Media Life Magazine Highlights Point-Of-Care Media
By Diego Vasquez
Nov 14, 2011
Here’s a way to reach folks with targeted advertising:
Advertisers love a captive audience. With their long dwell time, doctor’s offices offer one of the most captive audiences available in out-of-home advertising.
Patients often wait 20 to 25 minutes to see a physician, and advertisers, particularly in the pharmaceutical and health food categories, see it as an opportunity to reach people with their health on their mind.
Posters and pamphlets have long been popular vehicles for waiting room advertising, but increasingly advertisers are using digital options, mainly LCD screens that air a mixture of health-related video content and advertising.
To find out how to get your client in waiting rooms, read on.
This is one in a Media Life series on buying out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.
Fast Facts…
What
Advertising in medical waiting rooms.
Who
There are a small number of companies that specialize in waiting room advertising, some in the offices of general practitioners and others in more specialized settings such as dental offices or diabetes clinics.
How it works
Digital video advertising networks are now common in medical waiting rooms, where their messages are delivered on a 32-inch LCD screen. The networks run a 25- to 30-minute loop that’s typically 70 percent editorial content and 30 percent advertising.
There’s also a small amount of time reserved for messages and information from the clinic or office itself.
Some networks use licensed content from TV networks such as CNN or NBC, while others create original health-related content. Physicians demand credible sources for all the material, because they do not want to feed their patients incorrect information. Offices often check content for accuracy.
Advertisers can sponsor segments but they’re rarely integrated into the content. Rather a relevant brand will follow a segment with a 15-, 30- or 60-second spot detailing the benefits of their product.
For example, a segment on diabetes might be followed by a spot for a brand of insulin, or a piece on dietary fiber could be followed by an ad for a fiber-rich cereal.
Non-digital options for medical waiting rooms such as posters or pamphlets are also available, but those are becoming less common. Usually they’re used as a complement to digital ads in the waiting room and sometimes are available in the exam room.