Ambient Advertising-

How long will it survive?

N L Dalmia Institute of Management Studies & Research

Compiled by –

Reema Keswani

Mayank Ghatawat

Index

1. Changing Advertising Scenario

2. Need for Innovative Advertising

3. Ambient Advertising

4. 4 I’s of Ambient Marketing

5. The I-factor of Ambient

Advertising over Out-of-home

6. The perfect ingredient for the marketing mix

7. Return on Investment

8. Sharpening the Differentiation via Ambient Advertising

9. Ambient Advertising in India

10. Challenges for Ambient Advertising

11. Conclusion

Changing Advertising scenario

Today, the effects of media can be observed engulfing the lives of every

person who watches television, reads a newspaper, surfs the Internet or

takes part in a variety of other media influenced activities. These various

forms of media have become standard parts of many people’s lives,

however their affects on our society have been far reaching. Due to the

fragmentation of the media, our society has become more open to

viewing the diversity in our country due to media’s hand at reflecting

various different groups of people.

This just proves that Media has got fragmented, thanks to globalization.

The world has become a global village.

PaperAdvertising

Radio Advertising

Television Advertising

Digital advertising

These are the various ways in which an advertiser can reach out to its

audiences.

Media

Television

GEC

SPORTS

NICHE

NEWS

Print

Newspaper

Brochures & Catalogues

Magazines

Radio

AM

FM

Digital

Mobile

Internet

Bluetooth

Gaming & Pod-Casting

Telemarketing

Call Centers -Inbound

Call Centers -Outbound

Outdoor

Billboards

Public Spaces

Need for Innovative Advertising

The marketing communications arena is

undergoing arguably its greatest period

of change. This is a reflection of factors

such as the media convergence, major

technological innovations, and the

growth of ‘Integrated Marketing

Communication’.

Increased competition in crowded

categories, short term focus in industry

greater focus on accountability, a

decline in media advertising

effectiveness, and the proliferation of

brands has businesses demanding more

effective advertising at lower costs.

Concurrently, perception of increased

ad clutter arising out of the information

technology revolution has led to a decrease in effectiveness of traditional

advertising (print, radio, television, billboards, and transit etc).

An added problem for advertisers relates to targeting ‘jaded audiences’.

In America alone, advertising expenditure is over $160 billion a year,

which buys an average of 1,500 person-exposures every day of which a

fraction are remembered and fewer still in a positive way, placing

estimates of wastage at as much as $40 billion a year. Factors such as

these have seen advertising agencies and clients choosing more ‘radical’

methods of advertising.

Ambient Advertising

Ambient actually comes

from a word called

ambience that means

surroundings. Also

known as Guerrilla

Marketing such

advertisements focus

on the use of an

unconventional media

or tactics, so as to

advertise a brand image on a budget that is low. Ambient advertising

aims at making the Ad-campaign outrageous, funny, creative and so

shocking that it creates a buzz whereby people are not involved with the

message but at the same time do a lot of Word-of-mouth publicity.

Whenever we come across an Ad message at a place where it is least

expected and has no limitations when it comes to shape or size, one can

term it as ambient advertising. It is advertising through an unusual idea

that is highly contextual as well as intrusive in nature. It is a kind of an

outdoor advertising that can be seen at unusual places in a medium that

is not commonly found.

Examples of Ambient advertising include a brand name advertised on the

handles of a supermarket trolleys. For instance, behind the car park

receipts at gas pumps, on elevator walls , telephones, post boxes,

escalator steps vending machines, lifts and even on the toilet seats of

public washrooms. Such advertisements reinforce the message

subliminally along with other exposed messages.

Unusual location is not the only point of difference for Ambient. The

method of execution is often unusual as well. Holographic projections,

role-plays and graffiti are a few examples of this and certainly fit within

the ‘something different’ imperative.

4 I’s of Ambient Advertising

Innovation

The declining power of the traditional media is prompting the advertisers

to use innovative ideas to make their communication effective and

noticeable. In this context, the next big ‘A’ of advertising i.e. ambient

advertising comes into prominence.

The very sight of an ambient Ad will create the “WOW!” factor in the

minds of the recipient. This is generated as an immediate response due

to the unique place and execution of the idea

Intelligence

Advertisers now believe in smart advertisement for smart people. It is

assumed that target audience is intelligent enough to comprehend the

idea and message behind an advertisement. What might first appear as

an absurd idea, suddenly clicks and interests the audience once the

underlying message of the advertisement is understood.

