Consumers are receptive to the concept of digital posters, according to a new report by lifestyle and environments agency Kinetic Worldwide. The study found a positive response to the idea of an interactive poster, despite the fact that only 30 per cent of people nationally (50 per cent in London) had seen a digital poster in the two weeks prior to the research.
A digital poster is defined as an interactive poster campaign in which the posters are capable of transmitting information to mobile phones.
The survey found that 69 per cent of consumers (75 per cent in London) think digital posters could be beneficial to people in locations where they are waiting to travel or for services, while 40 per cent said interacting with posters would be a good way to pass the time while travelling.
Consumer expectations for the future of advertising were also explored in the survey – almost 20 per cent said they expected digital posters to recognise who they were and 26 per cent expect posters to be able to target them with ads or information relevant to what they were doing at the time. 19 per cent already expect that they will be able to interact with most advertising in the future.
The potential for interactive technology is one of a series of findings in Kinetics report on the future of the medium up to 2020: On the Threshold of Change – The Future of Out of Home Media in the UK. This report is published today.
In terms of content, 20 per cent said they would download content from a newspaper, TV or radio brand, while 28 per cent anticipated accessing travel information via a poster. 
17 per cent said they could imagine accessing film or computer game trailers, while 15 per cent would potentially download apps from poster campaigns.
Consumers also expect device take-up to rocket – 74 per cent of Britons expect most people will carry a smartphone or a tablet computer in the future, while 57 per cent expect in the future theyll be able to access the internet wherever they are outside the home.
James Copley COO, UK at Kinetic Worldwide says: “This study provides an early indication of the long-term potential for out-of-home media to integrate interactive technologies into its offering; a development that has very positive implications for the future of the medium.
“The fact that consumers already clearly see the benefit of interacting with a poster site even though this kind of initiative has not yet been widely deployed, is startling and confirms the power of out-of-home media.”
