Clear Channel Italia and Absen turn Fiumicino Airport into the most digitalized airport in Europe

This ambitious advertising and digital communication project for the Rome airport and the busiest airport in Italy has been carried out by the subsidiary of the specialist Clear Channel in this country., which has used numerous large-format LED screen systems from the manufacturer Absen so that brands can advertise their products and offer an innovative image to passengers..

As one of the cities with the most historical and architectural monuments, a world-renowned gastronomy and fashion reference, The capital of Italy is one of the most important destinations in the world, welcoming an increasingly demanding demographic group with purchasing power, although he Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino International Airport It was not up to scratch enough in terms of design and modernization to be the first image of both the city and the brands advertised there..

With forty million passengers who passed through 2015 through its terminals, Rome's Fiumicino airport is also the largest in Italy and one of the busiest in Europe. To improve advertising revenue expectations, Rome Airport managers (ADR) They selected the digital advertising company Clear Channel Italia to transform the advertising program in all areas and terminals of this facility.

From the tender phase, This company designed a new advertising program, with supplier selection and sales supervision, with a specific team for this project led by Jonathan Goldsmid, Airport Manager at Clear Channel Italy, who opted for digital display technology Roll call for this project, “for its performance, reliability and price-quality ratio”.

For some of the busiest areas of the airport, Clear Channel chose to install the Absen A2 model, with a pixel size of only 2,5 mm and high resolution, with a large configuration to capture the attention of travelers as they arrive at the terminal.

According to Goldsmid, “We use different digital formats that adapt to the different advertising needs that advertisers want to show. For an airport with the influx of Fiumicino, Automatically pursued visual digital systems as a key part of business asset strategy. During the deliberation process, The three words that supported this transformation of advertising were innovation, technology and first quality, something that the Absen A2 system fulfills perfectly”.

In this line, Nacho Pérez Borjabad, senior director advertising market de Absen Europe, underlines the company's pride in “the aesthetic, ergonomics and versatility of our products. The fact that Clear Channel will trust Absen A2 on a project of this magnitude is a great achievement. From 160º viewing angle to incredible pixel size quality, contrast and image, “It is a leap forward for the LED screen market.”.

One of the fundamental objectives of Clear Channel's advertising reconstruction strategy for Fiumicino has been to promote the image of the brands, and the large format screens in a digital advertising network have been the ideal support to highlight it.

The first step of this project, that Clear Channel has been doing for the last two years, was to eliminate almost all the static panels that were in the airport. With the motto 'less is more', the company reduced around a 40% of square meters dedicated to advertising in favor of differential digital campaigns.

For example, Gate C of the airport features four large digital columns (around 61,44 m2) reserved exclusively by the Chanel firm to show its select products on the four sides of the Absen A2s Led panel “with a spectacular effect in image and content, “seamless”, says Goldsmid.

Later, in the check-in lobby of Terminal 3s International, the most important at the airport, It was decided to install two LED screens of the AI06 model (with a size of 8×4,5 metros) with a pich pixel 6,25 mm to offer passengers visual coverage, Although it has a lower resolution than A2 systems, is compensated by the viewing distance it offers, of 10 a 15 metros, as well as its ease of installation and maintenance, since access to the module, the power supply and the card are carried out front.

Added to the above is also the installation of two systems from this manufacturer in ultra high definition. (UHD) of AI03 models, with pixel pitch 3,9 mm, Ai05, of 5,2 mm, and both with front access, depth of only 150 mm (1/5 of traditional screens), Low power consumption and magnetic module design that allows installation five times faster than traditional screw, among other functions.

For your part, in the Terminal 1 from Fiumicino, which serves as a flight hub for Alitalia and Sky Team airlines to domestic and Schengen destinations, It has two AI03 Led screens from Absen, each with a pixel size of 3,9 mm, which were sold exclusively to Conde Nast, to which is added a screen of 36 m² AI05 sandwiched between two traditional lightboxes in the check-in area.

Also significant in this ambitious digital advertising project has been the installation of an AI03 model screen from 12 m² in the non-Schengen arrivals area, which is exclusively sold by the Prada brand.

Precisely, One of the biggest challenges of this deployment has been Pier B, that as noted before, concentrates the arrival of Alitalia and Sky Team flights and is classified as “an area with a very high-level and quality business audience - as Goldsmid explains -, so this area required more extensive reworking. In the same way that gate C of the airport was spectacularly digitized with four large digital columns of the Absen A2s Led panel for the Chanel brand., we did the same, but this time with ten columns (around 131,04 m²), with an end-to-end visual configuration”.

The main problem in this process, due to the very nature of an airport, that is in constant activity, with a high volume of human traffic at the boarding gates, billing and arrivals, to which are added the numerous access restrictions due to security protocols, was the installation of the screens without interrupting the intense operations of the airport.

In addition to a laborious prior definition of all the necessary materials that were going to be deployed so that they could be supplied without problems to each area, installation and commissioning had to be done at night, “so the quality and reliability of the systems had to be total from the first moment, we could not afford failures or maintenance problems, and it was achieved”, remember Goldsmid.

The final result has turned Fiumicino into one of the most digital airports in the world in its communication with customers., “and advertisers have once again trusted the airport to promote their products. “It has been a crucial project for all parties,” says this manager.. Airports are much more than just transit points, since they are now part of the users' travel experience, and we are investing a lot in providing innovation and added value for passengers”.

In this sense, Goldsmid is optimistic about the prospects for continued collaboration with Absen and Clear Channel Italia. “From the point of view of Absen's product, absolutely. They are also investing heavily in their customer services and support teams.. “We have seen the possibility of working together again in the future and there is no reason not to continue in this direction”.