Governments going digital to reach the public

By Ken Klein, EVP of Government Affairs, Outdoor Advertising Association of America

A wide range of government agencies is increasingly using digital out-of-home platforms to communicate with a mobile public.

When people are on the go, digital billboards, digital signage and the range of digital OOH can get the message out and visible in a quick and effiicent manner; here are just some of the notable recent examples:

On Wednesday, Aug. 5, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, partner of the U.S. Department of Justice, activated digital bus shelters and billboards in metro Baltimore and Washington, D.C., focusing on four missing-children cases. 

Photos are vital in locating missing persons, said Michelle Collins of NCMEC.  This digital initiative, led by Clear Channel Outdoor, is expected to expand to Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Chicago.

The FBI and other law enforcement agencies also rely on donated digital OOH.

Last weekend in Memphis, a police officer was shot and killed during a traffic stop. The U.S. Marshals Service activated digital billboards as part of the manhunt; a suspect surrendered on Monday, Aug. 3.

Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong said the fugitive “felt the walls closing in.”

Earlier this year, New York State Police posted photos on digital billboards of two inmates who escaped from an upstate prison.

In July, the FBI activated digital billboards and bus shelters nationwide as part of the effort to locate victims of online “sextortion.”

The National Park Service, founded in August of 1916, is celebrating its centennial. The 100-year hoopla was launched in Times Square in April, with creative displayed on the iconic NASDAQ sign and other digital platforms.

Authorities in Boston are using digital out-of-home to help identify a missing child:

And both the Massachusetts and Maryland state emergency management agencies have partnered with digital billboard companies to keep the public informed in times of crisis:

#tbt@MDMEMA & @CCO_DCBalt partnership! Real-time emergency msgs sent out to 21 digital billboards in MD. -May 2014 pic.twitter.com/inIpG627yp

— MDMEMA (@MDMEMA) July 16, 2015

And last but not least, the Southern California Water Committee is using digital billboards to get its water conservation mascot, Lawn Dude, front and center to encourage Californians to conserve water and showcasing the state's new mandatory drought regulations:

#AirportFail Caught w/my pruning shears going thru security...It's hard to manscape on the go! @jimmyfallonpic.twitter.com/PPGRNZpuiS

— Lawn Dude (@Lawn_Dude) August 4, 2015

He ain tryna get lost in the sauce @Lawn_Dudepic.twitter.com/VjhKTuhsYJ

— yolk (@max_eggleston) August 5, 2015

The OAAA is the trade association representing the out-of-home advertising industry. Founded in 1891, OAAA represents billboard and outdoor advertising concerns and acts as an advocate to protect, unite and advance the interests of the OOH advertising industry. With nearly 800 member companies, OAAA represents more than 90 percent of industry revenues, according to the agency, with a strategic focus on government affairs, marketing, communications, membership and operations.

(Images courtesy of the OAAA.)