Your client about in the national parks

medialifemagazine.com

Out of Home
Your client about in the national parks
By Kathy Prentice
May 7, 2007, 04:13

Outdoor enthusiasts are as elusive as they are appealing to advertisers. Targeting them as they play is a strategy that’s unfolded over recent years.

A new network of media in and around national landmarks provides a platform for branding and promotions from sea to shining sea.

To find out how to get your client’s message in front of active families while they’re enjoying the great outdoors, read on.

This is one in a Media Life series on buying the new out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.

Fast Facts

What
Advertising messages placed in and around resort properties catering to active, outdoorsy consumers.

Who
Brand Connections, headquartered in New York.

How it works
Ads are placed in resorts, lodges and hotels in and around parks and resorts targeting families who participate in outdoor activities.

Brand Connections calls the program Active Outdoor Network. “We bought five companies to piece together this network of mountain resorts and national park resorts with out-of-home media,” says CEO Brian Martin.

Programs include:
-Billboards in the lobbies of resort properties. They’re sized 3 feet high by 2 feet wide and usually number two per location. Some are backlit.
- Outdoor adventure survival packs placed in rooms containing product samples, brand information and branded postcards
- Digital plasma screens with full motion and sound located in resort lobbies and also at gondola stations. In addition to ads, the screens broadcast resort information.
-An outdoor adventure guide containing articles specific to each location as well as general information on hiking, safety tips and other outdoor topics. Ads in the 50-page guide are full-page, full-color and category-exclusive.
-Signage on the interior of resort transit buses. Panels are 2 feet wide by 1 foot high.
-Billboards on the tower displays of the lifts that bikers and hikers take uphill to trails
-Media centers at the base of mountains featuring area maps and digital messages for guests. Print ads scroll across the top of the boards at a rate of four to five per minute. Ads can contain text and graphics and measure 4 feet wide by 1 foot high.
-Bike racks inside resorts and parks topped by billboards

Advertisers can buy a market or the network, but not individual sites.

Markets
The network is available in 79 U.S. markets at properties at or around parks, including the Everglades, the Grand Canyon, Aspen, Death Valley, Yosemite, Mt. Rushmore, Steamboat Springs, Mammoth Caves, Joshua Tree, Squaw Valley, the Teton Range, Tamarack, Vail, Yellowstone, Jackson Hole, the Great Smoky Mountains and the Redwoods.

Numbers
The network covers more than 500 properties in proximity to national parks and mountain resorts with a reach of 17 million visitors from June to September.

There are 3,000-plus media displays in the network. Annually the network has a reach of 120 million, Martin says.

How it is measured
Pre- and post-surveys are filled out by consumers when they check in and leave, and another is conducted online two months later. A sweepstakes is used as incentive for participation.

What product categories do well
Products relevant to outdoor activity like energy bars and drinks, sports equipment and first aid supplies top the list.

Automotive, beverages, consumer packaged goods, and health and beauty aids also do well.

Demographics
Generally, the target group is families. They are primarily college educated, earn $75,000 or more, and travel frequently for business as well as pleasure, Martin says.

A 2006 Mediamark Research study found that people who participate in outdoor sports are hard to reach via traditional media.

Making the buy
Lead time is one month. Advertisers can buy the season or a shorter flight. The season runs from spring through the end of summer.

Factors that affect cost include the elements in a buy and the number of consumers reached. Programs are based on a CPM. Buys run from $100,000 to $2 million.

Who’s already in summer vacation properties
The network is launching this season.

What they’re saying
“Active families are hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, swimming, playing golf, horseback riding, rafting, kayaking and playing paintball in the summer, and they stay in lodges and hotels in and around resorts.” – Brian Martin, CEO of Brand Connections

Web site info
Brand Connections at www.brandconnections.com