• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, August 17, 2009

Zoom Media & Marketing, which operates a network of digital out-of-home video displays in bars, restaurants and nightclubs, has signed a deal with LocaModa to equip these displays with interactive content and advertising, including mobile and social media features.

The partners noted that in addition to content that's attractive to consumers, the introduction of interactive features gives digital out-of-home media Internet-style measurability.

The new Zoom-LocaModa deal will give bar and restaurant patrons at 600 Zoom-affiliated venues in the top 10 markets access to Facebook, Twitter and other social media. Users will also be able to respond to interactive advertising via their mobile devices.

Zoom noted that bargoers are 96% more likely to use mobile text-messaging than the average adult, and 75% more likely to use text-messaging to respond to an ad.

The partnership comes after an initial successful collaboration by Zoom and LocaModa for ad campaigns for AT&T and VH1. Dan Levi, Zoom's senior vice president of digital media, explained that LocaModa's platform provides advertisers with an unprecedented ability to engage with consumers in the ideal environment for interactive marketing programs: "Zoom's nightlife destinations."

A number of DO networks have moved to boost interactivity and measurability by integrating online or mobile features. In June, Danoo rolled out mobile measurement collaborations for its digital displays in 200 cafes and coffeehouses in New York City and Los Angeles. Download rates with regular static advertising average about 1%, but Danoo -- with sight, sound and motion -- claims to deliver a 3% download rate.

In April, Adcentricity unveiled a system that will enable advertisers and agencies to plan and buy digital out-of-home video and signage network buys capable of tying into interactive mobile applications.

And in late May, CBS Outdoor announced a partnership with Rip Road to introduce a new service, txt2go, that it says is well-suited for strategies including mobile coupons, sweepstakes, direct response and point-of-purchase promotions. Beyond measuring consumer response to outdoor advertising, txt2go also allows advertisers to build databases of information about the consumers who respond to the ads.