The next big thing in DOOH? - It's ECHO

We live in a technologically progressive world, and not even Trump can stop that – thankfully. With new tech constantly being developed it’s interesting to see what can have applications for advertising, Lightvert a UK media tech company thinks it has the next big thing in DOOH (Digital Out Of Home advertising)! Bold claims, but will it live up?

It’s called ECHO.

ECHO allows a client to project a digital image against the sky from the side of buildings, without the need for a billboard. The images are ephemeral – you will only be able to see them for ¼ of a second, as the light hits your retina at the right angle – using persistence of vision technology (PoV). Even though the images are seen for a fraction of a second, they are registered on a conscious level and therefore are not constituted as subliminal advertising (first hurdle passed). Lightvert boasts that images could be seen from as far as 1000 metres away!!! Jeez. If all goes according to plan, we will first see ECHO hit the ‘street’ (sky) within the next 12 months.

What we think…

The initial impact could be huge! Creating a new advertising medium to disrupt the norm, it could be like a black Friday stampede with brands clamouring over each other to get a piece of the action. Now don’t get me wrong, Billboards are still an effective tool! But, because they’re everywhere, we’re less consciously aware of them as we walk down the street. So when consumers first see ECHO pop up in the London skyline there will be a mass amount of coverage, with images popping up left, right and centre on social media. But, could it get to the stage where we are inundated with ECHO imagery, giving every corner of central London a Time Square-esque feel? And would this create more harm to a brand than good? All in all, we think ECHO has a place in the market, it could be a very effective tool for brands to promote and tease upcoming events and products i.e the release date for Game of Thrones season 8 (we don’t think melting another block of ice would go down so well).

Can Echo Be Effective?

It could also prove quite useful for reactive marketing, with the distance they claim imagery can be viewed from, one message atop The Shard will be viewable for the whole of Southbank and beyond. Here at Don’t Panic, we like to tell you stories, powerful stories that elicit an emotional response, hopefully captivating you the audience, compelling you to share them and that resonate with you for a long time to come. And while our primary tool is video, we could see ECHO as becoming a good supporting asset for campaigns. We’ve used various OOH (Out Of Home) tools for our previous campaigns, i.e our NAS (National Autistic Society) campaign #AutismTMI we used Billboards to support our primary content. Going forward we could repurpose the creative for future campaigns to incorporate this technology, adding to our arsenal of ways to reach our audience. So, what do you think, could this be the future of advertising?