Though it may get less attention than the internet, alternative media has been one of the most exciting growth areas of media in recent years, offering some of the most imaginative and engaging ad campaigns of our time, from giant billboards in Times Square that interact with passersby below via text messages to elaborate productions in which street teams, dressed in wacky outfits, hand out samples of new products at train stations and bus depots. But like so many areas of media, alternative media has been hurt by the ad downturn, as advertisers cut spending and channeled those fewer dollars to more traditional media. As 2010 gets rolling, all that could be changing, and for the better, with more and more signs that the ad economy has finally hit bottom and is now on the mend. What will this mean for alternative media? To find out, Media Life talked to Nic Denyer, senior vice president for non-traditional media at Streetblimps, which offers a wide selection alternative media. Denyer talks about the effect of the ad downturn on alternative media, when he sees spending coming back, and the great appeal of alternative media as compared to traditional media.

This year is expected to bring a recovery in the ad economy, with many media forecasters expecting spending to begin picking up in the second quarter. When do you expect to see advertisers increase spending on alternative media, which includes everything from digital billboards to branded coffee cups?

There is a general expectation that advertisers will pick up the ball pretty quickly in 2010. Unfortunately, the first quarter is usually pretty slow for out-of-home advertising, so we may not see any trends emerging till the spring or even into summer.

The dollars available for outdoor campaigns will probably be smaller than previous years, but the non-traditional ad companies have always benefited from lower out-of-pocket costs for individual programs.

On bigger campaigns that include digital and more expensive components I would expect companies will be more selective and reduce the number of markets they are trying to target, which may not bode well for vendors in markets outside the top 10. They will have to increase their local component to make up for this potential shortfall.

How generally has alternative media spending held up through this recession?

It was pretty well decimated. Most vendors were seeing 30 percent to 40 percent drops in earnings for 2009. Clients were spending their ad dollars on measured programs and looking for low CPMs.

What types of advertisers are most willing to invest in alternative media, and are you now seeing advertisers who would not have considered it five years ago? If so, why?

There's been a natural increase as product categories grow; cell phones, for example. The one industry that has really increased its presence in the non-traditional market is banking. This is probably due to younger, hipper marketing decision-makers in the new banks and some of the old as well.

Looking ahead to 2010, as we come out of this ad recession, a big focus of advertisers is return on investment. But a lot of alternative media is not measurable by traditional media standards. How do vendors deal with this challenge?

We still have to emphasize the personification of the non-traditional media programs, real people delivering real information.

There also needs to be more emphasis on the WOW factor, which is to say new and unique products and programs.

We are challenged to come up with these types of programs on a daily basis.

What are some of the other big challenges facing alternative media?

One, we need to restore faith among advertisers that these programs can and will increase exposure and ultimately sales, as well as a faith in innovation and a grass roots approach as opposed to simply branding a product.

Two, the industry needs to adapt its products to integrate the new technologies that are sweeping across the advertising industry, including text-on-demand, photo ad recognition and to a lesser degree social media.

We know digital has seen a lot of growth. Are there other areas of alternative media where you see growth, and why?

I think the biggest growth will come in unique one-off advertising campaigns.

Recently programs have featured an interactive full-size car display, an over-size grill on display in the atria of the John Hancock building in Chicago, a street-level interactive display for a new TV show and a wrapped golf cart program at college football games and shopping malls in Texas.

These new ideas will keep things fresh, and also generate publicity in the market outside of the actual campaign.

Do you expect to see more and more alternative media campaigns with a mobile element?

Yes, the clients are increasingly using mobile technology to complement their ad campaigns. In most cases, the vendors will implement a campaign as normal, with the mobile component handled by a third party. A number of vendors have already signed agreements with tech companies or built their own tech department to accommodate such requests.

Why does mobile work so well with alternative media?

It provides an instant response to the ad campaign.

It also gets seen by the consumers at a time when TV ads are skipped by TiVo, newspapers and magazines are losing readers and advertisers, and radio is facing competition from MP3 players and satellite.

Outdoor still gets eyeballs and can still deliver the message to the consumer to act.

In talking to media planners and buyers, you are selling your own media offerings but you are also selling the value of alternative media as compared to other media. What is the most persuasive argument for alternative media?

In a word, creativity.

Outdoor at all levels offers the client the ability to be creative; funny, shocking, unique, heartfelt, etc. We need to convey the message that alternative media can still reach the consumer many times throughout the day and evening and that it can be memorable.