UNIT V

OUTDOOR ADVERTISING

I. Pre-reading task.

1. What kinds of outdoor advertising do you know?

2. What do you think is more effective: TV or radio commercials or billboards? Why?

3. Outdoor advertising is one of the fastest growing sectors of the market. What are the reasons of this growing?

4. Some marketers share their response to this question.

Jenny Biggam, Carat's marketing director, Britain's largest media-buying agency:

"The advertising revenue of the ITV companies this year will fall by $300 million, from $2 billion last year. That's an unprecedented fall for them. Their advertising is in freefall. The big mass media owners are losing their appeal to advertisers, who are moving into one-to-one media."

Jeremy Male, chief executive of the north European business ofJC Decaux:

"Television is up against a social change. People are going out more and eating out more. They are spending more time out of the home. Advertisers are seeking new placement opportunities besides billboards and bus shelters - hence the growth of interest in petrol stations and bathrooms. The outdoor ad market is worth about $700 million, accounting for nearly 7% of total media spend. And we expect this to rise into double figures, aided by advances in digital technology."

Andrew Oldham, manager with Viacom Outdoor, the company introducing a projection system into London Underground:

"We are starting in the highest profile, highest traffic locations, and we will keep rolling it out from there, until the market decides it's not worth it. What nobody knows is how big the market for this sort of media is."

5. Why outdoor?

- Outdoor advertising has a lower cost per thousand than any other type of advertising. Outdoor ads cost 80% less than television commercials, 60% less than newspaper and 50% less than radio ads.

- Ads on billboards are free to consumers, they do not have to buy a magazine, cable television, or a newspaper to see your advertisement.

- Outdoor advertising does not interrupt consumers in any way. There's no obnoxious sound, smell or other type of negative attention grabber. Billboards are noticed because of their message, bright bold colours and creative graphics.

- Three fourth of Americans rely on billboards to find places while they are travelling.

- Billboards allow you to reach more people faster and easier than any other type of media.

- Outdoor advertising has a larger audience than any other type of advertising. People are driving further and further every day.

- A billboard with a good location (on an Interstate or major highway) can have more viewers than the super bowl!

- Outdoor advertising is the only type of media that has constant exposure. No other type of advertising allows your message to be displayed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

- Repetition is extremely helpful when you are trying to increase your product awareness, or when you simply want to get your message across to millions of people. This task can easily be accomplished with outdoor advertising campaigns.

- Billboards help increase your products awareness, and knowledge which also increases your sales and profits.

- Outdoor advertising makes it extremely easy to target, or not to target a specific market.

- Outdoor advertising sends people subliminal messages. Billboards are usually the final message people see right before they purchase an item. So why not direct them to your product?

6. And here is another point of view on this problem:

Campaign chops at billboards

(From Detroit Free Press)

Billboard bashers are trying again to limit commercial signs along Michigan highways. Michigan United Clubs (MUCC) led the latest effort, unveiling a poll asserting that about half of Michigan voters think there are too many roadside commercial signs. When told the number of billboards increased from 6,100 to 12,000 between 1972 and 1998, 67 per cent of those polled said there are too many signs; 60 percent said they favor banning new signs.

But the numbers are disputed by the outdoor sign industry, which claims there are actually fewer billboards in Michigan today than in the early 1970s.

"I don't believe it. I don't see the industry taking them down," said MUCC Executive Director Rick Jameson.

"Nobody really enjoys billboards," Jameson said. "It's particularly obnoxious advertising because you can't turn it off."

But Roger Playwin, spokesman for the Outdoor Advertising Association of Michigan, cited a poll asserting opposition to more billboards regulations. Seventy-one percent opposed eliminating billboards and just 14 percent considered billboards a nuisance, the poll found. "We're an easy target," Playwin said. He said banning billboards would hurt businesses that cannot afford other kinds of advertising.

MUCC was joined Tuesday in a news conference by Scenic Michigan, a nonprofit group that opposes billboards, and state Attorney General Frank Kelley. All advocated ending what they called visual pollution. "I hope this time we can overcome the billboard lobby and do • what is right for this state," said Kelley, adding that billboard-less landscape would draw more tourists to Michigan.

A package of bills to restrict new billboards is before a Senate committee. The bills would raise the annual fee for billboards from $5 to $100, and give counties authority to deny new billboards. The bill would prohibit billboard owners from cutting tree and other vegetation around billboards.

Tom Hawley, who handles sign permits for the state Department of Transportation, says counting them is difficult because there is no clear definition of a billboard. He says the same permit is required, no matter how big or small a roadside sign.

7. What do you think of it?

II. Billboard Vocabulary.

APPROACH: The distance measured along the line of travel from the point where the advertising structure first become visible to the point where copy is no longer readable (having passed out of the line of sight).

ARTERIES OR ARTERIALS: The major streets of a city or town.

BACKLIGHTED UNITS: Advertising structures which house illumination in a box to throw light through translucent advertising printed on plastic or heavy duty paper for higher visibility, especially at night.

BLANKING: A white paper border surrounding the poster copy area. It is applied between the poster and the panel molding.

BLEED POSTER: The use of blanking papers of the same colour as the poster background, to bring the design area up to the molding.

BLEED THROUGH: A production difficulty created when the previous design used on an advertising structure can be seen through the current message. This can occur because of the kind of paper used, the chemical reaction of certain pigments or because of excessive wetting from heavy rain.

BOARDS: A common term for poster panels and printed bulletins.

BULLETINS: Bulletins measure 14x48 feet. Copy is reproduced by two methods: painting directly on the surface or posting paper with the advertising message preprinted.

COAT OUT: The process of covering a painted advertising message with white or grey paint before new copy is painted.

