I remember back when I was a young lad. Billboards used to be so simple. Just your average amalgamation of steel and plywood. No muss, no fuss. All you had to do was to contract with a billboard company and they'd print out your graphics and have it up in a hurry. Depending on your budget and marketing objectives, you'd leave it up for one, two, three or more months. If you wanted to get really sophisticated, you rotated boards for maximum exposure.
Then, technology advanced significantly and they actually came out with rotating billboards. It gave advertisers many more low-cost and "tweener" options for outdoor advertising, and allowed the outdoor media companies to sell one location to 3 or 4 different advertisers. This gave them the ability to earn much more from just one billboard - it quickly offset the cost of implementation of these boards.
Well, the next generation of billboards is about to hit the scene: Digital billboards. Digital billboards allow advertisers to change their message often and are being credited with a renewed interest in the outdoor advertising. Computer-controlled LED displays offer many new opportunities, including the ability for companies to sell space in a time-share arrangement.
It's a pretty cool concept, really. Now, outdoor advertising may become even more targeted. For instance, the local Royal Farms store could buy space in the mornings to tout their amazing coffee selections. Then, during the day an advertiser such as Whole Foods could advertise their fully stocked salad bar - perfect for lunch! At night - the local Greystone Grill could do some awareness advertising for their concept in hopes of attracting the dinner crowd. NEAT!
Digital billboards are drawing mostly local advertisers, such as department stores and automobile dealers, but analysts expect more national clients to come around as the technology hits the tipping point. There is only a small number of these digital billboards on US roads so far. As I'm writing this, probably around 500, compared with nearly 5,000,000 regular old billboards.
Pretty neat stuff. I can't wait to see them around here!
Garret
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3 comments:
2 questions if i may:
what agency does US Airways use?
Any knowledge on headcount movement at Digitas?
Thanks
I'm not sure I understand your questions and their relevance. Please develop these thoughts a bit more if you will.
Thanks,
Garret
Pretty cool stuff...a big financial undertaking for the media companies. But if advertisers are willing to sign on I'd think it'd be a great investment.
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