GSTV, Ara Labs Partner On Deploying, Marketing Screens Adjacent To EV Charging Units

August 26, 2022 by Dave Haynes

Given the eye-watering price of electric vehicles, we can assume it will be quite some time before conventional gas stations are mothballed. But it nonetheless makes sense for a company whose business is built on the wide presence of fuel dispensers to think ahead and branch into EV charging stations.

Destination Media, the place-based media company that owns and operates GSTV (aka Gas Station TV), has partnered with Ara Labs, a company that already has a large network of screens deployed on taxi and ride-share vehicle tops, to tie in standalone ad screens with charging units run by a third company, ChargePoint. The ChargePoint electric vehicle (EV) charging units are at high-traffic retail locations.

GSTV has a well-established business selling media based on motorists refueling at gas stations and starting at screens on the pump so they don’t have to see how much a filled tank costs. Destination Media says its national digital video network at U.S. fuel and convenience retailers reaches about 40% of U.S. adults each month. It will leverage its people, process and experience to manage content, distribution, media sales and marketing for the charging station screen network.

Ara would fund the screens.

The new displays, the companies say in PR, “will launch with the initial rollout of 1,000 units in the first 12 months at sites in the top 10 key designated market areas (DMAs) before expanding to additional sites. EV drivers will experience advertising on select AC and DC fast charging stations by the end of 2022.”

“As the number of EV cars on the road increases and consumer adoption grows, ad-supported business models will play a key role in driving the evolution of consumer transportation,” says Sean McCaffrey, President and CEO of Destination Media. “Brands now have the unique opportunity to appear on a platform that is growing to follow consumer behavior, reaching a high volume of consumers at a key moment in their day as they charge and shop. The deal opens an entirely new avenue of opportunities for marketers.”

This is interesting in that numerous companies see these EV charging stations as a media opportunity, but in just about every case, the screens are part of the structure that includes the charging gear. In this case, the much smaller charging units are separate and totems would get place beside them.