Out of Home
Your client's message out on the water
By Kathy Prentice
Jul 24, 2006 - 1:28:00 AM

Billboards floating off-shore in view of sun bathers and boaters are popping up along oceanfronts and lakefronts on both coasts this summer.

To find out how to get your client’s message in front of consumers enjoying a lazy day at the beach or attending a waterfront event, read on.

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

Fast Facts

What
Ads displayed on floating billboards.

Who
Bbi Display Systems of Malibu on the West Coast and Montage Billboards of New York on the East Coast both provide their own versions of beach billboards in markets across the country.

How it works
Ads are displayed on billboards that float or are towed across the view of consumers spending time on the shores of oceans, lakes and rivers.

The two media companies featured provide distinctly different designs. Both offer turnkey service.

-Bbi’s “Billboard Boats” are inflated but don’t require a blower to keep them afloat. They can be displayed on sand, grass, dirt, concrete and snow in addition to on water. 

-Montage’s floating billboards are tent-shaped and travel atop a small barge. They are backlit and equipped with sky-tracker lights, which shine upward, making them visible after dark.

Individual bbi billboards can be linked together to create a larger display, and the ad banners can be changed during a campaign or even during an event.

“Three units linked together to extend 36 feet is the most popular at this point,” says sales and event coordinator Eric Wickland. “It’s common to use several up to 48 or 60 feet long on the ocean.”

Montage’s floating signage measures 24 feet by 14 feet on each side, resting on a boat measuring 30 feet long by 12 feet wide. The triangular end panels can also be used for advertising space.

Both designs are visible from all sides and both can be used as anchored signage or move across the water. Says Montage CEO Elan Nissim: “We go very, very slow. The message is right in front of you.”  

Advertisers generally provide creative. Bold lettering works best.

“We can do photo-quality graphics,” bbi’s Wickland says. “McDonald’s recently used a 12-foot iced coffee cup on a 36-foot-long billboard."

Beach billboards are available year round in some markets, and trickle-down television coverage can occur at events.

Markets

Montage’s product is available around Manhattan Island, all year round, and the company is also marketing its floating billboards in China for the 2008 Olympics.

How it is measured
Bbi Displays uses GPS tracking for mobile campaigns, traffic bureau statistics for freeway displays, attendance or gate sales for events, and numbers supplied by parks for beach-front campaigns.

What product categories do well
“They run the gamut from athletic equipment and shoes to sports drinks, soft drinks, beer and alcohol to boat manufacturers and real estate,” Wickland says.

Demographics
Groups can be targeted by location and by event.

Making the buy
Montage Billboards: Lead time is two days and campaigns are generally season-long, with a one-month minimum. Weekend flights are available after Labor Day.

Bbi Displays: Lead time is 30 days for a mobile campaign and seven days for an event. Campaigns range from one day up to a year. Cost is $1,000 to $1,500 for an eight-hour day for a three-part 36-foot billboard. Production costs are $599 for each 12-by-14-foot panel or $1,800 for one side of a 36-foot display. 

Who’s already on floating billboards
McDonald’s recently used bbi Displays to launch an iced coffee drink in New England. Other recent advertisers include Disney, Bud Light, Nike, State Farm Insurance, Red Bull, New Balance and USA Triathlon.

NBC used Montage’s floating billboards in New York and Los Angeles last summer for teaser ads for the show “Surface.”

What they’re saying
“The Cape doesn’t have traditional out-of-home, so this was designed to reach an outdoor audience to launch McDonald’s iced coffee in New England. There’s a nice synergy between iced coffee and hot weather. Floating billboards was a good way to reach beachgoers. With any kind of non-traditional media you take sort of a risk. Sometimes it’s not easy from the creative and production end. But when you see it out there, you can see the buzz.” – Amy Maguire, account director for Boston's MPG/Arnold on the McDonald’s Newman’s Own Organic Blend Iced Coffee campaign on bbi Displays

Web site info
Bbi Displays at www.bbidisplays.com

Montage Billboards at www.montagebillboards.com

Etc.
Montage also offers beachfront sampling as well as branded towels and beach toys. 

Bbi’s displays can be used at concerts, sporting events, fairs, off-road events, alpine events, conventions and at stadiums in addition to on the water and beaches. They can also be used as a surface for projection. “They’re popular for photo backdrops for spectators and also as backdrops for podiums or winners’ circles at events,” Wickland says.