Types of Outdoor Advertising
by
Charles Lamson
To buy outdoor advertising effectively, the media planner must understand its advantages and disadvantages and the types of structures available. Standardized structures come in three basic forms: bulletins, 30-sheet poster panels, and eight-sheet posters. For extra impact, some companies may use the nonstandard spectacular.
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Bulletins Where traffic is heavy and visibility is good, advertisers find that large bulletin structures work best, especially for long-term use. Bulletins measure 14 by 48 feet, plus any extensions, and may carry either painted or printed messages. They are created in sections in the plant's (Plants are outdoor ad structures owned and maintained by outdoor advertising companies.) shop and then brought to the site, where they are assembled and hung on the billboard structure. 
Painted displays are normally lighted and are repainted several times each year (color is very important for readability; see Table 1). Some bulletins are three-dimensional or embellished by extensions (or cutouts) that stretch beyond the frames of the structure. Variations include cutout letters, back lighting, moving messages, and electronic time and temperature units called jump clocks.
Painted bulletins are very costly, but some advertisers overcome this expense by rotating them to different choice locations in the market in every 60 or 90 days. Over time this gives the impression of wider coverage than the advertiser is actually paying for. The dominating effect of bulletins frequently make them well worth the extra cost---especially in small markets.
Poster Panels
The 30-sheet poster panel (standard billboard) is less costly per unit and is the basic outdoor advertising structure. A poster consists of blank panels with a standardized size and border. Its message is first printed at a lithography or screen plant on large sheets of paper, then mounted by hand on the panel.
Poster sales are referred to in terms of sheets. The poster sheets are mounted on a board with a total surface of 12 by 25 feet and usually change every 30 days.
Some local advertisers get high-quality outdoor advertising at reduced cost by using stock posters. These ready-made 30-sheet posters are available in any quantity and often feature the work of first-class artists and lithographers. Local florists, dairies, banks, or bakeries simply place their name in the appropriate spot.
Eight-Sheet Posters
Manufacturers of grocery products, as well as many local advertisers, use smaller poster sizes. Called eight-sheet posters (or junior panels), these offer a 5- by 11-foot printing area on a panel surface 6 feet high by 12 feet wide. They are typically concentrated in urban areas, where they can reach pedestrian as well as vehicular traffic. In an integrated marketing communications campaign, they are also an excellent medium for coverage close to the point of purchase.
Spectaculars
Times Square in New York is known for its spectaculars---giant electric signs that incorporate movement, color, and flashy graphics to grab attention in high traffic areas. Spectaculars are very expensive to produce and are found primarily in the world's largest cities, such as Tokyo, London, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and, of course, Las Vegas.
Buying Outdoor Advertising
Advertisers use outdoor advertising for a variety of purposes. For example, to introduce a new product or announce a change in package design, an advertiser might want to saturate the market. Outdoor advertising makes broad coverage possible---overnight. For a small portion of its total media budget, for example, Saturn was able to buy 400 billboards and dominate the outdoor medium in the important California market, contributing significantly to the success of the car's introduction. California is the state with the most import car owners, Saturn's key competitive target.
The basic unit of sale for billboards or posters is 100 gross rating points daily, or a 100 showing. One rating point equals one percent of a particular market's population. Buying 100 gross rating points does not mean the message will appear on 100 posters; it means the message will appear on as many panels as needed to provide a daily exposure theoretically equal to the market's total population. Actually, a showing of 100 gross rating points achieves a daily reach of about 88 percent of the adults in a market over a 30-day period. For less saturation, units of sale can be expressed as fractions of the basic unit, such as 75, 50, or 25 gross rating points. If a showing provides 750,000 total impression opportunities daily in a market with a population of 1 million, it delivers 75 GRPs daily. Over a period of 30 days, the showing would earn 2,250 GRPs (30 X 75).
Location, Location, Location
As in real estate, location is everything in outdoor advertising. Advertisers that want more saturation can increase the number of posters or purchase better locations to achieve 200 or 300 GRPs per day. To achieve a 100 showing in Baton Rouge, Lamar Outdoor Advertising would place 30-sheet posters along all major traffic arteries, facing in both directions. Rates vary considerably from market to market due to variations in property rentals, labor costs, and market size. Locations in larger markets with high traffic volume have higher rates. However, as a rule of thumb, a standard billboard costs around $500 per month. At that rate, billboards still offer the lowest cost per thousand (an average of $1.45 for 30 weekly GRPs) of any mass medium.
Technology in Outdoor Advertising
In the past it was always a problem for a media buyer in New York to adequately supervise the posting of outdoor boards in Peoria, Illinois. A buyer cannot just jump on a plane and travel to all the cities where the client's boards are posted to verify the value of the locations. Fortunately, though, new technology has helped solve the dilemma and has thus made outdoor an even more attractive medium to national advertisers. Today, outdoor companies use global positioning systems (GPS) to give the exact location of particular boards using satellite technology. Media buyers, equipped with sophisticated software, can then integrate this information with demographic market characteristics and traffic counts to determine the best locations for their boards.
Some outdoor companies even provide digitized video of their locations so the buyer can see the actual board and the environment in which it is located. Bar coding technology allows materials to be tracked, posted, and authenticated, all by computer. Computerized painting on flexible vinyl guarantees a high-quality, high-resolution, faithful reproduction of the advertiser's message regardless of the market. Additional advances include the use of LED technology on billboards. Because LED screens can change instantly, advertisers can connect better with consumers by displaying up-to-the minute messages that can be fine-tuned or updated depending on the time of day.
Regulation of Outdoor Advertising
The Highway Beautification Act of 1965 controls outdoor advertising on U.S. interstate highways and other federally subsidized highways. It was enacted partly in response to consumer complaints that outdoor advertising was spoiling the environment. Over 700,000 billboards were removed by 1991, the year Congress banned the construction of new billboards on all scenic portions of interstate highways. Since that time, the image of outdoor advertising has improved dramatically, and most people say they like billboards, believe they promote business, and find them useful travel information for drivers.
Each state also regulates, administers, and enforces outdoor advertising permit programs through its department of transportation. Some states (Maine, Vermont, Hawaii, and Alaska) prohibit billboards altogether. Ironically, though, some of these states use outdoor advertising themselves in other states to promote tourism.
*SOURCE: CONTEMPORARY ADVERTISING 11TH. ED., 2008, WILLIAM F. ARENS, MISCHAEL F. WEIGOLD, CHRISTIAN ARENS, PGS. 580-591*
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