Consumers get creative control on digital posters through new iPhone platform

By Anne Cassidy, campaignlive.co.uk, Friday, 05 June 2009 09:55AM

LONDON - Consumers will be given the chance to control and change the advertising display on digital LCD screens via their iPhones.

New CBS iPhone platform

CBS Outdoor has partnered with Clusta, the digital creative agency, to develop a new advertising platform, launched yesterday, which connects a consumer’s iPhone to the display via WiFi or 3G.

By swiping in either direction on the iPhone’s touchscreen, users can make the object in the digital poster spin to the left or right, and users can also make the display change colour.

Also by using the "pinch" and "stretch" finger gestures on the iPhone, consumers will be able to zoom in or out of the object displayed on the screen.

The platform was showcased at the Media Playground conference and exhibition in London yesterday, and CBS plans to roll it out on LCD screens in Westfield shopping centre, depending on advertiser take-up.

The technology can also be developed for other smart phones and can include SMS interactivity to receive more information about the product.

Russell Townsend, the managing director at Clusta, said: "This revolutionary platform showcases the huge potential that exists for digital outdoor to use emerging technologies to captivate consumers in its unique environments – digital outdoor is an incredibly innovative medium and as an industry we are really just scratching the surface of the weird and wonderful ways it can engage."

Lee Cutter, the head of retail sales at CBS Outdoor, said: "With the flexibility of our digital portfolio in terms of day-part and location-based targeting, we’ve delivered some excellent strategic solutions for our clients."

"The addition of this level of consumer interactivity will be a major additional benefit for advertisers wishing to capitalise on the enhanced responsiveness of consumers at Westfield.

This article was first published on campaignlive.co.uk