This again engages the audience and leads to a lasting image of the

brand and creates a recall for the product.

Interest

When an innovative Ad resonates with the intelligence of the viewer, it

triggers an interest for the product in the minds of the consumer. This

phenomenon can jointly be attributed to both innovation and intelligence.

Intimation

An Ambient advertisement, more often than not, will not reveal the entire

information about the product or the brand. It withholds certain

information on purpose for the consumer to figure out. It plays a vital

role in creating a first impression about the product among the

consumers, which would lead to inquisitiveness to know more about the

product.

The I-factor of Ambient Advertising over Out-of-home

The key difference of ambient advertising over outdoor lies in its

innovative creation, implementation and execution. Some of the other

advantages that ambient Ads has over conventional media are:

Greater emphasis on tactics such as surprise, humor, creativity and

consequently audience involvement and participation by receiver

reinforces the message.

More engaging than out-of-home and hence less wastage. Unlike

billboards, selective perception in terms of noticing the ads for the

brands you would like to buy and for brands you would like to

ignore, is not applicable because such ads can’t so easily be

selectively overlooked.

Draws upon incomplete image more than out-of-home. The

‘unusualty’ raises level of interest in consumer and hence their

willingness to expend cognitive effort to process message.

Greater importance of reference group, opinion leadership,

resonance with target audience (‘like the ad like the brand’) - ie

Word-of-mouth

The Perfect Ingredient…

Ambient advertising can act as that perfect spice which can complement

any sort of cuisine. This can fill the need for that much required magic

ingredient to accompany every mode of promotion.

Adding a new dimension to Advertising

Advertisers have realised that the traditional media involves huge

expenses, consumed a lot of time to reach the target group and could

only reach a small audience base. These disadvantages of traditional

media are the success factors for the growth of advertising in new media

like Ambient Advertisements.

However, ambient Ads on a standalone basis may not be very effective as

people are very less likely to relate it to their daily life. On the other

hand, if such creative ideas are reinforced with other traditional media, it

can help to leverage the brand image and of course the sales. Thus, a

careful blend of various conventional and unconventional media to

promote a product is the key to success for any Ad campaign.

Hence, ambient advertising will be more effective when used along with

the main campaign, which will help the customer remember the brand

and push the product automatically.

Return on Investment

In this recession time, within the marketing industry, the Ad budgets are

being slashed. Marketers are being held accountable for every rupee

spent and all eyes are on the return on investment. Hence, it is time for

the marketers to focus on measurable and result oriented promotional

techniques that are efficient and cost-effective.

The marketers have to reach out to the customer rather than wait for the

customer to switch on the television set. It is the marketer who needs to

assure that their message occupies the top of the mind awareness slot of

their customers. Thus creating an impact in the minds of the customer

with this constrained budget is a challenging task for the marketer.

Ambient advertising thus fits the bill perfectly as it requires very low

investments. It thus comes as a sigh of relief as the investment is on the

lower side; the impact of it is not so. It creates a lasting impression,

reaches vast audience, creates a buzz and helps in brand recognition and

recall.

Sharpening the Differentiation via Ambient Advertising

Choosing among multiple options is always based on difference, implicit

or explicit. Psychologists point out that vividly differentiated difference

that are anchored to a product can enhance memory because they can be

appreciated intellectually. In other words, if you are advertising a

product you are most likely to give the consumer a reason to choose the

product. And if it can be done in an entertaining manner, it will have the

maximum impact.

Ambient advertising plays the role of entertainment here. For products

which satiate the same need or which do not have anything different to

offer, Ambient advertising can carve a sharp difference in promoting

them and catching eye-balls.

Thus, it can give a sharp differentiating edge to products which are

highly commoditized or fall in the me-too category.

For Example, an FM radio

channel like Red FM,

differentiating itself from the

clutter of other radio

channels is very difficult. Red

FM resorted to Ambient

advertising in a very subtle

way, wherein they advertised

on the BEST bus handles of

Mumbai and just above the

toilet seats at Fame Cinemas.

What created a huge impact in

the BEST bus-handle Ad was its placement, as most of the people are

obsereved to be listening to music while commuting.

