QR codes make out-of-home ads more interactive with new ad format

QR codes have become a standard feature in digital out-of-home advertisements. Brands often incorporate these codes into screen displays to quickly direct consumers who scan the codes with their smartphones to visit a brand’s website or a landing page with information about an initiative or sale. Now, out-of-home (OOH) media company Outfront Media is transforming that traditionally one-way relationship with a new ad format that allows consumers' scans of the QR codes to have an impact on the digital displays themselves. Outfront Media has developed an interactive digital ad format called Quick Response Ads, or QRAD, that expands the ability for people to interact with ads displayed on digital billboards, screens in transit stations or on trains. When consumers scan the QR code featured in a QRAD display, they’re taken to a web page that offers them the opportunity to make real-time changes to the ad and trigger the screen to show a modified version of the display. “We know in a post-COVID world that everyone knows how QR codes work now, and that everybody’s willing to use them,” Chad Shackelford, VP and head of digital creative at Outfront Media, told Ad Age. “Moreso than just sending somebody to their website ... [advertisers] really need to deliver on an experience that sustains [consumers’] engagement but also provides value—not just pummeling them with another message or giving them a chance to buy something.” ANA Masters of Marketing 2022 Updates and analysis from the annual event Read more here The OOH company’s user experience design wing, Outfront XLabs, began developing the QRAD format at the end of 2020, Shackelford said. The concept originated in response to growing interest from advertisers in the interactive capabilities of digital OOH ads, as well as findings from consumer surveys, he said. With the ubiquity of touchscreen kiosks and displays in public areas, people now tend to expect their experience with screens to be interactive. “As a subway rider, I will often see people trying to touch [screens] and scratch their heads” when they can’t interact with the display, he said. Campaigns already in market Outfront Media recently kicked off two campaigns using QRAD technology. Earlier this month, it partnered with the Childhood Domestic Violence Association on its “Change the Ending” campaign, which allows individuals to scan the QR code on a digital screen to transform the displayed message. The displays, designed to look like a child’s drawing, feature statements reflecting the thoughts of child abuse victims, like “I should have stopped it,” which people can switch to the more empowering version of the display; in this case, “It wasn’t my job to have stopped it.” In this way, consumers are able to “choose their own ad journey” and have a real-time interaction with the display, according to an Outfront Media press release. Additionally, Outfront launched an in-house, interactive Halloween-themed quiz—called “The FaBOOlous Creature Quiz”—on digital screens on transit systems in New York, Boston and other select cities. Subway riders can scan a QR code to answer a multiple-choice question on their phones about a mythical creature. After they answer, the correct response will appear on the display along with additional information about the monster. With roughly 30 different creatures included in the quiz, commuters will have an ad experience that differs from ride to ride, Shackelford said. “Every time you come across [these ads], the content will feel fresh and new—and that’s very important to our subway riders,” he said. “It will be something different. It’s not the same three layouts over again.” Digital displays in transit centers and on subways and trains themselves are ideal settings for interactive OOH experiences like QRAD-enabled ads, he added. The inclusion of QR codes enables companies to collect data about the performance of individual ads, such as how many people interacted with a given display and at which locations, Shackelford said. A June survey of 1,000 New York City residents conducted by Outfront Media found that more than two in five subway riders have scanned a QR code included in an ad display on a subway or in a station. In that survey, 93% of respondents said they notice ads on these digital screens, about 10% higher than the number of people who said they paid attention to non-digital ads in transit stations—and much larger than the 60% of respondents who reported noticing non-digital subway or train ads. Ad Age Next: CMO Get your tickets for the Dec. 7 event in New York Register here

QR codes make out-of-home ads more interactive with new ad format

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