To find out how to get your client’s message all aglow, 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 are lit, backlit or intermittently lit using a wireless technology called electroluminescence.

Who
Brand Marketers, headquartered in New York.

How it works
Lighted ads are placed on traditional signage and other media using electroluminescence. The light panels are paper thin, wireless and easily manipulated.

“This can be used on any billboard where conventional power and light are not available,” says creative producer Adam Hollander. “We could use it for ads at a bus stop, on a train, in theaters.”

The displays glow with a brightness that’s comparable to neon signage.

“With this you can backlight or illuminate just a specific area like a box or logo,” Hollander says. “Or the sign could be lit but just the words could blink. Or it could light up and in sequence the tagline can blink and then the name and then the graphic.”

The material used for electroluminescent ads is durable and customizable, Hollander says. It can be used to produce full-color, high-resolution panels of any size for use in creating billboards and even ads on clothing.

“The technology works best with things that can be divided into vectors, like a red, white and blue logo, where each color can be sectioned off. If the shades are hard to separate, we can help the advertiser choose art that would work. We can also have somebody create something new for them,” Hollander says.

Creative placement of the lighting sequence can make the ad appear animated. Electroluminescent ads placed on t-shirts can be any shape or size, and can appear on one or both sides of the garment.

The luminescent t-shirts can be used by street teams, whether handing out samples, riding a branded Segway or working a coffee cart at a convention.

The lighted ads can be used indoors as well as outdoors, Hollander says. “It works great for bars, nightclubs, on the street, in subways and shopping malls.”

Mini-billboards for in-store advertising measure 8 ½ by 11 inches.

Another application is self-adhesive stickers that could be put on giveaways like promotional copies of newspapers and magazines.

“We can create a sticker that would run off a watch battery. They could be used on inserts or bellybands,” Hollander says.

The technology works in normal weather conditions but can be affected by major storms.

Electroluminescence is not to be confused with E Ink or Magink, which also provides illumination, Hollander says. Though they are also used in signage, the technology is not the same.

Markets
Digital Paper Billboards and t-shirts are available in any market, Hollander says.

How it is measured
Measurement is tied to the medium. For instance, traditional reporting methods would be used to track exposure to a billboard.

What product categories do well
Products appealing to the young are especially well suited to this technology.

Demographics
Targeting is a function of the application. So for example, treated t-shirts, typically used in event-based promotions, would be used to reach a young audience.

Making the buy
Lead time is 60 days. The minimum t-shirt order using digital paper is 144 units. There’s no minimum buy for billboards.

Factors that affect cost include the size of the digital paper, the quantity needed, and how long a campaign lasts.

Who’s already using digital paper
The Brand Marketers program is just being launched, 

What they’re saying
“It attracts more attention than a flat image. The revolutionary thing about it is that this is a way to backlight any kind of sign without hardware.” – Adam Hollander, creative producer for New York-based Brand Marketers

Web site info
Brand Marketers at www.brandmarketers.com

Etc.
To read more about t-shirt advertising check the Media Life archives for “Your client on TV (on a T-shirt),” May 24, 2004.