Full-motion, interactive video mounted on blimps hovering over sports events and concerts is newly available in the U.S.  Fans in the stands below can interact with the ads via text messaging and can even have their images displayed live.

To find out how to get your client’s message on interactive blimps, read on.

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

Fast Facts

What
Video ads displayed on blimps over events.

Who
Lightships, headquartered in Orlando.

How it works
Ads are placed on a video screen mounted on the side of the blimp. The program is called Lightsign. 

The high-resolution LED “Skyscreen” is 30 feet tall and 70 feet wide and can broadcast TV-quality video, animation, podcasts and live television, including commercials, movie trailers, music videos and instant replays.

“Whatever you can do on a computer screen, you can run on this screen,” says marketing director Toby Page.

"Creative should be interactive and designed specifically for airship screens,” Page says. “It should be based on where it is and who is targeted and should interact with consumers rather than giving a blanket message. We want to try and get them to talk back to us.”

Text portions of ads should be a third of the screen height to be seen on the ground. Still images can also be used.

Sound is even available through small, programmable radios made available to the audience. "They are the size of a credit card and have ear buds so people can listen to up to five channels of branded content, from soundtrack to commentary,” Page says.

Advertisers can place long-term campaigns with Lightships or work with Ginn Sports Entertainment to place a short-term ad on its leased blimp. Both programs are turnkey.

Advertisers can invite guests on board for special events.

Video blimps can stand alone but are most effective used as an element of a media mix, Page says. On-ground promotions like branded vehicles and sampling can be used in conjunction with the screens.

Lightships launched the program in April 2006 at the Las Vegas meeting of the National Association of Broadcasters after the FAA approved the program a month earlier.

Ginn Sports Entertainment’s Airship debuted at the 2007 Daytona 500 and then traveled to Florida for the PGA Champions Tour.

Markets
Video blimps can fly anywhere that air traffic isn’t restricted. Campaigns that span several markets are possible but should take into account that travel speed is 35 m.p.h.

Ginn Sports Entertainment is currently taking its Lightsign to golf tournaments and to NASCAR events where the Ginn team is competing.

Numbers
The branded blimps fly a minimum of 120 hours a month for their clients. That usually breaks down to six hours a day, five days a week, often with a week spent in each city or market.

How it is measured
Gate counts at ticketed events are used to determine impressions. Advertisers also use traffic counts when blimps travel over highways and viewer numbers when they appear on television during sports events. Additionally, advertisers can track responses when a call to action is an element of the campaign.

What product categories do well
Tourism and entertainment currently top the list.

Demographics
Audiences can be targeted by event and location.

Making the buy
Lightships: Lead time is three months, contingent on the availability of a blimp. Six months are required to build a blimp.

Factors that affect cost include where the blimp will travel during a campaign and the features that are included, such as aerial filming or uplinking to the screen. A minimum buy for a blimp with a screen is 12 months at a cost of $4 million to $6 million.

Ginn Entertainment: Advertisers can plug into events already on the blimp’s schedule or buy separate events.

Who’s already on blimp video screens
Ginn Sports Entertainment and its sponsors, including the U.S. Army and Waste Management, are currently in East Coast markets.

What they’re saying
“The screen shows full-color TV quality day and night. It opens up a number of possibilities for marketers. We can take live feed over an event and put it up on the screen or just put the highlights on the screen. One of the things we did was when Vince Gill performed at one of our events was put him on the screen, live, while the airship hovered over the venue.” – Kent Atherton, president of Celebration, Florida-based Ginn Sports Entertainment.

Web site info
Lightships at www.lightships.com
Ginn Sports Entertainment at www.ginnsportsentertainment.com