NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Last Friday, shoppers in major malls throughout metropolitan New York and Los Angeles will linger longer at food courts. The reason? Large-format, full-motion, multi-format video screens featuring content from Yahoo! and 30 second commercials. The Yahoo! content will include news headlines, sports, entertainment, financial information and the Yahoo! Buzz Index.
The screens, suspended from the ceiling, go live on Friday, November 25th, at shopping malls located in the New York and Los Angeles and metro areas. They are the first in a planned network involving 200 malls in the top 20 markets over the next two and a half years. The network is being installed by the Clear Channel Digital Mall Network, a joint venture of Clear Channel Malls, a division of Clear Channel Outdoor (NYSE:CCO), and Digital Advertising Network, Inc. (DAN Media), a Montreal, Canada-based provider of VPN, large-format, digital screen networks.
The 30-second advertising spots — which can be changed remotely — create a cost-effective way for advertisers to reach consumers in a captive, entertainment environment at the point of purchase. Early applications include promotional campaigns and programming tied to a specific day, week, month or season. Creative for the ads is coming from non-traditional media as well as television and other video campaigns.
"Clear Channel Malls has a long history of constructing and operating a wide variety of shopping center-based advertising platforms that have proven to be a valuable asset to real estate developers and retailers," said Donna Baker, President of Clear Channel Digital Mall Network. "Through our joint venture with DAN Media, we're adding to our portfolio by offering a state-of-the-art advertising platform that is not only effective for advertisers, but also entertaining for mall guests."
Paul Meyer, Global President, Clear Channel Outdoor, said, "The launch of Clear Channel Digital Mall Network comes on the heels of our networked, digital billboard pilot in Cleveland, which was unveiled in July. This joint venture is just another step in our overall strategy to help advertisers maximize new digital technologies to reach increasingly mobile consumers."
"DAN has established a broad footprint across Canada, with a presence in 66 shopping malls, reaching more than 8 million consumers weekly. Entering the U.S. market is a natural next-step for our company and as the leader in the out-of-home industry, Clear Channel Outdoor is the ideal partner," said Warren Stelman, President and Chief Executive Officer, DAN Media.
A popular approach in Canada, utilizing shopping mall food courts provides the longest exposure to a selling message — a full 32 minutes — versus other shopping mall locales, according to Starch Research Services. Additionally, 45% of all people who visit the mall make a food court purchase, resulting in average sale per square foot that are more than 3X higher than all other stores. More than 50% of all shoppers felt they were staying longer because they could break to eat or drink something at the food court, all according to ICSC Research.
Under the joint venture, Clear Channel Malls will own a 51% stake in Clear Channel Digital Mall Network, with DAN Media controlling the remaining 49%. Donna Baker, the President of Clear Channel Malls, will also take on the role of President of Clear Channel Digital Mall Network., which will be based in New York, NY.
