These days, there are already numerous types of Mass Media. This includes Audio recording and reproduction (records, tapes, cassettes, cartridges, CDs), Broadcasting Media (Radio, Television, Cable) Film (Cinema, DVDs), Digital Media (the Internet, Mobile Phones, Satellite), Publishing or the Print Media (Books, Newspapers, Magazines) and Video games.

The Audio recording and reproduction pertains to the various music and sound media. Back in the day, there are only basic kinds of audio equipments such as microphones, recording devices and loudspeakers. Then, it was followed by tape recorders, and the legendary vinyl LP record. The invention of compact cassettes as well as music cassettes paved the way to the groundbreaking and innovative form of music entertainment which is still used in this day and age by numerous music aficionados worldwide. Next, it was followed by Sony’s Walkman which further advanced the degree of music entertainment spread. The invention of digital recording and compacts disc (CD) produces exceptional quality of sound reproduction. The most recent developments have been the digital audio/music players such as the MP3 player and Apple’s i-Pod. Which allows you to download songs of your favorite artist/s in the Internet in a digital music format and subsequently upload it to your digital music player.

Broadcasting Media includes Radio, Television and Cable as modes of spreading out information to the mainstream. For many decades now, Radio and Television becomes a firm tool of communication and advertising. The constant development of mass media produced Cable TV though to a limited audience only mostly in cosmopolitan homes.

Radio and Television delivers up-to-the-minute news programs and updates, commentaries and various entertainment shows such as music, talks, variety, and the like. While Cable TV is capable of showing soaps, movies, documentaries, sports, lifestyle, cartoons, videos and extra stuff that can entertain the viewers.

Film depicts, presents and demonstrates stories or tales of human emotions, lifestyle and exploits. Film is also called motion pictures (or just pictures and “picture”), the silver screen, the cinema, flicks and most commonly movies.

Internet is a powerful type of Mass Media. The world is now a global village because of the internet. You can now obtain countless up-to-date information and services worldwide and you can send up-to-the-minute messages in just a split second through electronic mail (e-mail), online chat, and browsing to loads of web pages and other documents.

Mobile phones are by now a global trend. Often called the seventh Mass Media.

Publishing or the Print Media is mundane to us for centuries now. It encompasses books, pamphlets, newspapers, magazines.

Video games are the favorite pastime of people nowadays, young and old alike. Actually, there are various types of games: the Computer game or the PC game which is played on a personal computer, the Console game which is played with the use of a device and a standard television set, Arcade game which is usually played in establishments such as in Internet Cafes, Gaming Centers, and the like where pay to play or play per use is carried out. And the Video game which is can also be played in mobile phone, PDAs, and advanced calculators.

Those were the different types of Mass Media in this 21st century, the global generation era where digital globalization is taking place perpetually, and the forms of Mass Media is increasingly widespread and expectantly procreating.

The term Out Of Home advertising is commonly referred to as OOH, this is any type of advertising medium that reaches a consumer while they are out of their home.  This is not broadcasting or print marketing which targets the consumer at home.

This is why OOH is popular, as it targets consumers while they are on the go, going to train station, airport, ferry terminal, cinema and even petrol stations.

One of the main advertising mediums in the USA is bill board advertising, if you have ever been to Times Square in New York, you will know what I mean! 1 40 story office building makes more money renting out the building exterior for adverts, than it would if the office were fully occupied.

With the cost of digital displays becoming more affordable and the advancement of digital signage, this is why LCD TVs are being used to send marketing messages to potential buyers in outdoor environments. 

A digital signage network can be set up covering entire countries, for example the head office could be in New York, with branches in Europe and Asia, the marketing message in the form of content media, can then be sent to all digital displays throughout the global network remotely and even scheduled to upload the new media at a particular time and reboot the system for when the store opens at the local time.

This makes the marketing budget go much further than before and the relative low costs, enables small businesses to use digital signage to increase their sales.

All you need for an outdoor digital signage solution is an LCD or Plasma display, a computer, media content (digital media content creation software this can be found free on the Internet) and an outdoor LCD enclosure. This can be achieved for as little as $700, but the financial rewards are worth it.

Since beginning this column last fall, I’ve attempted to point to trends, analysis and reports that gauge the development of digital signage and identify the strengths and opportunities for this emerging medium.

I’m not alone on this mission. An excellent white paper from Profitable Channels makes a strong case for digital signage networks as an effective advertising medium with the ability to compensate for deficiencies in television advertising manifested in increasingly fragmented audiences, digital video recording and its accompanying commercial “zapping,” and the lack of certainty in measuring audience metrics.

The white paper presents highlights of a larger in-depth report entitled “Adding Out-of-Home Digital Advertising Networks to the Marketing and Media Mix” by Profitable Channels partner Stephen Diorio.

The white paper makes a strong case that marketers should take digital advertising seriously. It’s in the best interest of their companies, the white paper contends, to “make sure their agency partners are considering” digital advertising networks “as part of the marketing/media mix.” Additionally, it recommends marketers should be setting aside a portion of their marketing budgets for this emerging new medium.

According to the white paper, emerging digital advertising networks offer five advantages over traditional media offerings, including:

• measurable sales impact

• proximity to the sale

• better ways to target media

• greater relevance to the product being sold

• tighter integration with local selling efforts

Many marketers have begun to recognize those benefits. The white paper points out that as of August 2006, 37 of the 50 largest supermarket chains “are rolling out, piloting or planning” for in-store digital signage networks and that more than 4,000 “big-box retail stores” display in-store video advertising. Further evidence supporting that marketers see the value of digital ad networks comes in the form of budget allocation.

Referencing research from Veronis Suhler Stevenson, Carat Media and others, the document asserts that by 2011 “up to $40 billion of traditional media spending” will be shifted into new media. Obviously, a large portion of this will be devoted to Internet advertising and other new media, but digital advertising networks stand to benefit as well.

“This reallocation of media spending reflects a shift in consumer “attention” away from traditional newspaper and broadcast media to the Internet and new digital media, including cell phones, video games, podcasting, and out-of-home digital advertising networks,” the white paper says.

It is important to note that the report lumps “cinema” into the overall digital media networks category without distinguishing between commercials and still ads projected on-screen by digital projectors and digital signage in and around motion picture theaters to promote films. Equally important to understand is that the former is likely to be significantly larger than the latter at this point. Regardless, the white paper identifies the overall strength of digital advertising networks, of which digital signage is an important part, and the likelihood that they will only continue to grow.

Perhaps best of all, the white paper identifies five separate research organizations that have found consumers like digital advertising networks. All show these networks have “value to, acceptance by and positive response from consumers.”

If you only have time to read one report this summer, spend it reading “Adding Out-of-Home Digital Advertising Networks to the Marketing and Media Mix” by Stephen Diorio.