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Your client on public payphones
By Diego Vasquez
Oct 19, 2009 - 1:00:26 AM
Common sense would suggest that the rise of the cell phone would mean the death of the public payphone, and in one sense that’s true. Very few people actually use payphones these days compared to 30 years ago, but that doesn’t mean they’ve disappeared.
Public payphones are still present in just about every neighborhood in every market, and while they may not get the use they once did, they make a great space for outdoor advertising.
The most attractive feature of payphones to advertisers is just that—they’re everywhere, making it easy for marketers to target the exact audience they’re looking for, virtually down to the street corner.
To find out how to get your client’s message on public payphones, read on.
This is one in a Media Life series on buying out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.
Fast Facts
What
Advertising on public payphone kiosks.
Who
There are a relatively small number of companies who have payphone advertising networks. Ads can be placed across networks nationally, regionally, or in individual markets or neighborhoods.
How it works
The reason there are still so many pay phones is that they are required by the government as public service in the event of emergencies, such as a fire, where someone on the street can notify local authorities. The mandate comes under the Federal Communications Commission. The phones are maintained by the local phone company.
Payphone advertising comes in the form of signage on phone kiosks, and it can take several forms. The simplest and most common signage is posters measuring 12 by 48 inches that are put up on the exterior of the kiosk. Kiosks may consist of a single phone or a bank of a half dozen phones.
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Advertisers can also wrap their ad around the kiosk, as a band, with its message on both sides (see picture, right).
In some markets, such as New York, larger signage will span the back panel of an entire bank of phones, measuring perhaps 4 feet wide by 3 feet deep, and be encased in glass.
In addition to being everywhere, phone kiosks appeal to advertisers because they're often the only ad venue in sight, and they are right there on the street at eye height, in view of pedestrians passing by.
That makes them ideal for micro-targeting. You can put a message up in front of a building to reach folks who work there.
A classic sort of campaign along these lines is a media company, say a cable company, putting its message on phone booths near agencies. Or it could be a cell phone service putting its message on phones around college campuses with the aim of reaching students with a special plan that doesn't require a contract.
A pharmaceutical company looking to push a particular prescription drug to doctors and pharmacists might place ads on payphones near hospitals, clinics and pharmacies. A marketer looking to target specific ethnic groups, such as Hispanics, might place ads on phones in neighborhoods where they live and work or where they shop.
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Advertisers can add a digital twist as well. One option would be adding a call-to-action text message element, in which passersby are alerted to an opportunity to text a short code to receive a special offer or promotion. Another would be a Bluetooth element that sends offers to people’s Bluetooth-enabled mobile devices as they walk past
Markets
Phone kiosk advertising is available in every market.
Numbers
The number of payphones is shrinking for sure with the rise of the cell phone but there are still a huge number, and many carry advertising.
As of July, there were 18,090 active public pay telephones on New York sidewalks regulated by the city’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, and of that number 65 percent, or 11,842, are mounted on curbside kiosks and are permitted to carry advertising.
That's fewer total phones than some years ago but still a sizable number. In 1996, there were some 35,000 pay phones in the city.
Across the U.S., there were some 872,256 payphones in 2007, down from more than 2 million in 2000.
How it is measured
Much like traditional billboards, ads on payphones are measured using a daily estimated circulation, which is multiplied by the number of ad locations and divided by the population of the market to get an idea of how much of that market is reached.
What product categories do well
Frequent pay phone advertisers include entertainment, pharmaceuticals, beverages, financial services, beer, telecommunications and fast food.
Demographics
Ads on payphones are a mass medium and hit a wide range of demographics. But advertisers can target specific areas, such as college campuses, central business districts and ethnic neighborhoods, to name just a few.
Making the buy
Cost varies based on the size and length of a campaign, but CPMs are typically around $2 or less.
Who’s already on payphones
Recent or current payphone advertisers include Heineken, Western Union, McDonald’s, Tecate, Coca-Cola, Absolut, AT&T, Sony Pictures, USA Network, Mountain Dew and Tecate.
What they’re saying
“There’s nothing inherently upscale or downscale about a pay phone, it’s all based on where it’s located. You can do upscale campaigns in places like Cape Cod and the Hamptons. Or you can turn around and do an inner-city ethnic campaign.” –
Dana Michaelis, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Prime Point Media.
Web site info
Prime Point Media
http://www.primepointmedia.com
Ads on Target
http://www.adsonphones.com
Van Wagner
http://www.vanwagner.com
Titan Outdoor
http://www.titanoutdoor.com
Vector Media
http://www.vectornyc.com
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