THE SITUATION NOW
Digital advertising billboards are generally considered to create the biggest impact for broadcast advertising. The digital out of home (DOOH) advertising space is presently controlled by the big advertising agencies. However, the platforms that exist are slow and inefficient. It seems that only the big brand names have the money to afford placing the ads, the small advertisers find it difficult and the micro companies almost impossible.
The inefficient nature of the present system is characterised by companies having to telephone or email in order to book their adverts. Once they reach an agent they would need to negotiate where the ad would be displayed, the size of the ad and the cost - a time intensive process even before the ad is deployed. Deployment probably consisting of a worker driving to the digital billboard location in order to load in the new ad. For advertising companies filling the digital advertising space is often hit and miss and sometimes inefficient processes lead to vacant digital billboards.
Paying for ads and receiving invoices also takes time. Onerous booking and delivery processes mean that ads are expensive and often come with minimum term contracts thus pricing out potential customers. In an ever more competitive world time is of the essence and the actual industry response times are costing customers money. Presently, advertising space needs to be booked in advance, sometimes even months in advance. Imagine the difficulties and frustrations for a small company trying to market a product where time is of the essence.
Analytics are extremely important in order to run a successful advertising campaign. At present they are not totally trustworthy, relying on rough estimates as to how many people might have seen a particular advert. Moreover, the analytics are very often supplied after the particular advert campaign has ended meaning that there is less room for re-evaluating an approach while the campaign is on-going and being able to change things on the fly.
HOW BIDOOH WILL REVOLUTIONISE DIGITAL BILLBOARD ADVERTISING
Bidooh brings the world of digital billboard advertising to all. From large advertising agencies to small companies. Even individuals will have access to this space and the capability to rapidly place an ad!
Bidooh's mobile app is super-efficient. From opening the app to clicking 'Publish' takes anything from 60 seconds to a matter of minutes. In-app advert creation software covers all your design issues flexibly and creatively. Then it's a case of choosing your location(s) for the advert and how much you wish to pay. Payment is made through the app there and then. No minimum contract means the user only pays for what they require. It just remains for a member of the Bidooh team to quickly approve your ad before it goes live, instantly streaming to your chosen digital billboard(s).
Advert delivery and analytics are all written to the blockchain and are therefore 100% transparent and auditable. Bidooh's intelligent digital billboards enable facial recognition so advertisers can know how many people have seen their ad, allowing them to target their campaign for maximum impact. Flexible billing options also only charge the advertiser when someone is in front of the screen. Bidooh will also be able to go as far as setting up boxes in stores which will record people who have seen the advert in the street and have entered the store, bought the product and gone to the checkout! Most screens will also be touch-screen enabled so that the advertiser will be able to know how many people have engaged with the advert.
THE FUTURE FOR BIDOOH
Bidooh plans to roll out 1,000 digital billboard screens in the UK. Some of these screens would be situated in 6 shopping centres with whom Bidooh is currently in negotiation. Partners are also installing 2,000 screens across Eastern Europe in the Czech Republic, Bosnia, Poland and Slovakia over the next 18 months. Globally Bidooh is in discussion with potential partners and expects them to join the Bidooh network in the near future.
Besides this growth of screens it must not be overlooked that any screen can now become an advertising screen on the Bidooh network by simply plugging the little Bidooh Box into an HDMI port. Therefore, one can only imagine the future growth of the Bidooh network as existing digital billboard networks transfer across in order to acquire the massive advantages that Bidooh offers.
Bidooh will hold its ICO (initial coin offering) in the latter part of 2018, eventually allowing customers to trade the Bidooh token on exchanges. Further technology deliverables on the roadmap include clothing brand recognition and vehicle recognition (for large format outdoor screens).
Bidooh is disrupting a digital advertising market worth billions and has a solid business idea backed by Michael Edelson, Chairman of Bidooh and Non-exec director of Manchester United football club. Their technology is groundbreaking in the industry and I believe Bidooh will go on to become one of the main players in digital billboard advertising over the next 18 months.