With Earth Day approaching on April 22, advertisers reaching out to increasingly green-minded consumers can place their brands on recycling bins. The bins are placed in high-traffic areas, visible to both pedestrians and passengers in vehicles.

To find out how to get your client’s message associated with an environmentally feel-good program, 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 placed on recycling bins placed in outdoor areas for use by passersby.

Who
PrimePoint Media, a division of Outdoor Partner Media, is headquartered in Atlanta.

How it works
Ads are displayed on recycling bins that are placed in high-traffic locations.

The program is called Eco-Bins.

There are four panels on each bin that are available for advertising. Front and back panels measure 4 feet wide by 3 feet high while side panels measure 2 feet wide by 3 feet high.

Advertisers provide creative. Graphics, text and logo are standard.

The theme of recycling can tie into the creative. Ad space is usually used for branding, though promotions also work as well.

Local as well as national advertisers use the bin ads.

There is usually one advertiser per bin.

Advertisers can buy one bin, a market or the network.

Markets
Baltimore, New York, Key West, St. Louis, Kansas City, Knoxville, Memphis, Detroit, Dallas and Atlanta are top markets. Bins are also available in Ocean City, Md., and Arlington, Texas.

Numbers
There are 1,200 ad spaces on 300 bins in the network.

How it is measured
Municipalities provide pedestrian traffic counts for use in estimating impressions.

Advertisers can use call-to-action creative to gather more specific information about who is noticing the ads.

“One of our ads read that if someone came in and mentioned the ad they got a $5 gift card for a bookstore on campus and a free coffee,” says Sandra Tomlin, vice president marketing and public relations for Michigan First Credit Union. The bank's ads are on bins on the Wayne State University campus in Detroit.

What product categories do well
Real estate, banks, pharmaceuticals, restaurants, entertainment including concerts and radio stations and travel are top categories. The bin ads also work well for non-profits.

Administrations that oversee the public or private spaces where bins are placed have veto power over ad content.

Demographics
Programs can be targeted by location to reach groups by ethnicity or income.

“If a national advertiser wants to target 18- to 30-year-old Hispanic males, they can do that,” says vice president operations Bryan Clark.

Ads are aimed at vehicular as well as pedestrian traffic.

Making the buy
Lead time is 14 days with creative in hand. A minimum buy is one month, though a typical buy is six months.

Factors that affect cost include location of bins, length of campaign, and number of sites.

Prices range from $400 per month, per bin for all four ad spaces.

Who’s already on recycling bins
Whole Foods, Best Buy, UPS and Western Union are recent advertisers.

What they’re saying
“For our bins we focus on whatever our current promotions are--auto refinancing or whatever. We’re able to reach a diverse group of students, including those who live on campus and those who commute. It’s a positive, thing to do on campus in a fun, colorful way.” – Sandra Tomlin of Michigan First Credit Union

Web site info
Prime Point Media at http://www.primepointmedia.com