Exterion Media, formerly CBS Outdoor International, is set to launch its own summer blockbuster with a new digital signage ad platform coming to the London Underground.
Exterion recently announced the opening of an interactive “Innovation Centre” to showcase its new DX3 — for Digital Cross-Track 3 — cross-track advertising solution for the London Underground, set to launch in summer 2015. Powered by technology developed by NEC Display Solutions, DX3 is designed to give advertisers a platform to connect with young, affluent and tech-savvy urbanites, according to Exterion. The technology is intended to deliver an engaging visual experience for consumers, the company said, enabling advertisers to showcase a wide variety of high quality, immersive content that “informs, entertains and captivates” audiences travelling on the London Underground rail network.
In other words, people who are well-off enough to live in London but still young enough to need or want to take the Tube will be a captive audience for these new screens that will be delivering video content in places where it’s not entirely unusual to lose a phone signal, underground train stations.
According to the company website, DX3 is an “exciting” launch for the company. “DOOH is now responsible for a quarter of all UK out-of-home advertising spend, and the technology and insights that power this medium are advancing all the time,” said Jason Cotterrell, managing director of Exterion Media. “Our next-generation DX3 screens signify a new chapter for DOOH, enabling targeted advertising and engaging content across the London Underground network. This launch sets our product development and innovation agenda for 2015 and beyond.”
Total inventory of U.K. DOOH sites is set to grow more than 40 percent between now and 2020, according to Kinetic Worldwide. With annual OOH ad revenues soaring past £1 billion for the first time, DX3 is intended to offer advertisers flexibility both when it comes to content and time slots and strategic site locations informed by route data to ensure the largest audiences.
According to Exterion Media, its new DX3 screens will feature 11-square-meter displays showing projections moving from 3,500 lumens to 11,000 lumens to ensure consistency of image across the network; a 50-percent increase in screen resolution for improved clarity and sharpness of images in the Tube environment; and media players that will offer live feeds and the ability to stream video content and daily features.
Transport for London Director of Commercial Development Graeme Craig said the Underground operators are “delighted to be working with Exterion Media and NEC Display Solutions to continue to drive innovation on the London Underground. We are looking forward to discovering how DX3 can be used by creative organizations to engage and entertain our customers.”
Exterion Media’s purpose-built Innovation Centre opens in Bermondsey on April 20, and is intended to give advertisers, creative agencies, partners and suppliers the chance to experience the new technology firsthand. Digital SignageToday