Appealing messages at main station

Ströer Group has started operating 20 Out-of-Home Channels at Cologne's main train station. These digital screens are part of the new, nationwide moving image network of Ströer representing a real innovation in outdoor advertising. The company plans to install up to 1,000 screens at the 200 most frequented train stations throughout Germany by the end of 2011, and these new screens will support synchronized advertising throughout the entire country and facilitate regionally coordinated advertising campaigns. The screens have received the "red dot design award", the internationally recognized seal for outstanding design, and they will display the latest news, cultural tips as well as advertising. In a second step further 24 screens will be installed at Cologne's main station.

"The Out-of-Home Channel brings new, state-of-the-art technology to train stations," says Steffan Glasnek, station manager in Aachen for Germany's national rail network, Deutsche Bahn. "The combination of up-to-date information and impressive presentation makes these screens an additional new facility for our travelers and visitors."

The screens are located in the middle of the densest footfall locations, as train stations have long since transformed themselves into premium sites with a wide range of shopping opportunities. They are appealing places for millions of people, and they are located in the heart of major cities. Cologne's main station sees over 280,000 visitors and travelers every day. Not only Deutsche Bahn has recognized the opportunity and invested in the expansion and refitting of its train stations, also Ströer Group has tapped the possibilities deriving from these developments. Since 2005, Ströer has controlled the marketing rights for advertising at Deutsche Bahn's train stations and throughout most of the country's subway systems. This means that the company has created the conditions for writing the next chapter in the history of moving-image advertising, and invests a double-digit million-Euro sum in expanding the digital Out-of-Home Channel.

Udo Müller, CEO of Ströer Out-of-Home Media AG, says, "I am delighted that our joint project with Deutsche Bahn has enabled us to realize this innovative new product also in Cologne. Advertisements on these big screens exploit the emotional nature of moving images and also enjoy a wide reach. We have now stepped up our digitalization efforts further by acquiring ECE flatmedia, that operates moving-image advertising at large shopping malls throughout Germany. After this acquisition, we now offer access to some 25 percent of the moving image market."

Media agency MediaCom and Luxembourg University have conducted a study, which revealed that when travelers see advertising, it has an outstanding positive impression, and they pay a lot of attention to the messages it contains. In this way, a survey of stations registered an increase in people's advertising recall of more than 15 percentage points. The study concludes that products advertised in train stations have a higher preference than products that are not advertised there.

Yesterday, Ströer Group announced that it has expanded its digital outdoor advertising portfolio by the segment of shopping malls. With the acquisition of Hamburg-based company ECE flatmedia GmbH, a subsidiary of ECE and leading provider of digital brand communication and sales promotion at shopping malls, Ströer strengthens its engagement in the moving image market, previously dominated by TV and internet providers alone. The service offering of the S-Dax-listed company from Cologne now comprises digital moving images at Germany's 200 largest train stations, throughout subways and suburban trains, at airports, and now at the shopping malls in the country.