With the holiday season here and gas prices falling, people will be out shopping, even if they do spend less, and they'll be traveling to visit relatives and friends.
While on the highway, there's a good chance they'll see one of the new electronic billboards. They're hard not to notice with their richer colors, which makes them visible from far greater distances than the traditional static billboards that have long dotted the nation's highways.
To find out how to get your client’s message on digital billboards, read on.
This is one in a Media Life series on buying the new out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.
Fast Facts
What
Advertising on roadside digital billboards.
Who
A growing number companies offer advertising on digital billboards as traditional boards are converted over in markets across the country. For this article, Media Life spoke with Clear Channel Outdoor, CBS Outdoor and Lamar Advertising.
How it works
Like traditional billboards, digital boards come in two main sizes: 11-by-23-foot posters, mainly in urban locations near stop lights, and 14-by-48-foot bulletins, mostly near highways.
A key advantage of digital billboards is their much higher visibility, with bright colors and high-resolution images that can be seen from miles away, especially at night.
Another is the enormous flexibility they offer for managing content from a central location via the internet, making it possible to update and change creative with a few keystrokes. Rather than just one image, as with traditional billboards, a limitless number can be cycled through, appearing seconds apart.
An advertiser can change messages at will, and even target by time of day. For example, a restaurant might advertise breakfast or lunch specials during morning rush hour and then push dinner specials during the afternoon.
As more boards go up, the promise is that one day advertisers will be able to launch elaborate campaigns that sweep across the country from market to market, rolling out new products and time-sensitive special offers with ultra-short turnaround times.
But that may be some time off. There are now about 1,400 digital billboards nationwide, which is less than 1 percent of the 450,000 billboards in the U.S., according to Outdoor Advertising Association of America estimates, and that number is expected to grow by only al hundred a year.
Converting over boards to digital is expensive, and they've faced opposition in some communities over safety and aesthetic concerns. Critics contend that drivers are more easily distracted, both by their richer content and the changing images as one ad is swapped out for another.
As of this date, 39 states have passed regulations affecting digital billboards, and the U.S. Department of Transportation has issued guidelines that have been widely adopted by the industry. They include bans against the use of animation or moving video and a recommended duration of at least 8 seconds per image exposure. Typically digital billboards run between six and eight pieces of creative per minute.
Markets
Advertising on digital billboards is now available in most mid-sized and major markets.
Numbers
More than half, 53 percent, of adult travelers noticed digital billboards within a given month during a study conducted late last year in Cleveland by Arbitron. That number rose to 60 percent for travelers 25-54 and 73 percent for those who travel 200 miles or more each week.
The same study found that 64 percent of travelers 18 and older agreed or strongly agreed with the statement: "Digital billboards are a cool way to advertise."
How it is measured
Digital billboards are measured in the same way as traditional boards, using traffic counts from the Traffic Audit Bureau for Media Measurement, which reports how many people 18 or over on average had an opportunity to see a particular billboard, what it calls Daily Effective Circulation (DEC).
What product categories do well
Digital billboards attract local TV stations, restaurants, lottery, radio stations, entertainment, casinos, fast food and auto dealerships because of the opportunity to update creative.
Demographics
The demographic mix of people who see digital billboards is no different than that for traditional billboards, and that's a wide spectrum, considering that just about everyone travels along highways.
But of those who notice digital signage, the number was divided evenly between male and female, according to Arbitron. In age, 7 percent were 18-24; 18 percent 25-34; 23 percent 35-44; 24 percent 45-54; 19 percent 55-64; and 9 percent 65 and older. Some 54 percent had incomes of $50,000 or more, and 32 percent were at $75,000 or above.
In terms of employment, 65 percent worked full time and 11 percent part time, while 13 percent were retired and 5 percent unemployed. Four percent were homemakers and 1 percent students.
Making the buy
Clear Channel Outdoor has 293 digital displays in 26 markets. Pricing for digital billboards varies by market, but in Minneapolis, for example, the four-week rate for one eight-second spot airing once per minute on all eight digital signs in the city is $50,000.
CBS Outdoor has about two dozen digital displays right now, mostly in top-20 markets. A four-week campaign running a 10-second spot once a minute on one sign in Chicago would cost $7,500.
Lamar Advertising has about 1,000 digital displays, mainly in mid-size markets. A one-month campaign on a poster billboard (225 square feet) costs between $1,500 and $2,000.
Who’s already on digital billboards
Digital billboard advertisers include McDonald’s, Fox, Ikea, Mini Cooper, Qdoba Mexican Restaurant, Petiti Garden Center and Liberty Ford Auto Dealership.
What they’re saying
“As an advertising platform, they’re very versatile and allow us to be topical in our advertising. We can change the messages daily and sometimes within the day. So it’s a very effective way to supplement our radio and TV ads.” -- Scott Brady, vice president of creative services and marketing at KMSP Fox 9 in Minneapolis/St. Paul.
Web site info
Clear Channel Outdoor
http://www.clearchanneloutdoor.com
CBS Outdoor
http://www.cbsoutdoor.com
Lamar Advertising
http://www.lamar.com
