The advertising infrastructure at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport has been overhauled by Clear Channel Italy and seen major investment in several Absen LED displays.
With 40 million passengers served in 2015 alone, Aeroporti di Roma (ADR) is the largest airport in Italy, and one of the busiest in Europe.
The airport’s advertising revenue was previously hindered by out of date advertising assets, which was the thrust behind the decision to appoint Clear Channel in December 2013. The project, which took two years to complete, was led by Jonathan Goldsmid, airports director for Clear Channel Italy.
For some of the more bespoke and cutting-edge installations, Clear Channel chose to use the Absen A2 LED display, due to the short viewing distance for passengers and 2.5mm pixel pitch.
Nacho Perez Borjabad, senior director advertising market for Absen Europe, commented: “Here at Absen we pride ourselves on the aesthetics, ergonomics, bionics and resulting versatility of our products. The fact that Clear Channel entrusted the Absen A2 on a project of this scale is a great vote of confidence.
“From the 160° viewing angle to the incredible pixel pitch, contrast and image quality, the A2 is a leap forward for LED screens as a whole.”
The Clear Channel advertising strategy for Fiumicino was to create a number of different platforms for brands to gain visibility with both large format solutions and tactical digital advertising networks.
Over the past two years, this multi-million euro project has dramatically changed the approach to advertising at Fiumicino airport. The project began with the removal of almost every out-dated panel across the airport with Clear Channel reducing the number of squares metres of advertising by approximately 40%.
One of the signature solutions installed by Clear Channel is the four large digital columns in the C Gate area of the airport, which comprise 61.44sqm of four-sided Absen A2s and have been booked exclusively by Chanel.
Subsequently, two huge Absen AI06 LED screens were set up in the check-in hall of Terminal 3, the airport’s main international terminal. The Absen AI06 possesses a pixel pitch of 6.25mm, and measures 8 x 4.5m, effectively delivering coverage to 100% of the passengers within the vicinity. The AI06’s 85mm panel depth and 16kg panel weight facilitated the installation process, and maintenance is also improved with the module, power supply and receiving card accessible from the front.
Also installed during the project were two other models in Absen’s high definition line-up, the AI03 and AI05. The AI03 boasts a 3.9mm pixel pitch, while the AI05 has a pixel pitch of 5.2mm.
Terminal 1’s check-in hall was fitted with two large AI03 LED screens, each with a pixel pitch of 3.9mm, which were immediately sold on an exclusive basis to the magazine publisher Conde Nast. Installed last in the check-in area was a 36sqm AI05 screen sandwiched between two traditional lightboxes.
Perhaps the biggest challenge during the project was catering to the exclusive clientele in the Fiumicino’s Pier B area. Similar to Chanel in C Gate, Pier B received 10 columns, equivalent to 131sqm of A2s.
By the very nature of the airport environment, the installation process wasn’t without its challenges. Undertaking a large-scale project such as this in any ‘live’ venue is problematic, but Fiumicino’s large breadth of operating hours; high volume of foot traffic; the columns’ close proximity to a boarding gate; and endemic access restrictions and security protocols all posed challenges.
Goldsmid is optimistic about the prospect of a continued partnership with Absen: “Our relationship with Absen internationally has been a good one. They have listened to us intently throughout the process and haven’t shied away from making the necessary investments to improve and maintain the relationship.”
