The 7th Annual Sunset Strip/Times Square Billboard Awards were presented last Thursday evening in West Hollywood with the two top awards, billboard of the year and tall wall of the year, going to creative on the Strip.

Winners in categories including fashion, entertainment and consumer goods, as well as the overall winners, were chosen from nearly 50 finalists. The agencies, art directors and creative directors were all honored.

To better acquaint readers with billboard and tall wall properties on the Sunset Strip, our focus will be on two of the media companies displaying the honored entries. 

To find out how to get your client’s message on the Sunset Strip, read on. This is one in a Media Life series on buying the new out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.

Fast Facts

Who
There are several media companies offering signage on the Sunset Strip. For this article, Media Life spoke with CBS Outdoor and Van Wagner Outdoor Advertising.

How it works
Ads are placed on billboards and tall walls along the 1.2 mile Sunset Strip in West Hollywood.

Location is what the Sunset Strip is about. “Occupancy on the strip is higher than anywhere,” says Los Angeles-based Van Wagner real estate manager Peter Raulli. “There’s a lot more demand than supply.”

The city of Los Angeles strictly controls outdoor advertising in terms of number and types of signage. Most billboards measure 24 feet by 48 feet, says West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce CEO Mindy Bradish.

Since advertisers typically contract for months rather than weeks, creative often rotates.

“For instance, movie studios budget for their films to be up for four to six to eight weeks, so when they lock up a location for 12 months they rotate their films in and out. High fashion advertisers like Armani will change their board five or six times a year,” Raulli says.

Markets
The Sunset Strip in Los Angeles and Times Square in New York are the focus of this feature, though the featured media companies have properties in other markets. Links to their web sites are provided below.

Numbers
CBS Outdoor has 21 billboards and three tall walls on Sunset Strip. Van Wagner has 10 billboards, one tall wall and a Videotron on the strip. Overall, there are 100-plus billboards on the Strip, according to the Chamber’s Bradish.

How it is measured
Standard out-of-home measurement is used based on vehicular traffic as measured by the Traffic Audit Bureau.

What product categories do well
Fashion, entertainment and beverages are top categories, Bradish says. Magazines, automotive, airlines, consumer electronics, consumer goods and services, cosmetics and jewelry are also found on the Sunset Strip.

"A lot of foreign products based here advertise here,” Raulli says. “Automobiles, both foreign and domestic, are a huge category.”

Demographics
“The Sunset Strip is the place to be seen to reach the hip and trendy, Hollywood entertainment, fashion, stars, tourists, hipsters, you name it,” Fox says.

Making the buy
CBS Outdoor: Most properties are sold on a monthly basis, and lead time is two to four months and can run even longer. Campaigns run at least a month and can go as long as a year. Creative can be changed.

Van Wagner: Most properties are sold on a 12-month basis, and lead time varies with location. Advertisers stay with some properties for years. Creative can be rotated.

Who’s already on Sunset Strip billboards and tall walls

2006 billboard award finalists and winners:
CBS Outdoor features finalists Showtime, Gap, iPod, Lifetime, USA Network, HBO, Roca Wear, Coca Cola, Jack Daniels, Sony Pictures, Discovery Channel, Johnnie Walker and CBS Television Network.

Van Wagner features Sprint’s finalist entry in Times Square.

What they’re saying
“It’s the one place where you can introduce cutting-edge ad campaigns. It’s hip, fresh, where all the action is.” -Tim Fox, tall wall manager for CBS Outdoor

Web site info
CBS Outdoor at www.cbsoutdoor.com

Van Wagner at www.vanwagner.com

Etc.
Billboard of the Year was awarded to “Weeds” from Showtime by Larry Merritt and Michael Hathaway for Showtime, The Red Group on CBS Outdoor on the Sunset Strip.

Tall Wall of the Year was awarded to “Glove Tree (GAP)” by Trey Laird and John Camilleri for Starcom on CBS Outdoor on the Sunset Strip.

Other winners included: “Play House” for Domino Magazine was the consumer goods and services category winner on a Clear Channel Outdoor property. HEAT was the agency, Anna Rowland was the art director and Steve Stone was the creative director.

“New Orleans” for Southern Comfort was the beverage winner from the Brown Forman Advertising agency on a Clear Channel location.

For other winners see the web site Sunset Strip/Times Square Billboard Awards at www.billboardawards.com

See the Media Life archives “Your client hanging on the Sunset Strip,” Aug. 1, 2005, for coverage of last year’s awards.