With the humble billboard capable of purifying air and turning it into drinking water, could posters and hoardings now help people and communities on a personal level?

A recent digital billboard campaign, operated by The Outdoor Media Centre and charity Missing People, demonstrated exactly how traditional advertising techniques can be used to benefit communities rather than just market to them. Across the UK, the outdoor advertising company used its prominent sites to display the names and images of missing people in a campaign that helped locate more than 220 people.

This is just one example of how digital billboards are being used subtly to enhance community life. The Art Everywhere initiative, which uses digital screens to show works of art in unexpected places, is now the UK’s biggest art exhibition. Leading artists Grayson Perry and Antony Gormley unveiled the shortlist on the UK’s largest indoor advertising screen, inside London’s Waterloo Station. The pieces of artwork, selected by the public, are displayed on JCDecaux’s digital screens, bringing a moment of reflection for passing pedestrians.

Similarly, KBH On-Train Media collaborated with Transport for London to cover London Overground trains with poppy images to commemorate Armistice Day. It added visual impact to a wider campaign of awareness and remembrance.

Digital screen networks are increasingly being designed to deliver more than just imagery to communities. This year up to 10,000 touch screens will replace phone booths across New York, offering mobile charging stations, free Wi-Fi, free calls and public notices.

In Manchester, MediaCo Outdoor’s network of 20 interactive touchscreens is already is place. Each screen is loaded with response technology, allowing it to interact with audiences, and features a live local news ticker with content directly managed by Manchester Evening News and local weather data feeds. Content can be preloaded and then delivered to a schedule, or could be real-time data such as the time, the weather, what’s trending on social media, or an external data source from an advertiser.

Brands such as Benedryl have already used digital screens to offer health information about allergies alongside product advertising, displaying real-time pollen count levels to passersby.

Manchester city council also operates 10 “wayfinder” touchscreens across the city. The devices offer residents and visitors to the city information about getting around the city and making the most of all it has to offer. They provide location-specific information about attractions, nightlife, shopping, food and drink, accommodation and transport. Someone looking for a place to eat near New Cathedral Street could use the screens to search through a range of nearby options with directions, distance and recommended transport choices.

But providing a useful function on the high street is not the extent of the medium’s value to society. Visual community campaigns can improve the way the healthcare sector reaches out to citizens.

The Childhood Eye Cancer Trust is creating a series of posters, to be displayed in GP surgeries, baby clinics and childcare centres, which help detect retinoblastoma – a particularly aggressive form of eye cancer in infants. Prompted by the flash of a smartphone camera, reflective ink within the poster replicates the image of a retinoblastoma-infected eye, allowing parents to compare this to a healthy eye and therefore enabling parents to diagnose a cancer risk in their child. While not a replacement for medical diagnosis, the posters will raise awareness and could help early detection, leading to earlier treatment.

With more digital screens than ever coming to our high streets and public spaces, posters are now responsible for much more than just advertising.

Stuart Taylor is CEO of Kinetic UK

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