At a time when digital media is one of the fastest growing advertising mediums in Australia, Panasonic has teamed up with digital media company, Outpost Media, to deliver the latest in digital signage solutions – big screen plasma panels – to shopping centres nationwide.

In 2006, Outpost Media launched its Outpost TV network through 135 plasma display panels across 13 shopping centres in Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales. Since then, this number has increased to 400 Panasonic plasmas in over 30 shopping centres.

The panels installed include high definition 50- and 65-inch screens, which besides offering the detail and clarity provided by HD, are designed to withstand the heavy usage of the retail environment.

The screens are used for moving digital advertising, as well as communicating news headlines, weather forecasts and coming attractions and, according to Outpost Media CEO Anthony Deeble, are strategically placed to maximise traffic flow and capture shoppers at the longest dwell times.

“The beauty of digital advertising in locations like shopping malls is that we can target different content for different audiences and, because the advertisements are centrally controlled, we can target the messages depending on the time of day and the location,” he said.

“Additionally, it’s not as disruptive as other forms of advertising because shoppers are generally in high spirits and can look at their own leisure.”

According to Deeble, research has shown that full motion images and well placed screens are much more effective in getting consumers attention than static images.

“It’s a multimillion dollar advertising format, undergoing significant growth, and we’ve had great feedback from our partners and advertisers. With Outpost TV, advertisers’ commercials appear 210 times on each screen per day,” he said.

Outpost’s back-end infrastructure has been updated to full high definition and Deeble says the Panasonic screens are the best fit for the Outpost TV network, as research has shown that shoppers are more responsive to bigger, higher quality screens.