Your client's
ad in the snow
Snow storms can be turned into an opportunity to connect
By Diego Vasquez
Jan 4, 2011
The blizzards that struck the East Coast the day after Christmas were a major headache for travelers. But for advertisers they represented a major opportunity.
Snow can be used to deliver unexpected, eye-catching ad messages, whether by stamping a logo in the snow, painting it with biodegradable chalk spray or creating a branded snow sculpture
Snow ads are fun to look at for passersby and often draw local media attention. Plus they're an environmentally friendly way to get a message across, which advertisers are very mindful of these days.
To find out how to get your client in the snow, read on.
This is one in a Media Life series on buying out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.
Fast Facts
What
Advertising using snow stamps, stencils and sculptures in cold-weather markets.
Who
Any out-of-home agency can hire outside artists to help with a snow campaign, but fewer than half a dozen agencies actively focus on snow campaigns.
How it works
There are three main ways to advertise using snow.
The first is to stamp a logo directly into the snow using a plastic mold produced by a third-party vendor with the advertiser's logo or ad message.
The agency sends a team around the city to press the mold onto the snow, leaving behind an impression of the logo or ad message.
The stamps are not big. For a recent campaign in London, the stamp was just 14 inches wide.
The stamps do not do any damage to property under the snow. They can be used anywhere there is snow, including on the ground, on cars, on mailboxes and on benches.
Ads can also be painted onto the snow using biodegradable chalk spray. A stencil is created and then the chalk is sprayed on it to create a design on the snow.
This is the same type of chalk used for traditional sidewalk campaigns. For snow campaigns only one color is used because the colors can bleed together.
The final way to use snow for advertising is by creating a branded sculpture out of a tightly packed mound of snow.
This is quite similar to sand sculpture advertising. Artists are brought in to create the sculptures, and oftentimes people gather to watch the artists at work. As long as the weather stays cold enough, the sculpture can stay intact for days or even weeks, becoming an attraction for passersby and local media.
Markets
Snow advertising can be done in any market where it snows.
Numbers
Very few snow campaigns have been executed, so there's no data available on how many people have been exposed to them.
But if the campaign takes place in a high-traffic downtown area, estimates of local traffic can be provided by the local chamber of commerce.
How it is measured
Street traffic data is used for stamp and stencil campaigns, and agencies measure on-site attendance for snow sculptures.
What product categories do well
Categories that work well for snow advertising include local service providers such as cable/satellite TV and energy companies, consumer packaged goods, TV networks and any brand that has a recognizable logo.
Demographics
Demographics vary by market and location.
Here's some demographics for a pair of cold-weather cities where this type of campaign would work well.
New York City adults are 48 percent male and 52 percent female, according to Scarborough Research.
Twelve percent of New York adults are ages 18-24, with 17 percent between 25-34, 19 percent between 35-44, 20 percent between 45-54, 15 percent between 55-65 and 17 percent 65-plus.
Eleven percent of New York adults have an annual household income below $25,000, with 17 percent between $25,000 and $39,999, 10 percent between $40,000 and $49,999, 14 percent between $50,000 and $74,999, 15 percent between $75,000 and $99,999, 17 percent between $100,000 and $149,000, and 16 percent at $150,000 or above.
In Minneapolis, adults are 49 percent male and 51 percent female, according to Scarborough Research.
Thirteen percent of Minneapolis adults are ages 18-24, with 18 percent between 25-34, 19 percent between 35-44, 20 percent between 45-54, 15 percent between 55-65 and 15 percent 65-plus.
Twelve percent of Minneapolis adults have an annual household income below $25,000, with 17 percent between $25,000 and $39,999, 11 percent between $40,000 and $49,999, 23 percent between $50,000 and $74,999, 16 percent between $75,000 and $99,999, 14 percent between $100,000 and $149,000, and 7 percent at $150,000 or above.
Making the buy
Snowfall is obviously somewhat unpredictable, so campaigns are usually set up well in advance and then executed during the next big snowfall. Lead time to set up a campaign is three to four weeks.
Pricing for stencil and stamp campaigns starts at $3,000 for one market. Sculptures can cost tens of thousands of dollars depending on the quality of the sculpt and number of artists.
Who’s already used snow ads
Since it's a relatively new medium, snow advertising has only been used by a handful of advertisers, including the clean energy advocacy group Fresh Energy and Netherlands cable TV network Extreme Sports Channel.
What they’re saying
“For snow sculptures people love to come and look at the process. It's very engaging. It can be more than just a snow sculpture; it can be a photo opportunity. People take pictures of them, and so you end up in their photo albums." –
Maikel van de Mortel, co-founder of Element Six Media
Web site info
GoGorilla Media
http://www.gogorillamedia.com
Element Six Media
http://www.elementsixmedia.com
CURB
http://www.mindthecurb.com
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