Fast Facts

What

Innovations are changing the way building wraps are used.

Who

For this article, Media Life spoke with Jax, headquartered in Hawthorne, Calif., and Bold Outdoor Media, headquartered in San Francisco.

How it works

   Images are printed on a variety of materials, including X-TEX™ from Jax, which is invisible from the inside of the building. 
   Traditional wraps are made of perforated vinyl or mesh, depending on what material they are applied to. Wraps are applied to portions of office buildings, sports venues, convention centers, airports, atriums, shopping malls and storefronts.
    Jax's new application is applied in 20 square feet to 20,000-plus square feet images on glass and other transparent surfaces with the advertising image visible on the outside and invisible from the building’s interior, says COO Peter Donnelly.
   Bold Outdoor Media is in the forefront of clustering traditional vinyl wrap ads on buildings in one market to promote an event or product. 
    “What we’ve found is that there are a lot of rogue advertisers invading events, so we’re focusing on creating a clean zone by utilizing units at and around an arena or event to create a community atmosphere that fans walk through,” says Dave Reich, vice president and director of sales.  
    For Saturday’s NBA (National Basketball League) All-Star game in Atlanta, Bold Outdoor installed a 4,000 square foot NBA branding message at the entrance to Philips Arena and a 7,500 square foot message on the Omni Hotel. Additionally, four NBA sponsors installed wraps in nine nearby locations, including a construction site.  
   Images, logos and text can be used.
   Creative is usually provided by the advertiser. Media companies will often provide a mock-up of what existing creative will look like in wrap format.
   A well-known logo or image by itself works well, Donnelly says. “For instance, a company like Microsoft could picture their butterfly and everyone would recognize it.”
   Some advertisers choose a several-thousand square foot image with their logo or signature at the bottom or edge.
   Images often reflect the venue, Reich says. For the All-Star game the NBA chose to commemorate the history of basketball. Advertisers like Nike, Reebok and American Express utilized the images of players to promote their products during the campaign, which launched a week prior to the game and will remain up for two more weeks.
   Jax X-TEM is a two-color application on the exterior and invisible or undetectable from the interior. 
   Color combinations that are currently available through Jax are silver and blue or silver and purple.
   “Two limitations to the technology are that it’s a 12-hour application, not 24-hour, and it’s two color,” Donnelly says. 
   “But our two-color is also an advantage when high-end properties don’t want in-your-face four-color ads and find that our two-color product can be integrated, often elegantly, into the architecture of the building.” 
   Perforated vinyl applications can be photo-quality four-color images. From the inside the wrap creates a light tinted effect, which doesn’t block the view. “You look through as if it’s tinted glass,” Reich says.
   Weather is not a factor in wrap use. “We installed HotJobs at the Javits Center when the temperature was 33 or 34 degrees and it was snowing,” Donnelly says. 
   Perforated vinyl can be installed in 40 degrees plus weather. Wind can be a deterrent during installation, but not once the wrap has been applied.
   Branding is the primary goal of advertisers using building wraps.
   Advertisers using the application on locations like airports and convention centers are primarily national brands, Donnelly says. Signage on individual businesses like car dealerships is going to appeal to regional and local advertisers.

Markets

   Jax is currently in New York, Los Angeles and Rome with Atlantic City soon available.
   Bold Outdoor Media is in Atlanta and New Orleans as well as in East and West coast markets.

How measured?

   JAX uses a combination of measurement tools, according to partner Chris Donnelly. They start by using TAB data along primary and secondary arteries and adjust it for non-illumination, the basic difference between a 12-hour and an 18-hour measurement. Other traffic, specifically pedestrians in high-volume areas near convention centers, is then factored in to come up with a DEC (daily effective circulation) estimate.
   Quality of impressions is also factored in, according to Donnelly. To do this, Jax looks at the size of the image and subsequent increase in viewing time from a standard billboard. They also look at the audience, because their applications are often at locations like convention centers where a specific demographic group is more easily targeted than in general out of home.
   Attendance and tourism figures can be used to quantify exposure during the type of event-centered campaigns that Bold Outdoor Media is producing.

What product categories do well?

   Anything that works well for traditional outdoor will work with this medium, which was launched during the dot.com heyday.
   Jax won’t do tobacco or firearms, or in some cases alcohol, Donnelly says. Building owners may place prohibitions on categories.

Demographics

   Targeting a demographic is similar to any outdoor application, Donnelly says.

Making the buy

   Jax: Lead-time is four to six weeks with creative in hand. Three-month installations are minimum, unless the ad is for an event like the Super Bowl, Donnelly says.
   Factors that affect cost include size of installation, location and complexity of the image. Volume decreases cost.
   Production of installations in the 200 square feet range cost approximately $30 per square foot. Larger images, up to 2,500 square feet cost $23 per square foot. The cost decreases with the size of the image and increases with the complexity, Donnelly says.
   Jax does production, installation and removal.  Installation and removal costs are in addition to production prices.

   Bold Outdoor Media: Lead-time varies from market to market and in some cases depends on what permits must be acquired prior to installation.
   One-thousand square foot installations are minimum.  There is no maximum.
   Factors that affect pricing include size, length of campaign, market and location. Installation and removal are in addition to production costs.

Who’s already on building wraps?

   Sirius, HotJobs.com, Rome International Airport, NBA, Nike, Reebok and American Express are recent advertisers.

What they’re saying

   “It is an unusual and interruptive way to reach people.  Media that is unusual and relevant is of interest to HotJobs. Because the space is at the (Javits) convention center we feel that besides reaching job seekers, we are also reaching corporate decision makers. Many conventions are HR related or have C-level executives at them. Keeping our name in front of these people in a venue that is convention-focused is important.” – Marc Karasu, vice president of advertising and marketing for HotJobs.com

Web site info

Jax at www.jax.net

Bold Outdoor Media at www.boldoutdoor.com

Etc.

   Ads on the rear windows of taxicabs and on sunglasses are also applications for X-TEM from Jax.

February 10, 2003© 2003 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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