If all the world’s a stage, then everything’s a content channel. And with brands (literally) hiding messages in nooks and crannies, it was only a matter of time before content started doing the same.
Everyone’s getting into the game: QSRs and retailers, like Tim Hortons and Sport Chek, are launching in-store TV networks. And then there’s Mexican newspaper Más Por Más, which rigged a towel dispenser in a mall bathroom to spit out news updates in real time.
So it’s time to stake a claim in the next content channel before you’re beaten to the punch. Here’s a couple suggestions of places just waiting to house the next hit.
On the water: People love sitting by waterfronts and they love “Shark Week” and Jaws. In 2012, Nissan created a holographic car show on a lake. So why not project an image on the water’s surface? Yes, it will be dependent on calm waves, but it could be a perfect place for swimsuit lines to advertise their wares or display water-themed TV shows. Suggestions for a new show: Real Housewives of Nova Scotia Fishermen.
Public restrooms: People out and about tend to have one thing in common: they visit the bathroom. May we suggest small TVs in stalls that stream pre-selected YouTube content (use of potty humour is optional), with unskippable pre-roll ads interspersed? The stalls can have low-level speakers to make for a complete surround-sound experience. The only risk: longer lines for the ladies’ room.
The dentist’s chair: Already popular in several posh dentist offices, personal screens could show a feel-good movie (Tooth Fairy perhaps. Or maybe a loop of funny post-dentist videos, à la “David After Dentist”) allowing patients to escape for a few hours (with the added benefit that the dentist won’t ask them to speak). Just avoid anything scary that would make a patient jump out of his or her seat.