Smart Cities and Out-Of-Home

Posterscope’s Federica Fattorusso examines how our urban environments can connect to the messages we see on the streets.

- Federica Fattorusso

As we enter what is being called the fourth industrial revolution, which sees the increasing connection of people to things through the internet, companies are reviewing and repositioning their offering in order to meet this ever-growing social phenomenon. In 2015, 3 billion people in the world were connected to things through their smartphones. About 50 billion people and things are expected to be connected within the next five years, and even perhaps 1 trillion by 2030. This trend is also inevitably accompanied by a significant migration of people to urban cities, cities that are able to make the most of this connectivity, cities that are efficient and ‘smart’. In a world where it is now possible to get anything any time, anywhere, people are seeking environments where this can be done in the fastest, easiest and most comfortable manner.

What does this mean for brands?

As consumers become accustomed to these environments, they become increasingly more demanding and sophisticated. With so much focus on efficiency in every sphere of everyday life, people are keen to filter and select the information they need in the most optimised manner. They seek content that is relevant to them, and engage only in conversations that bring them personal utility. Brands need to address this; they should be having strategic discussions focused on their geo-based audiences, through the help of data and insight, in order to understand and determine which touchpoints to utilise and how best to speak to their audience, communicating their messages while simultaneously supplying a service for their end consumer. They need to move towards a marketing strategy that is focused on location and connectivity.

So what are the opportunities for out-of-home?