Your client's ad
in parking garages
How to reach people coming and going from work, shopping or a night on the town
By Diego Vasquez
Jan 9, 2012
The ability to target very specific audiences is an attractive proposition for advertisers, and one out-of-home venue where they can do so is parking garages.
Advertisers can target based on where the parking facility is located. For example, travelers can be targeted at airport garages, sports fans at garages near the arena, professionals at an office building, shoppers at the mall garage, and so on.
Another advantage to parking garage advertising is campaigns stand out in a relatively uncluttered environment.
To find out how to get your client in parking garages, read on.
This is one in a Media Life series on buying out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.
Fast Facts
What
Advertising at parking garages.
Who
Many markets have smaller companies that handle parking garage advertising in their cities, and there are also half dozen larger companies that run regional and national networks.
How it works
There are a number of places to advertise at parking garages, starting with the arm that raises to let cars in.
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Advertisers can wrap their message around the entrance gate arms, putting each car that enters just 10 feet away from the ad for a few seconds while they wait to enter the garage.
Advertisers can get creative by using the motion of the arm in their ad.
For example, the glasses company Transitions Optical used entrance gates to promote its lenses that become darker in the sun. The glasses appeared clear when the arm to the entrance gate was pointed up. But when the bar lowered, the glasses filled up with a dark liquid dye, turning them into sunglasses.
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Advertisers can also place branded adhesive decals on the automated attendant kiosks used to pay for parking at a ramp's entrances and exits.
Inside the parking garage there are three main options for advertisers.
One is wrapping the pillars inside the structure, which drivers move past as they look for a parking spot. In some cases the ads serve as a reminder of where a person parked their car.
Static signage is also an option, typically 4- by 5-foot adhesive vinyl signs attached to the walls near the exits people use when leaving and returning to their cars.
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Finally, brands can also put their logos and messages on adhesive parking strips on the ground, which appear instead of paint to mark parking spaces.
Markets
Parking garage campaigns can be executed in any market that had parking garages.
Numbers
Ads on parking gate arms had a 37 percent unaided recall rate after one exposure, according to a study by the research company Logit Group.
There are 7,031 parking lot and garage owners in the U.S., according to industry analyst IBISWorld. Those businesses service nearly 250 million vehicles annually and generate $8.2 billion in revenue.
How it is measured
Parking facilities track how many cars enter and exit the garage, which is used to measure impressions.
What product categories work well
Recent or current parking garage advertisers include auto, consumer packaged goods, pharmaceuticals, restaurants, entertainment and electronics.
Demographics
Demographics vary depending on the market and venue. In Minneapolis, for example, the parking garage audience is 54 percent female and 46 percent male, with median income between $55,000 and $75,000.
Making the buy
Campaigns typically run for a minimum of four weeks. Lead time is three weeks after creative is approved.
CPMs range from $8.50 to $12.50.
Who’s already been at parking garages
Recent brands that have advertised in garages include Fox, AAA, adidas, BMW, Dave & Busters, Energizer, Johnson & Johnson, Shell, Transitions Optical and Panasonic.
What they’re saying
"It's more about the venue the parking facility is attached to than the actual garage. Let's say you're a pharma advertiser. You could be at a clinic or hospital. Then you can really hone in and customize your campaign." –
Tom Novosel, vice president of sales and marketing at Abcon Media
Web site info
Carspaze
www.carspaze.com
Brite Media
www.britemedia.com
Aap! Global
www.aapglobal.com
Wave Omnimedia Group
www.waveomnimedia.com
Abcon Media
www.abconmedia.com
Parking Ramp Outdoor Promotions
www.propsmktg.com
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