Dining & Entertainment
Targeting consumers while they're at bars, clubs, restaurants and other places people gather to have fun is another very effective way to advance a brand's message. For example, the TouchTunes Interactive Network has more than 30,000 interactive touch screen music and entertainment systems in bars, clubs and restaurants across the country.

Interactive advertising that runs on the TouchTunes Interactive Network creates a connection with its audience while they browse for and play their favorite songs.  TouchTunes combines compelling entertainment in social, fun and exciting locations with interactive advertising that reaches the right people at the right time: when they're most receptive to the right brand message. The company's patented touch screens encourage users to participate with brand messaging, such as that of ABSOLUT PEARS Vodka, through a variety of promotional elements such as banners, full screen billboards, quizzes, surveys and flash movies.  This is "pull" and "push" at its best: messages are delivered through a balanced and engaging mix of entertainment and marketing.

Additional segments
Some companies in the interactive OOH space defy easy categorization. Monster Media is one such example. Their flagship interactive solution, MonsterVision, which has been used by companies such as Lexus, Orbitz and HBO, allows people to directly interact with large ads projected in high traffic areas in a variety of public places using only their body movements. These projections can be controlled remotely, giving sponsors the ability to modify ads depending on a number of factors such as the location and time of day. The scale and interactivity of the ads allow audiences to immerse themselves in the brand’s message.

Hypertag, a leading provider of proximity services, allows consumers to download location-relevant information and digital content -- such as games, music, vouchers and event prompts -- directly to their mobile devices from OOH advertising units using Bluetooth and infra-red technology. Hypertags attached to the ads detect phones either by proximity or user opt-in and allow advertisers to extend their sphere of impact by transmitting branded content onto consumers’ mobile phones. In March of 2007, CNN used Hypertag to do just that by installing interactive posters throughout the London City Airport which sent content to travelers' mobile devices. By providing data on the number of traffic from each site, Hypertag allows advertisers to review their campaigns and make ROI assessments.

Marketers are continually challenged to think of new and better ways to reach consumers and to drive their messages home. Innovative, interactive campaigns -- such as the ones now available in social, consumer-friendly settings -- encourage active participation and serve to increase the "stickiness" factor while creating measurable results. Interactive OOH takes the best of online, out-of-home and entertainment and allows marketers to deliver targeted, engaging, effective and measurable messages to an audience on a greater scale than ever before.

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Ron Greenberg is chief marketing officer and senior vice president of digital media at TouchTunes. Read full bio.