• by Tameka Kee , February 28, 2008

What goes better with digital music than....condoms? Well, maybe if a digital jukebox in a bar is touting them.

Durex has tapped TouchTunes, an interactive out-of-home ad network, to launch a new branding and lead-generation campaign.

The U.K.-based condom-maker will run display ads on 1,500 digital jukeboxes in bars nationwide, complete with a survey, dubbed "Can We Talk Condoms?" The campaign runs through March 11.

TouchTunes' network includes more than 32,000 jukebox units--each with a 19-inch video screen--that stream in music via either the Web or an on-site hard drive. In selected DMAs, a full-screen Durex ad will show up after users have completed their music transaction, followed by an invitation to take the survey.

Although TouchTunes didn't disclose Durex's campaign goals, network executives expect to snag at least a 7% response to the survey. "We average about a 7%-10% response rate on all of our surveys, because we tailor them to the environment," said Vicki Saunders, director of music marketing and promotions for TouchTunes. "The jukeboxes are in places where people are having fun, so we make the surveys fun, and typically see a pretty good response rate."

Saunders said that a recent promotion for Absolut Pears netted more than 105,000 responses--at a 9% response rate--in addition to high-performing campaigns for artists like Wyclef Jean and Emerson Hart. The New York-based digital network offers buys on a CPM basis, among other models, with targeting by DMA, specific location, and music genre available. Ad options include billboards, banners, surveys and Flash mini-sites.

While TouchTunes has been in business 10 years, Saunders said that brands and agencies had only recently begun to tap the network for ad campaigns. A large portion of TouchTunes' business has stemmed from providing streaming music content for retailers like Abercrombie & Fitch's Hollister Co., as well as entertainment spots like bars, bowling alleys and restaurants. "We're getting considered now as part of the pool of digital media that companies can use to target consumers," Saunders said. "And we hope it continues."