Ambient Advertising in India

Advertising in India has come to age in respect of magnitude, intensity &

variety. There has been rapid & continuous change in the market place &

consequently in the practice of advertising. There also has been dramatic

acceleration in the pace & nature of change. This change has been

technology-driven & knowledge-oriented. It has the potential to widen &

deepen access to information & particularly in India, to cut across

socioeconomic lines.

Though in its nascent stage ambient advertisement is having a huge

potential in Indian markets. There is a growing need for advertisers to

come out with more unconventional to market their products.

Example:

SimplyMarry.com

used this

innovative way of

communicating

that they arrange

marriages.

Calcium Sandoz Creatively

used the pillar of a bridge

to depict strong bones.

Challenges for Ambient Advertising

Unusual locations are considered a defining characteristic for Ambient

advertising. However, ‘unusual locations’ lose their point of difference

with repetition and time, and so cease to be something different. This

suggests two things. Firstly, that if ‘unusual locations’ is a part of the

definition of Ambient advertising then, what might be considered

Ambient one day may not be the next, as audiences become familiar with

any given location and the point of difference or ‘unusuality’ fades.

Secondly, and related to the first point, is that Ambient could be seen as

a moveable term and defined by advertising norms of the day.

Defining Ambient on this basis is somewhat arbitrary. What might be

unusual for one person could have been seen dozens of times by another.

Consider the examples of transport advertising (taxis, painted buses),

transport tickets, shopping trolleys, hot air balloons, blimps, sky writing,

digital billboards etc. While these locations are different they are perhaps

no longer unconventional and have encroached on mainstream territory

by virtue of their repetition. Such advertising has attained a degree of

prevalence and although may still be considered unusual, has lost the

‘wow!’ factor – a key descriptor used by those involved in creating

Ambient campaigns.

Conclusion

In the current marketing world, the customers’ surroundings are

cluttered with Ads thereby reducing their impacts on their mind. With

competition on the rise and with the declining power of traditional

media, marketers have to come out with uniqueness not only in product

attributes but also in promoting them. Also, advertising occupies almost

60% of the total marketing expenditure. Thus an Ad campaign using the

minimum budget for its design and for the media selected can ensure a

lot of cost sutting for the company. The budget amount so saved can be

allocated to other marketing activities. Consumers nowadays love

creativity and are also likely to remember those \Ads tht are unique in

some way or the other. An effective combination of an appropriate

advertising message and an appropriate advertising format is a must for

success of ambient Ads. Apart from being highly versatile ambient media

offers targeting precisely the right kind of audience. Advertising industry

is highly dynamic and needs to be driven by creativity, which is given rise

to the most promising ambient media.

Measuring the impact of Ambient Ads is a tough job for the marketers,

since the same cannot be tracked. By analyzing the sales figures and

depending on whether the same is increasing or decreasing, after the

campaign has been set, one can ascertain if an ambient Ad is effective.

The sales response will give an idea as to how well the ambient media

has been successful in catching the sight and attention of the people

coming across it. Brand recognition or recall with the targeted segment

can be another approach to measure the effectiveness.

As mentioned earlier, the effectiveness in terms of catching consumer

attention by traditional media is slowly diminishing due to cluttering

effect. Marketers want their Ads to be seen and retained by the

customer. With the growing concept of placing Ads at uncommon and

weird places, the most challenging job for any organization currently is

to make a strong impact at the first go. Companies are using places that

are commonly visited by target audiences for their Ad campaigns. Small

ideas can create a big impact if used properly. In western countries, this

idea of ambient advertising is being fully exploited as compared to that in

India where this concept is still in the warning up stage. Ambient Ads if

used with other advertising media can enhance the recall value of the

brand and can ensure that the customer stays reminded about the brand.

Ambient advertising has its tremendous potential, which many marketers

still need to focus on. Though successful implementation of an ambient

Ad is a challenging task, but if placed with unusual ideas it can woo the

customers and at the same time help advertisers achieve their purpose of

brand promotion.

As far as the survival of Ambient advertisement is concerned, it will

continue to grow as innovative ideas are generated. A large part of the

advertising resources are still unutilized and if these resources are

correctly identified by the advertiser or the marketer, there is a huge

scope for innovation and improvisation to flourish and tap the global or

Indian market.

Ambient advertising is a perfect blend of creativity and uniqueness.

Hence, Ambient Advertising will survive as long as new ideas keep

coming and innovation survives.