Fast Facts

What
 Advertising messages written across the sky.

Who
   Media Life talked with three companies, each specializing in a different type of skywriting.
   Aviad, headquartered in Boston, has done extensive image reproduction, in addition to traditional messages.
   Skytypers, with offices in California, New York and Florida, types messages in block letters.. 
   Aerial Sign, headquartered in Hollywood, Fla., does traditional skywriting and has branched out into graphics.

How it works
   Specially equipped planes trail messages across the sky. 
   Traditional skywriting is accomplished by a single plane, maneuvering through the sky to form letters.  The white smoke that remains like writing across the sky is composed of a special oil, which combines with the plane’s exhaust.
   The same process is used to create images that stand alone, like a logo, or that accompany a written message.
   Skytyping messages unfold like dot matrix printing across the sky.  The process is run by computers, says Greg Stinis, company president and son of skytyping inventor, Andy Stinis.  “Pilots fly the planes in formation and the flight leader controls the computer, pushing the start button at the right time to form each letter.”
   Air messages are often targeted at sports events and concerts, beaches and commuter traffic or can be aimed at a general audience.
   “A single writing is readable over a five or six mile radius,” says Jim Butler, president of Aerial Sign.
   Typed messages are typically larger and are visible for 15 miles in any direction, Stinis says.
   Skywriting can be done year round, even in cold climates, says Wayne Mansfield, Aviad president. “Typically September and October tend to be the best months.  We sometimes travel city to city, following the weather across the country.”
   Creative varies with the type of skywriting and is generally provided by the advertiser.  The skywriting company can provide creative advice. 
   Images and logos can be used with skytyping as well as with skywriting. “It’s everything a billboard is except it’s 1,000 times bigger,” Stinis says.
   Branding is the primary goal of skywriting.  Advertisers may choose to write their company name or contact information like a URL or phone number, or to re-create their logo.
   Skytypers also have been used for product promotions and sampling.  For instance, an advertiser can print the winning number of a promotional contest in the sky.
   Skytyping messages are approximately eight miles long. Each character is over 1,500 feet tall.  A 20 to 25-character message is what Stinis suggests for skytyping.  “If there’s a need to say more, or include something like a phone number or web site, use another message.”
   Skytyping is carried out by a squadron of planes that are coordinated to print different segments of the message simultaneously. Every four seconds a new letter or logo is finished. “The average aerial billboard is five miles long and hangs in the air five to ten minutes,” Stinis says.
   Images are much more complex than the standard Valentine heart. “We did the feet of God walking across the sky in Boston and a comet traveling across the sky from the Statue of Liberty to Manhattan Island,” Mansfield says.
   “We’ve done dolphins and sea gulls and once, three intersecting triangles over the ocean to simulate the Bermuda Triangle,” Butler says. 
   Aviad and Aerial Signs have both been involved in projects to create live performance art in the skies. 
   Skytyping offers a number of promotions along with types airborne messages.  They include painting the fleet of six aircraft with the client’s logo and putting the logo on the pilots’ suits.
   The standard is still the written message, Butler says.  Traditional aerial writing takes an average of 30 seconds a letter to write.  Weather and wind conditions dictate how long the message will linger in the sky.
   Advertisers are almost always national companies, Mansfield says.
   Trickle-down media coverage occurs frequently.  “This becomes a media event,” Butler says.  “When we did a “$56 million” campaign for the Virginia lottery there was a TV camera waiting every place we landed.”
   It’s hard for crowds not to watch once the writing begins, Stinis says.
   Skywriting is often part of a media mix, combined with broadcast.

Markets
   Aviad operates “pretty much anywhere” in the U.S., Mansfield says.  Primary markets are east and west coasts.  “Typically movie ads break in Los Angeles and New York followed by Philadelphia, Chicago, Dallas, Boston, San Diego and San Francisco.”
   Aerial Signs operates anywhere on the Atlantic Coast, throughout the Northeast down into Florida, Butler says.  National campaigns are a possibility.
   Skytypers operates coast to coast, appearing over events like the 1984 Olympics, Rose Parade and Rose Bowl games, Indianapolis 500 and the Boston Marathon.  Offices are operated in California, New York and Florida.
   Skytypers operates an event calendar featuring suggested venues by the month.  For example, January includes the Super Bowl, February has Valentine’s Day, March is St. Patrick’s Day and April offers Passover and Easter greetings. 
   Post 9/11 restrictions prohibit skywriting in air space over Washington D.C. “But we can fly 20 miles outside of the city and the message is still visible there,” Mansfield says.

Numbers
   How measured? Sales at ticketed events and crowd estimates at parade and other public events are used.
   When URLs and telephone numbers are the skywritten message, response can be measured.  “It can turn into a problem,” Butler says.  “One company that had their phone number written in the sky handled 7,800 phone calls over the next three days, with only three incoming lines.”
   “It’s not a measured medium.  However, it is very impactful,” Mansfield says.  “At an L.A. beach with 1.2 million people, there are very few who are not going to see you.”

What product categories do well?
    Entertainment – especially movie premieres—do well.  Also, automotive manufacturers, soft drinks, alcoholic beverages, Internet, travel, packaged goods including candy and personal care items like suntan lotion.
   Public service announcements as well as sponsored reproductions of works of art use the medium.
   “Everything works to a degree,” Stinis says.  “We advertised Wonder Bra and the owner called and said to cut it short because they were totally sold out.”

Demographics
   Demographics can be targeted.  For example, a message can be placed in the sky over a sports arena as fans are seated or at the site of a trade show.
   “If you want to reach an Hispanic market we can go into neighborhoods and type in their language,” Stinis says.  “We can reach young crowds at beaches.  We know where the people live and what they do.” 
   “It’s really a kids’ medium,” Butler says.  “You can drive through a neighborhood and watch the ball games stop while kids look up in the sky and wonder what’s coming next.”

Making the buy
   Aviad: Campaigns are based on the number of showings per location in addition to number of locations. 
   Lead-time depends on weather and availability, with shorter time frames on both coasts, Mansfield says.  “If you called today and wanted to be in Los Angeles tomorrow, the answer would be ‘yes.’  If you wanted Chicago, it would take several days to get an airplane there.”
   Pricing is determined by flight with a usual cost of $4,500 per flight.

    Aerial Sign: Cost factors include the number of letters and flights.  “A seven-letter message could be put up for $500,” Butler says.
   Cost per impression is estimated at $.0163 per impression.
   Lead-time can be as short as the same day, Butler says.  Ideal time for a national campaign is two months.

   Skytypers: Lead-time suggested is two weeks, but can be cut much shorter, Stinis says.
   Skytyping can be bought in bulk or clusters of messages that will be distributed over a period of time over selected events.
   Typically, one message of up to 20 letters or characters costs $1,000.  Two messages go for $1,800 or $900 each and each of six go for $850.  With ten messages the price drops to $800 each and at the twenty-five mark they go for $750 each.
   Contracts are generally for a minimum of ten signs, Stinis says. 

Who’s already up in the sky?
   Cadillac, Buick, MGM, Universal Studios, Budweiser, Lycos, Tootsie Rolls, Pepsi, Dunkin' Donuts, Heineken, Japan Airlines, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Aqua Fresh Toothpaste, Toyota, Disneyland, General Foods, The History Channel and the U.S. Postal Service.

Web site info:
Skytypers at www.skytypers.com

Aerial Sign at www.aerialsign.com

Aviad at www.aviad.com

June 24, 2002© 2002 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.

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