COLLATING POSTERS: Posters are made up of individual sheets. These sheets are organized or collated in the sequence needed so that the bill poster will post the advertising message properly.

COMMERCIAL SIGNS: Privately owned (usually on-site) advertising structures used on roofs, walls or other outdoor surfaces of business establishments or factories, for the purpose of identification or direction of that particular business.

"C" PRINT: A glossy four-colour print usually taken from a transparency, often used as guide artwork for bulletin painters to follow for colour and composition of illustrations.

CUT-OUTS/EMBELISHMENTS: Letters, figures or mechanical devices that are attached to the face of a bulletin to provide a three-dimensional effect for greater attention value.

DAILY EFFECTIVE: Average number of persons exposed per day to a sign or group of signs.

DISPLAY PERIOD: The exposure time during which the individual advertising message is on display. Posters are normally contracted for monthly exposure; rotating bulletins usually display the same copy for a two or three month period; permanent bulletins' display period varies depending on individual contracts.

EIGHT SHEET: A 5'xl 1' poster panel generally placed for exposure to pedestrian as well as vehicular traffic. Frequently used in suburban shopping areas as well as point-of-purchase locales. Usually located in urban areas.

EXPRESSWAY: Limited access roadways, usually with a speed limit of 55mph. Parking is prohibited.

FACE: The surface of an outdoor advertising structure on which the advertising message is posted or painted.

FACING: Specifies the direction the poster may be seen to traffic flow.

For example, a south facing panel can be seen only by north-bound traffic.

FLAGGING: A tear in paper used on a poster panel, causing the paper to hang loose and "flag" in the wind.

FIBER OPTIC DISPLAY: An innovative use of electronic light-transmitting fibers to create changeable copy displays.

HEAD-ON: An advertising structure built so that all traffic approaches perpendicular to the face of the structure.

IMPRINTS-DEALER: A strip imprinted with the name, address and/or phone number of the local dealer handling the product being advertised.

LINE OF TRAVEL: The center of a lane of traffic moving in one direction.

LITHOGRAPHY: A popular printing method for producing large quantities of posters in full colour.

MANDATORY COPY: Copy that is required by law to appear on the advertising of certain products. This applies to all print media. There are definite specifications as to size, positioning and rotation of such mandatory messages.

PERMANENT BULLETIN: A painted display which remains on one location for the entire term of the single advertiser's contract.

PLANT: All of the outdoor advertising structures in a given city, town or area operated by an outdoor company, or plant operator.

POSTER: Advertising messages posted on advertising structures.

POUNCE PATTERN: The method most frequently used for enlarging art and copy to fill painted bulletin size. The design is projected onto large sheets of paper and traced in outline form. The outline is then perforated with an electric needle. The perforated sheets, known as pounce patterns, are held against the painting surface and dusted with charcoal dust, to reproduce the outline of the design on the surface to be painted.

RAIN-LAP: Posters trimmed so that the upper sheets overlap the lower sheets, similar to the way shingles are laid on a roof. This lessens the possibility of flags due to rain seepage between the poster and the panel face.

SURFACE ARTERIES: The major streets of a city or town that are easily accessible. They have restricted parking.

III. Reading and discussion.

Billboards - a common term for poster panels and bulletins. There are three standard formats:

Bulletins (14x48 feet or 672 square feet plus extensions)

Bulletins are used to advertise computer printed or hand painted messages and are found in high density traffic locations. Bulletins are usually purchased for multi-month contract periods.

Permanent Painted Bulletins create tremendous impact through their incredibly high daily circulation. The standard size is typically 14x48 Spectacular bulletins, often called Monsters for their huge sizes, typically measure 10x30 or 20x60 and may be even larger. The long-term exposure and creative impact of bulletins build deep reach during a campaign, making them the perfect medium for building long-term market presence. Bulletins are even more effective when used in conjunction with 30-sheet poster showings or other media. Another benefit to Permanent bulletins like these is the frequency with which they are seen by consumers in a market. Located on major arteries, Bulletins are passed frequently by the same consumers as they commute to and from work. The longer your ad is visible and readable by passing consumers, the greater the recall of your advertising message. Permanent Bulletins have a very low cost per thousand impressions, especially when compared to other media. Permanent Bulletins' deep reach and high frequency combined with their cost-efficiency make them a comer stone of any long-term campaign.

There is also another type of Bulletin known as a Rotary. It is produced the same as a Permanent Bulletin either though hand-painted or computer generated graphics, but it has one exception. It's portable. During a 6 to 12 month period it gets rotated every sixty days to different locations all on high-traffic arteries. Rotary Bulletins have numerous benefits: the mobility of just a single ad creates a sense of more market presence economically. In time a single Rotary can cover an entire market.

30-Sheet Poster Panels (12x25 feet or 300 square feet)

30-sheet posters got their name because it originally took 30 sheets of paper to cover the board. This is no longer the case, but the name still remains. They are the most common poster type in use today. They are dispersed throughout a market in quantity on high-volume primary and secondary arteries and have the added benefit of being changed easily. This is an important feature when considering the quick turnaround that is crucial for boards to be put up for product introductions or seasonal campaigns.

Eight Sheet (6x12 feet or 72 square feet)

8-Sheet poster panels are generally contracted for 30-day periods to reach pedestrian and vehicular traffic. They are frequently used in high density urban neighborhoods and suburban shopping areas as well as point-of-purchase locals.

Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising includes outdoor plus a wide variety of advertising displays which reach consumers on the move.

Bus Shelters – Transit (Inside and Out)

Bus Exterior – Commuter Rail Card, Station Platform, Underground Shelter

Street Furniture – Newsstand, Benches

Indoor Out-of-Home – Airport, Mall Spectaculars

Painted Walls

Signage locations on each bus: