach consumers, said John Ostlund, president of Jeffrey/Scott Advertising in Fresno. Of course, when it comes to radio listening habits, advertisers have long had access to such data for cities and even ZIP codes through services like Arbitron, Ostlund said. But the extremely localized information that Smart Sign's radio-scanning technology can offer could be valuable to advertisers, he said. "It may demonstrate that there are different areas of the region that have different kinds of consumers," he said. For example, "If you did that research on the corner of Blackstone and Shaw, it might be very different at the corner of Kings Canyon [Road] and Clovis Avenue." Similar concepts are being tested around the country. MobilTrak Inc., a Phoenix-based company, has tested a similar technology in the Washington, D.C., area, and the company's Web site posts a glowing account of how it can "provide definitive listenership data in geographic subsections for specific dayparts," quoting industry analyst David Bank of RBC Capital Markets. Christina Campriello, a media buyer for advertising agency Janzen Idea Corp. in Fresno, agreed the more specific data could be useful, particularly for companies advertising on their own. "If [Smart Sign Media] has some sort of data that says 10 hours out of the day I have listeners from age 18 to 24, I could see some value in that," she said. Smart Sign doesn't own the billboard at Shaw and Blackstone, which has been up about a year, though it does manage its radio tracking system on behalf of its Los Angeles-based owner, Langeland said. The signs cost between $250,000 to $1 million each, depending on their size, he said. Ads on the billboard change every 10 seconds, and it costs $1,000 per month to buy 10 of those 10-second spots per hour, he said. On a recent afternoon, advertisers included Chukchansi Gold Casino, a cell phone store, an apartment complex and a mortgage broker, as well as ads by Smart Sign seeking more advertisers. In the Central Valley, casinos and auto dealers make up the bulk of customers for Smart Sign, Langeland said. "We've found that auto dealers who use these signs tend to sell 15 to 20 more cars per month," he said. Smart Sign's technology can't track AM stations or satellite radio stations that passing cars are tuned to, Langeland said. Another limitation is that the technology can't record anything about the people driving past the sign, only what radio stations they're listening to something that should put the minds of privacy advocates at ease, he said. "We don't know anything about the person in the car. We just know what they're listening to. It's like an anonymous survey," he said. Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse in San Diego, agreed this description of Smart Sign's technology didn't concern her. "It doesn't involve personally identifiable information," she said. "It doesn't involve a unique billboard ad flashed just for the benefit of one driver." That kind of uniquely targeted advertising still dwells in the realm of science fiction, she said but various efforts are under way to target ads to individuals. One company Givens knows of is testing shopping cart-mounted video screens that target ads to customers based on their supermarket reward cards' record of previous purchases. The fact that shoppers must agree to be part of the program makes it less of a privacy concern for her, she said. At least for now, that kind of personally trackable information is beyond Smart Sign's reach, Langeland said. "I don't even know if you have a red car" or a blue car, he said. "All I know is that you have a radio in your car." The reporter can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or (559) 441-6637. Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
