4.2.2. Blimps as an Advertising Medium

Most people enjoy blimps. There is something very special about seeing such a large object meandering in the sky with no apparent goal in mind or haste to get anywhere. Unlike airplanes, which rush inexorably to their destinations, blimps just seem to be there-floating without worries, unconstrained by time, there only for the enjoyment of the observer.

It is perhaps this warm and fuzzy feeling that people get when spotting a blimp that makes them such an attractive advertising medium. When flying above population centers, attention is virtually guaranteed. Who can resist looking at a blimp? And if one cannot resist, the advertiser is assured that consumers will be exposed to the brand name festooned on the blimp. Unlike other advertising media, such as television and magazines, in which the advertiser competes in a cluttered environment for the prospective customer's attention, blimp advertisers have the luxury of an uncluttered clear blue sky.

Growing numbers of advertisers are turning to the blimp as an alternative medium. In addition to its other advantages, blimp advertising also has a relatively low cost. The $350,000-per-month charge for a full-size blimp costs an advertiser approximately the same amount as only one or two 30-second network television commercials or two full-page ads in a single magazine. In addition to the venerable Goodyear blimp, other blimp advertisers include Met Life, Blockbuster, Fuji, Gulf Oil, and Budweiser.

Fuji Photo Film Co. took great delight in being selected as the sole blimp to carry network television cameras in telecasting the World Cup soccer championship that was contested in the United States in 1994. Fuji's marketing executives decided to spend millions of dollars in hopes of reaching the 30 billion (not million) worldwide television viewers who were expected to watch the games. For the worldwide blimp pops – the brief time when a television network shows a blimp floating above a sports arena and gives it a quick plug-Fuji was willing to pay an estimated $20 million. At that price, to reach 30 billion sports fanatics, the cost per thousand amounts to only 67 cents. By comparison, a $250,000 television commercial that reaches 15 million households has a cost per thousand of $12.50. It is little wonder that Fuji and other advertisers see considerable value in blimp advertising.

4.2.3. Billboard Advertising

Although there are a variety of out-of-home advertising vehicles, billboard advertising is the major outdoor medium. Advertising on billboards is designed with name recognition as the primary objective. The major forms of billboard advertising are poster panels and painted bulletins.

Poster Panels. These billboards are what we regularly see alongside highways and in other heavily traveled locales. Posters are silk-screened or lithographed and then brought and pasted in sheets to the billboard. Companies typically sell billboard space on a monthly basis. Posters can be either 8-sheet or 30-sheet, literally designating the number of sheets of paper required to fill the allotted billboard space. An 8-sheet poster is 6'2" high by 12'2" wide, although the actual viewing area is a slightly smaller 5' by 11' (or, in other words, 55 square feet of viewing space). The much larger 30-sheet poster is 12'3" high by 24'6" wide, with a 9'7" by 21'7" viewing area (or approximately 207 square feet of viewing space).

Painted Bulletins. Painted bulletins are hand painted directly on the billboard by artists hired by the billboard owner. Standard bulletins measure 14 feet high by 48 feet wide and represent a total viewing space of 672 square feet. These bulletins are generally repainted every several months to provide a fresh look. Advertisers typically purchase these large bulletins for a one- to three-year period with the objective of achieving a consistent and relatively permanent presence in heavily traveled locations.

Outdoor advertising is purchased through companies that own billboards, called plant. Plants are located in all major markets throughout the nation. Companies like Gannett an Gateway are some of the larger plants that have operations in multiple metropolitan area To simplify the national advertiser's task of buying outdoor space in multiple market! buying organizations, or agents, facilitate the purchasing of outdoor space at location throughout the country.

Plants have historically sold poster advertising space in terms of so-called showings. A showing is the percent of the population that is theoretically exposed to an advertiser's billboard message. Showings are quoted in increments of 25 and are designated as #25, #50, #75, and #100. The designation #50, for example, means that 50 percent of the popu­lation in a particular market is expected on any given workday to pass the billboards on which an advertiser's message is posted.

In recent years plants have converted to gross rating points (GRPs) as the metric for quoting poster prices. As discussed thoroughly in the following chapter, GRPs represent the percentage and frequency of an audience being reached by an advertising vehicle. Specifically, one outdoor GRP means reaching 1 percent of the population in a particular market a single time. Outdoor GRPs are based on the daily duplicated audience as a percentage of the total potential market. For example, if four billboards in a community of 200,000 people achieve a daily exposure to 80,000 persons, the result is 40 gross rating points. As with traditional showings, GRPs are sold in blocks of 25, with 100 and 50 being the two most-purchased levels.

Outdoor Advertising's Strengths

A major strength of outdoor advertising is its broad reach and high frequency levels. Outdoor advertising is effective in reaching virtually all segments of the population. The number of exposures is especially high when signs are strategically located in heavy-traffic areas.

Another advantage is geographic flexibility. Outdoor advertising can be strategically positioned to supplement other advertising efforts in select geographic areas where advertising support is most needed. Low cost per thousand is another advantage. Outdoor advertising is the least expensive advertising medium on a cost-per-thousand basis. Because outdoor advertising is literally bigger than life, product identification is substantial. The ability to use large representations offers marketers excellent opportunities for brand and package identification.

Outdoor advertising also provides an excellent opportunity to reach consumers as a last reminder before purchasing. This explains why frequently purchased products and services (like cigarettes, soft drinks, beer, and restaurants) are the heaviest users of outdoor advertising. Advertisers in these categories hope to have their brands seen just prior to the consumer's brand choice.

Outdoor Advertising's Limitations

A significant problem with outdoor advertising is nonselective. Outdoor advertising can be geared to general groups of consumers (e.g., inner-city residents) but cannot pinpoint specific market segments (say, professional African-American men between the ages of 25 and 39). Advertisers must turn to other advertising media (such as radio and magazines) to pinpoint audience selection.

Short exposure time is another drawback. "Now you see it, now you don't" appropriately characterizes the fashion in which outdoor advertising engages the consumer's attention. For this reason, outdoor messages that have to be read are less effective than predominantly visual ones.

It also is difficult to measure outdoor advertising's audience. The lack of verified audience measurement is regarded by some as a significant impediment that must be overcome if outdoor advertising is to become a more widely used advertising medium»

A final outdoor advertising problem involves environmental concerns. Billboards, the so-called "pollution on a stick», have been banned in some manner by six states and more than 1,000 local governments.