Paper money may be the only thing that everyone uses, no matter who they are and where they're going. No wonder then that putting ads on currency is a popular way to reach consumers in a way that's sure to catch their attention.
The ads put an advertiser's message in front of an audience with cash in their hands, quite literally.
One advantage, of course, is the ability to reach a big audience at a fairly low cost, but there are also ways to target so those ads get into the hands of specific demographics.
For example, in addition to sticking ads to actual dollar bills, an advertiser might place messages on the envelopes people receive when cashing a check.
To find out how to get your client on currency, read on.
This is one in a Media Life series on buying out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.
Fast Facts
What
Advertising on currency and envelopes that hold currency.
Who
Less than a dozen vendors in the United States specialize in currency advertising.
How it works
There are three main ways to advertise using money.
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The first and most obvious is to place ads on actual bills and distribute them to businesses, which hand them out to customers as change.
The ads are small eye-catching stickers attached to the bills using a special adhesive that doesn't deface the bill, which is against the law.
This method allows advertisers to get creative. A few years ago ABC covered George Washington's face on the $1 bill with stickers of Geena Davis' face to promote the show "Commander in Chief," in which Davis played the first female U.S. president.
Stickers on bills can also include a peel-off coupon.
Another way to advertise with currency is on envelopes or cash jackets used to distribute money at check-cashing centers. The ads are full color and can also include coupons, and advertisers get exclusivity in each store.
Finally, advertisers can print cards that look like bills of any denomination on one side, with a full-color ad on the other. The cards can only be two-thirds as long as actual bills, so as not to break counterfeiting laws, but when folded these fake bills look a lot like the real thing.
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Some businesses use money cards as business cards, but they can also be distributed as fliers or placed in strategic locations where people might think they're finding free money, such as on windshields.
Markets
Advertising on money, cash envelopes or using cards that look like money can be done in any market.
Numbers
The U.S. Treasury says there are billions of $1 bills in circulation at any given time. The average life span of a bill is 18 to 22 months, and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing prints an average of 16.65 million $1 bills each day.
How it is measured
Marketers can track how many items are distributed, and when there are coupons they can also track how many are redeemed.
What product categories work well
Recent or current currency advertisers include fast food, convenience stores, TV networks, telecom, cable TV services and pharmacies.
Demographics
With money cards and ads on money, consumers can be targeted by where the items are distributed. For example marketers can target people 21-plus by distributing dollar bills in bars, or they can target sports fans by placing money cards on windshields in a stadium parking lot.
Advertisers on cash envelopes can target nationally, regionally or by individual market or store.
The audience at check-cashing locations skews 45 percent Hispanic. It's a working-class audience that's 52 percent female and 48 percent male. Seventy-six percent are employed, with an average household income of $41,000, according to the trade group Financial Service Centers of America.
Making the buy
Lead time for cards that look like money is one to two weeks, while ads on money or cash jackets take anywhere from four to eight weeks.
One thousand money cards will run in the range of $175, while 20,000 may cost $700.
Advertising on cash envelopes starts at 25 cents per piece, with discounts given for volume.
Cost for advertising directly on currency was not available at press time.
Who’s already been on money
Recent brands that have advertised on or around money include AT&T, McDonald's, Verizon, T-Mobile, Comcast, 7-11, HSBC, VH1 and CVS.
What they’re saying
"The owner of our company came up with [advertising on money] a long time ago by thinking, what could we brand? And we figured something everybody has in their hands every day is money." –
Sasha Engel, chief operating officer and chief financial officer at GoGorilla Media.
Web site info
AdBills
www.adbills.com
GoGorilla
http://www.gogorillamedia.com
AdverTickets
http://www.advertickets.com/jackets.html
Brite Media Group
http://britemg.com
