Out of Home
Your client's ad floating by as a cloud
By Kathy Prentice
Jun 23, 2008 - 1:05:25 AM

Ads as light and buoyant as clouds are floating across the summer skies over stadiums, downtowns, beaches and other gathering places, attracting the attention of the crowds below.

To find out how to get your client’s message floating overhead for all to see, read on.

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

Fast Facts

What
Advertiser logos are shot into the air as miniature clouds of soap bubbles to hover over attendees at events and other venues where crowds gather, such as beaches and city streets during lunch hour.

Who
SnowMasters Special Effects, headquartered in Huntsville, Ala.

How it works
A biodegradable foam of soap bubbles is pushed through a stencil of the advertiser's logo and released into the atmosphere, and the resulting white puffs hover in bunches.

They’re called Flogos, a combination of flying and logos.

Advertisers use Flogos at events at sports arenas, concert venues and other places where people gather.

“They can be tied to an event like the PGA or Olympics or can be passive advertising like at a beach or downtown at lunch time,” says president Francisco Guerra. “For instance, they were used over the Latin Festival in New York, over 40 blocks of parade, and they probably ended up traveling into New Jersey.”

Flogos are considered to be green media because they are made of soap bubbles, which disintegrate.

One logo is released every 15 seconds. Multiple machines can be used to increase frequency.

The logos last anywhere from a few minutes to an hour, depending on what the advertiser wants. Different formulations are used to last varying lengths of time. Wind direction and wind speed also affect duration.

Sizes range from 24 inches to 36 inches across. A 48 inch Flogo will be introduced soon, Guerra says.

Flogos are currently available in white. Tinted versions will be available in 2009.

Advertisers use the program for branding. For example, Disney uses an outline of Mickey Mouse’s head and the Atlanta Braves use their trademark tomahawk.

Markets
Flogos are available in any U.S. market.

Recent campaigns have run in New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Austin.

The program is also available in Australia and Japan.

Numbers
Flogos can travel as far as 40 miles before they disintegrate. They can rise as high as 20,000 feet, though most stay in the 300 to 500 foot range.

How it is measured
Advertisers can use a range of measurement tools to estimate total impressions, from ticket sales for an event to visits to their web site to crowd counts.

What product categories do well
Companies that have recognizable logos are the best fit, Guerra says.

Demographics
Advertisers can target by location, daypart or event.

Groups that have been targeted by Flogos campaigns include the attendees of PGA and Olympic events.

Making the buy
Lead time is one week.

The cost is $3,500 for the first four hours of an event and another $1,000 for each four hours thereafter. Design costs an additional $250.

Who’s already using Flogos
Universal Studios, Disney, Coors Light, St. Jude Children’s Hospital and Nike are recent advertisers.

What they’re saying
“Americans now are hit with 3,600 marketing messages a day. Flogos cut through the clutter. We released Flogos in the shape of musical notes to promote our twentieth annual ‘City Stages’ music festival. They were released every 10 seconds and filled the sky. I’ve never seen such a people magnet.” – Guy McCullough, creative director of McCullough Advertising based in Birmingham, Ala.

Web site info
SnowMasters at http://www.flogos.net