Outdoor advertising is effective and priced just right for a
growing business. So why isn't yours using this time-tested
medium? Conventional vehicles, including billboards, taxi tops and
more, are part of a marketing category called
"out-of-home," which includes many new place-based
opportunities-from ads in health clubs and airports to naming
rights for a local baseball diamond. There's bound to be an
out-of-home ad option that's priced right.
Right now, outdoor advertising is hotter than ever thanks to
technology. New York City company Magink Display Technologies Inc.
(www.magink.com), for example, is developing digital
billboards that resemble paper but behave like electronic screens;
outdoor advertising firm Lamar Advertising (www.lamar.com) is
converting key billboards in cities like Cincinnati, Las Vegas and
Pittsburgh to LED units, called "SmartBoards." These
types of billboard messages can be changed easily and
frequently.
To facilitate planning and tracking of outdoor campaigns, new
forms of measurement are being adopted by Arbitron and Nielsen
Media Research on behalf of the Outdoor Advertising Association of
America. Eventually, the industry plans to use GPS and "people
meters" to give marketers demographic data as well as
information on the numbers of viewers exposed to their ads.
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The goal of an effective marketing campaign is to surround the
customer with your messages. With the right mix, your customer can
read your ad in the morning paper, see your billboard while driving
to work, and hear your radio spot on the way home. Out-of-home
media provide all the options you need to round out your
campaign.
This kind of advertising works best when it's used to
communicate a single message, so it's the perfect medium for
building awareness for your store, product, service or brand. Brief
customer exposure and limited copy space dictate the use of a
single compelling visual along with a headline, slogan or logo. The
outdoor ads for Absolut Vodka and Calvin Klein underwear, for
example, are effective, yet use virtually no copy. While it's
best to keep outdoor advertising simple, some place-based media,
such as bus shelters and posters in restaurant restrooms, have a
"captive" audience that's more likely to spend time
with longer copy.
Your Message Here
Looking for out-of-home ideas? Try these:
- Billboard-style ads
placed on dogs wearing special harnesses: K9 Billboards
Inc.
- (www.k9billboards.com)
- Video screens on the
backs of stadium seats:
- New Age Media Concepts (www.namct.com)
- Posters at
diaper-changing stations:
- AJ Indoor, a division of NextMedia
Outdoor Inc. (www.ajindoor.com)
A final tip: If you're looking for a branding opportunity
that also generates goodwill, contact community parks about
sponsorships. Naming rights are becoming available for everything
from parklands to tennis courts, baseball diamonds and gardens.
Contact marketing expert Kim T. Gordon, author of
Bringing Home the Business, at www.smallbusinessnow.com.