|
|
message at the garage
Great way to reach people on their way to shop
By Kathy Prentice
Just when we thought that every conceivable place to get a message in front of commuters had already been plastered over, advertising is arriving in parking garages, and in a big way.
What were once blank walls in elevator lobbies and waiting areas at entrances and exits are being turned into wallscapes to reach drivers.
Samples and coupons are handed out with tickets as consumers enter a garage. As they wind their way up multiple levels to retrieve their cars, they pass a series of backlit posters and displays.
To find out how to get your client into America’s parking garages and in front of commuters, 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 in parking garages.
Who:
ParkMedia, headquartered in Los Angeles.
How it works:
Options include advertising on signage and tickets, as well as events and displays and sampling.
Signage can be placed on walls, in entrances and elevators and on rooftops of parking structures. Backlighting is available.
Signage is positioned in high-traffic areas like entrances, exits, elevator banks and lobbies.
Digital signage above exit booths run 15- or 30-second commercials interspersed with traffic updates, weather reports and current news.
Kiosks are available at some sites with e-mail access, news, weather, sports and financial market updates and maps and directions supported by advertising on a second screen.
Events and displays can be orchestrated at larger parking facilities involving one or multiple sponsors. For example, a recording company can reach consumers through promotions in parking structures serving concert halls and arenas. New-product launches can be promoted in parking structures serving office buildings.
Sampling is hand-to-hand through parking attendants as consumers enter or leave a lot. Attendants are trained in English and Spanish. Time of day can be targeted. CD-ROMs, DVDs and mini-CD-ROMs can also be distributed.
Met-Rx Nutrition used ParkMedia to distribute two waves of Peanut Butter, Chocolate Graham and Chocolate Chocolate Chip bars to thousands of commuters on North Michigan Avenue in Chicago.
The bars were handed out as commuters left the garage during the early evening.
“We wanted them to have the bars to take with them for extra nutrition on their way out after shopping or work,” says Scott Slade, who placed the ad for Met-Rx.
Tickets can be doubled in size to allow space for branding or couponing. Perforation is also available to create a stand-alone coupon for later redemption. Tickets can be distributed by parking attendants or by machine.
Valet parking tickets are also available for hotels, restaurants and bars that may not have parking facilities. Valet tickets are 10 inches by 3 inches and can be four-color and laminated.
Advertisers most commonly buy more than one venue.
“Whole-market sales are what ParkMedia is built on,” says Janet Levine, founder and chief creative officer.
“It’s the ability to own a market because we own all of the space, including floors, walls, lobbies, signs, tickets, ceilings, rooftops.”
When advertisers buy one venue it’s usually valet parking, Levine says.
Branding, new-product introduction and sampling work well in parking garages, Levine says.
Advertisers sometimes run joint promotions. McGrath Lexus and Klein Creek Golf of metro Chicago are currently running a campaign using valet parking coupons featuring Lexus and including a discount golf offer. Art appears on all portions of the ticket with a segment staying with the car, one with the customer, one with the valet and the golf promotion attaching to the key.
“Advertising is on all the parts of the ticket that the customer sees,” says Penni Godden, director of golf for Klein Creek.
Exclusivity within categories is guaranteed.
ParkMedia handles production, installation and maintenance of advertisements and coordinates sampling campaigns.
Advertisers are typically national brand companies.
The venue isn’t seasonal; however some advertisers target holiday and vacation calendars.
Advertisers can cherry-pick markets down to zip codes, Levine says.
“We can drill down to anything they want. We know the tenant mix in our office buildings and the traffic per day. Advertisers can buy a number of eyeballs, by calendar or by geography.”
Creative is generally provided by the advertiser. ParkMedia can assist with creative.
“Use less than 3 percent in text,” Levine says. “Capture and deliver the message visually with color and design.”
Markets:
Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, Miami, Boston, Atlanta and Seattle are active markets. Check with ParkMedia regarding other market development.
International airports, convention centers, stadiums and arenas, shopping malls, colleges and universities, office buildings, residential, hotels, municipal facilities, medical centers and beaches.
Numbers:
How measured?
Traffic numbers provide general use stats with redemptions measuring impact.
“We can tell what day a person got a ticket (coupon) with a french fry upgrade at McDonald’s,” Levine says. “With sequential and location numbering we have audit control on redemption.”
Parking is the second-largest cash industry in the U.S., after gambling, with expenditures of $32 billion annually, Levine reports.
Reach is 1.25 million per day across 2,000 locations.
ParkMedia garners 1 billion impressions annually.
Research:
What product categories work well?
Automotive, travel, entertainment, technology, fast food, beverage, consumer packaged goods, financial institutions, hotels and fashion. “Golf courses to Hollywood Squares to a new movie release to Disneyland,” Levine says.
Demographics:
“Corporate America with a paycheck is what we go after,” Levine says.
Demographics are targeted by category and lifestyle.
Business and affluent upscale are captured within airports, hotels, office buildings, retail complexes and convention facilities.
Generation X – Z are targeted at municipal facilities, beaches, universities, shopping complexes and sports, entertainment and convention centers.
Healthcare consumers are targeted at hospitals and medical centers.
Ethnic groups are reached by distributing to profiled venues.
Making the buy:
Campaigns are put together by weight, geography or category.
Lead-time ideally is four to six weeks, but a campaign can be delivered into a market in as short a period as three weeks with art in hand.
Delivery of samples takes two weeks or less.
Factors that affect pricing include quantity and contract length. Size and weight are a factor in sampling.
Contracts are 30 days minimum and can be for as long as one year.
Advertisers can change or update creative during a multi-month campaign for the cost of production.
Sales offices are in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.
Los Angeles headquarters at 310/943-4500.
Chicago at 630/617-5611.
New York at 212/792-4278.
Who’s already in parking garages?
Lexus, Met-Rx Nutrition, Klein Creek Golf, Radware Software, Volkswagen, Tellme, earthlink, Wyndham Hotels, BMW, Mercedes Benz, MaxMara and others.
What they’re saying:
“Think POD or point of decision. The average American makes 32 decisions between noon and dinnertime. What to have for dinner. What market to shop at or where to make a reservation. POD merchandising captures people on their way home. They flip over their parking tickets and there’s a pizza coupon and they call and have it delivered by the time they get home. We’re driving people to the point.” -- Janet Levin, founder and CEO of Los Angeles-based ParkMedia
Web site info:
ParkMedia at www.parkmedia.com
July 30, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
-Kathy Prentice writes about out-of-home advertising for Media Life, penning her stories from the resort town of Traverse City, in the upper reaches of Michigan.
Send to a
Friend| Printer-Friendly Version
Cover Page | Contact
Us
