Van Wagner Adds Time and Temperature

Thought this little piece in Medaweek was worth a mention...

Van Wagner Communications, the largest operator of billboards in New York, has begun to retrofit most of its boards with stainless steel aprons and digital time and temperature devices.

Dubbed “The Van Wagner Standard,” the retrofit will roll out this summer in the outdoor company’s Boston and Chicago markets, followed by Los Angeles.

“People are creatures of habit. We believe they’ll start to look up to see the time and temperature and enhance viewership for the ad,” said Van Wagner CEO Richard Schaps. Added Steve Ridley, CEO of Kinetic, “It’s a baby step toward interactivity. These are some very simple services people react to. But I don’t know if they’ll be able to monetize it in their rates.”

Retrofitting billboards with time and temperature devices....

It does provide value to consumers. It will likely draw extra eyeballs to VanWagner's billboards. It is a point of difference.

I would love to know what the cost per billboard is for adding these devices. Some number cruncher at Van Wagner probably did a full cost-benefit analysis for this "improvement" to the Company's billboards. I tend to agree with Steve Ridley of Kinetic that unless Van Wagner can prove that digital time and temperature readers massively increase viewer engagement the Company will not be able to monetize it in their rates.

I would like to think that Van Wagner did this to purely benefit consumers. (I always like to be reminded of the time and temperature) But, in the end, Van Wagner probably wouldn't be doing this if it didn't think it would boost its bottom line.