Lamar Advertising provides GM with Innovative Digital Billboards using Canon and Milestone IP Video integrated with Worknet Analytics
The Challenge
General Motors (GM) was seeking a new way to reach potential buyers and
highlight the key features of its new Chevy Malibu. To find a solution, GM
worked with Posterscope USA Out-of-Home Specialist and Lamar Advertising,
one of the largest outdoor advertising companies in North America. With more
than 325,000 displays—2,400 of them large format digital billboards—Lamar is
constantly looking for new ways for clients like GM to amplify their campaigns.
Lamar Advertising wanted to create a campaign for GM that maximized the
flexibility and creativity that digital billboards provide. Lamar’s Director of
Digital Innovation and Sales Strategy, Ian Dallimore, was inspired by a campaign
for Porsche in Australia. It utilized open platform video technology to identify
incoming vehicles and trigger targeted content to those vehicles within seconds.
The Solution
To create the solution, Dallimore worked with Worknet Analytics, the video
analytics integrator that created the solution used for the Porsche campaign in
Australia, as well as a similar campaign for Lexus in New Zealand. The solution
includes Canon VB-H43 network cameras mounted on another Lamar billboard
about 1,000 feet ahead of the digital billboard. This allows enough time for the
data to be transmitted, a new targeted image to be delivered and time for the
driver to look, read and pass it.
The cameras feed into Milestone XProtect Corporate video management
software (VMS), which has an open platform that enables interoperability with
other systems. Worknet Analytics’ solution integrates the VMS with proprietary
analytics for car recognition that matches vehicles against a database of those
with the same make and model.
Advantages
The custom-built solution immediately recognizes the target audience based
on their vehicles and delivers custom billboard advertisements accordingly. The
Canon network cameras can be remotely operated and provide high-resolution
images of the cars. The Milestone VMS is able to manage different video data
streams and resolutions without delays or technical difficulties, ensuring
targeted messages are viewable on the digital billboards when the intended
audience drives by.
Worknet Company Profile
With offices in Treasure Island, Florida, Melbourne, Australia, and Copenhagen,
Denmark, Worknet is a global provider of video analytic solutions for the
transport, automotive, traffic engineering and survey industries.
The company’s primary focus is to provide unique video analytic solutions
outside of the security and surveillance market. Worknet’s multi-patent-
pending Road Exchange Analyzer software, for example, is the first application
available to accurately gather vehicle intersection turning movement data.
Currently with 10 employees and growing, Worknet is well positioned to
contribute to the fast-paced, $285 billion video analytics market. Worknet also
provides data center hosting and management services for their customers.
Solution Gets National Recognition
The Chevy Malibu campaign was the first of its kind in the United States and was
rolled out to a total of six billboards in New Jersey, Chicago and Dallas. Dallimore
has worked for Lamar for 11 years and says he’s never before seen so much
excitement and attention around a campaign.
“The client was ecstatic with the results and the amount of press they got,”
Dallimore said. “The story was on the front page of the Chicago Tribune, which
in itself was worth the entire campaign.”
The campaign ran for three months and Dallimore says they’ve received
requests from numerous automotive companies and dealerships interested in
using the technology for a campaign of their own.
“In our medium it’s usually just mass media, but this solution enables us to
actually have a one-on-one conversation with very specific people,” Dallimore
said. “It’s really neat to be able to call out our target audience.”
Excellent Support and Product Impresses Partner
President of Worknet Analytics Michael Maziarka designed and implemented
the Milestone-based solution. He is extremely happy with both the VMS and the
amount of support he’s received from Milestone.
“Given that we are a start-up and very entrepreneurial, we could not be happier
with the support we’ve received from Milestone,” Maziarka said. “The dialogue,
communication and feedback has all helped create a great relationship.”
Maziarka could not be more pleased with the Milestone VMS, its performance
and open platform architecture that enables integration with other
technologies to make up the digital billboard solution.
“There are so many moving parts to this technology, so when we find
something that is solid and doesn’t give us any problems, we are really thrilled
— and Milestone is one of those products,” Maziarka said. “It incorporates nicely
into our software, which has some IBM code. It’s one of those things we are
extremely pleased with and happy we found.”
Unique Application Requires Many Considerations
The advertising industry is not generally accustomed to using so much
integrated technology, which made the Chevy campaign possible.
Maziarka says that there are several elements that come into play for success,
including the angle of the camera in relation to the road, speed of vehicles and
lighting. Because conditions vary at each location, multiple images of targeted
brands and models are gathered from every camera. The images are used to
create a database, which is then used to identify targeted cars as they pass by
the cameras. The system identifies vehicles based on just the front 25 percent of
the vehicle.
“We use that information the same way you would use facial recognition
technology, using a database we created based on the perspective of each
camera,” Maziarka said.
Camera placement is also a key element to making the campaign possible.
Considering laws that limit the amount of time that must pass before billboard
images can be changed and the time it takes for a targeted driver to reach