Mesmerize is a growing DOOH network specializing in point-of-care, point-of-sale and transit. Gregory Leibert, Chief Executive Officer, spoke to Mel Stott about the company’s growth, plans for 2020 and beyond.
Please tell us about Mesmerize and what niche it occupies in digital out-of-home advertising.
Mesmerize is a specialty out-of-home advertising company focused in three primary areas: point-of-care (POC), point-of-sale and transit. We created the company in 2006 in New York City.
In 2018, we were acquired by Brite Media Group and integrated three distinct media companies, which now operate under the Mesmerize umbrella. Mesmerize serves a wide range of clients, venues and consumers.
Point-of-care advertising remains one of our primary niches.
Last year, we have acquired Pharmacy Health Network (PHN), the only out-of-home digital network dedicated to retail pharmacies. Mesmerize combines digital OOH with static advertising at the point of care.
Our goal is to educate patients with health and wellness-related content at key touch points. We believe that specialty-specific messaging, best-in-class educational content and nimble network management are the key to reaching this goal.
How have you integrated Pharmacy Health Network (PHN) into the Mesmerize network and how has it impacted your business?
Pharmacy Health Network has digital screens in over a thousand pharmacies nationwide. Our advertisers can now reach patients waiting to fill their prescriptions and general shoppers right before the point-of-purchase.
With this acquisition we have grown the pharmacy DOOH network. We have also developed a network of digital screens in specialty doctors’ offices and community-based organizations where we currently have static media.
The Mesmerize network is rapidly expanding. We’re seeing a strong interest from existing and new clients to reinforce their static media with digital. Our sponsors can easily add a DOOH component to their static ads. Multiple touchpoints along the patient journey reinforce their brand messaging.
Clients and their audiences are seeing that our static network and digital network complement each other very effectively.
Are your advertisers mostly pharma companies? Who are some of your biggest repeat advertisers?
While we do a considerable amount of work with pharmaceutical companies, our advertisers also include entertainment, CPG, OTC, health insurance clients, departments of health, and retailers.
Government agencies use or network to educate people on the effects of opioids and tobacco.
Do advertisers repurpose their TV spots for Mesmerize screens, or do they create new spots? Are they subject to the same disclosure requirements that are required on television?
Many advertisers repurpose existing television spots in order to get as much mileage out of them as possible, and our digital network makes that easy. However, we also help clients create new custom campaigns. Each campaign is treated independently so we adhere to the same television disclosure requirements on a brand to brand basis. We abide by each pharmaceutical client’s guidelines according to their compliance rules.
Is there content on your screens aside from advertising, such as educational videos for example?
At our core, Mesmerize is a patient education company, providing targeted health and wellness messages for specific specialty types and/or disease states. All sponsor campaigns appear alongside targeted health and wellness content.
Mesmerize has a library of general and specialty content across a wide range of topics, including healthy eating, immune support, HIV and hepatitis, and more. We also regularly create new, custom content for our digital network at our in-house studio.
Mesmerize also customizes the messaging on-screen for each location. We display the name of the pharmacy or practice and make it easy for our locations to update content to include their own news and updates.
Do you offer any attribution metrics to advertisers?
We offer independent third-party analysis of all campaigns in our network, both static and digital.
What are Mesmerize’s plans for 2020?
We spent a significant part of 2019 developing the necessary infrastructure to grow our digital OOH network. In 2020 we expect to rapidly expand our digital presence, both in the pharmacies and physician’s offices.
While we’re excited about digital, we are continuing to grow our static network.
We are continuously adding more pharmacies and doctors’ offices to our network. Mesmerize works with content providers to ensure our library contains the most relevant, engaging and informative educational materials.
Point of care is obviously a big focus for us this year, but our out-of-home and transit networks are growing as well. Our OOH assets reach audiences in cafés, coffee shops, financial service centers, hotels, conferences, bars, restaurants and more. Additionally, we are always adding new transit markets across the Midwest and Texas.
You can read more about Mesmerize here.
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