Had enough elevator music？ Make way for elevator advertising; and, for that matter, advert

A growing number of marketers are using digital technology to push their advertising messages on high-definition video screens in venues where consumers gather.

One pundit has dubbed the growing business of reaching consumers when they're outside of the home as the "outernet". These advertising networks typically blend commercial messages with news, sports, and weather feeds supplied by major media companies. The flurry of out-of-home advertising is spreading to convenience stores, grocery store checkout counters and elevators in office buildings.

The outernet industry is pitching itself to advertisers that are frustrated with the high cost of traditional media and the never-ending search for advertising outlets that work.

"It's a very chaotic advertising market right how, and that chaos tends to work for us," said Charlie Nooney, chief executive of San Francisco-based Premier Retail Networks Inc, which sends advertising into shops operated by Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Best Buy Inc.

Wireless technology can push advertising "anywhere you want, in trains or in cable cars at ski resorts," said Nancy Jackson, a vice president with Westford, Massachusetts-based Captivate Network Inc in the US.

The screen ads account for a tiny sliver of the US＄5.3 billion outdoor advertising industry. But as the cost of digital technology drops, screens that show television-like commercials are expected to make inroads in the category.

The industry operates on a simple principle: Find out where consumers are gathering and put a screen in their faces. Industry players want your free time, whether it's a 20-second elevator ride at work or a two-minute wait to pay for your groceries. Messages are tailored to fit into the available window; some of the advertising pitches run 10 seconds or less.

"If you are standing in line waiting for a Big Mac and fries, you've got nothing else to do," said Tracy Crocker, president of Next Generation Network, which is installing advertising screens in 7-Elevens. "And you're going to remember those commercials more than the ones you see sitting around at home watching your favourite TV show because there are no distractions."

Although the sector often is lumped in with billboards and other out-of-home advertising options, industry players say their screens are a close cousin of cable television because the systems promise to deliver specific demographics rather than the broad audience a well-placed billboard attracts.

Captivate Network, for example, focuses on elevators and lobbies of high-rise office buildings that are home to high income executives.

Technology advances that continue to cut the costs of installing screens and transmit ting content and advertising are at the core of the new advertising medium. Captivate Network uses wireless local-area networks in elevator shafts to send content and advertising onto flat-panel screens mounted in elevators. In the late 1990s, the system required complicated wiring for each car, an expensive and time-consuming process.

The new technologies remove barriers that have kept advertisers from reaching, say, commuter train passengers, said Captivate Network executive Jackson.

Initial market research suggests that consumers are more apt to see the electronic displays than traditional, static advertising. Premier Retail Networks last year unveiled a Nielsen Media Research study suggesting that customer recall for outernet advertising shown on screens inside Wal-Mart locations surpasses rate for similar advertising shown on television.

Which of the following about the outer net is NOT true？

A．It refers to such outdoor advertising as elevator advertising and billboards.

B．It is now less expensive and time-consuming than the traditional media.

C．It benefits a lot from technology advances.

D．It will become more and more popular as an advertising outlet.