Should Your Company Be Using Social Networking?

In a recent Adweek article, Joseph Jaffe uses an interesting analogy. When you visit a store, you walk in, browse the shelves, talk to a sales associate, learn about the products, and if you find something of value, you buy it. Once, you've purchased the product, you take it home where it can be seen by your friends and family, and when they ask you about it, you can send them to the store to get one for themselves.

The point is, your website is a point of origin, not a destination. You don't want people to move into your store. You want them to visit, learn, and take something home with them where their friends and family can be exposed to what you've got to offer. In the online world, people's "homes" are their Facebook pages and Twitter feeds. It's important for you to give your customer a reason and way to take pieces of what you offer into their own digital "homes."

While keeping in touch with people is the most obvious purpose of sites like Facebook and Twitter, there are so many other functions. Now that I'm on both, readers can publish my articles to their profiles, which will be displayed for their friends to read and share. Advertisers can get immediate updates on new billboard locations or short-term promotions. It even creates the opportunity for interactive experiences, such as a scavenger hunt where people would look to the digital billboards for clues, come back and post their findings to compete for a prize.

While I wouldn't necessarily recommend social networking to every type of business, Mr. Jaffe's article is certainly an interesting read.

Digital Outdoor Art Exhibition

UPDATE: The deadline to submit artwork to be displayed on the digital billboards is Thursday, May 21st. The exhibition will begin on Monday, May 25th and will run for two weeks. Check back here for updates and links to artist information.


The Tampa Bay area is home to many talented local artists. There are dozens of museums and galleries that proudly show off our local talent to visitors from around the world.

Clear Channel Outdoor owns 13 beautiful, backlit canvases across the bay area that we would like to make available as "easels" for our local talent. We will be using available space on our digital billboard network for Tampa Bay's first digital billboard art exhibit. The traffic that passes by our digital network offers exposure opportunities of more than 500,000 adults per day. It's a captive audience that will have an opportunity to see the artwork on display, and head to our website to read profiles and interviews with the local artists themselves.

This exhibition will last for two weeks, and space will be limited. We are tentatively scheduling future showings to allow as many artists to participate as possible. Please help us to spread the word about this initiative. Forward this article to anyone who may be able to put us in contact with artists who would like to take advantage of this free opportunity.

Banking + LED Signs: A Rich History

Ever since the advent of LED signage, banks and financial institutions have been using the technology in front of their branches to display interest rates, promotional information and often, the current time and temperature. The signs draw attention to the particular bank and its offerings.

While the digital signage industry has evolved and improved exponentially over the past few years, the need for banks to broadcast rates and be seen by standing out hasn't changed at all. I was surprised that the banking industry didn't jump on-board with digital billboards sooner. Many of us would have predicted that they would lead the charge since they've embraced the concept of changeable-message signage for years.

It took some time, but banking has become one of digital outdoor's strongest categories. And judging by the designs that are being displayed, I'd say the current economic climate has played a big part in the upswing. We've had banks advertising 30-year mortgage rates, zero closing cost mortgages and lots of positive image campaigns. It's encouraging to see our new technology being utilized brilliantly to help the banking industry through these tough times.

Using Advertising To Keep Customers Happy

Auto dealerships are offering a year of free gas with the purchase of a new car. Restaurants are advertising dinner for two at under $20. "Buy One, Get One" has become a common phrase plastered across storefront windows. Added value is a necessity during tough economic times.

While the primary goal of advertising is generating new business, it's vital to keep your current customers happy and coming back for more. Take a minute to consider how you can utilize your advertising investments to give back to your customers.

With the flexibility that digital outdoor provides, I can think of lots of "added value" opportunities. Flower shops and candy stores could have each customer fill out a special message that could be displayed for the recipient of the bouquet or box of chocolates. Car dealers could take a picture of each buyer next to their new ride and post it with a "thank you" message on the billboard. Restaurants could post a message for patrons celebrating a birthday or anniversary.

Experts recommend that businesses maintain or increase their ad spend during tough economic times. Allow your advertising dollars to achieve multiple goals by reaching out for new business and enhancing your current customer's buying experience.

Local Pharmacy Uses Billboards to Catch Robber

Last week, one of our advertisers, The Medicine Shoppe on SR 54 in Pasco County, was robbed. Pharmacist Benjamin Benoit fought off the two robbers, prying the shotgun out of the criminal's hands and the men fled without any money or drugs. The two masked men have been linked to a series of recent crimes including a carjacking which left a 71-year-old woman pistol-whipped and bleeding in a Ross parking lot.

In an effort to help with the apprehension of the perpetrators, Clear Channel Outdoor has offered two of our digital billboards in Tampa to generate leads in the case. A surveillance photo, as well as the phone number for the Pasco County Sheriff's department, will be displayed reaching thousands of motorists travelling Dale Mabry Hwy in Tampa. A copy of the design is pictured below.

Billboards Powered by Twitter

Everyone is talking about Twitter these days. Lots of companies see the value in using the site to inform their customers about breaking news, special offers, etc. I did a quick search and found that many local advertisers using Twitter are broadcasting their updates to 300 or 400 followers.

Here's a thought- what if you could go beyond the relatively small crowd of internet-savy Twitter users, and broadcast your updates to over 500,000 people each day? Digital billboards have the ability to display content from the web, automatically updating the headline on the billboard when it changes on the website. So, any Twitter account could be linked and broadcast via the digital boards. Essentially, this would give advertisers the power to change their message from anywhere, at any time, from their PC or even from a mobile phone.

In tough economic times, businesses must adapt early and change often. It's important to have a means of keeping current and potential customers aware of these changes and excited about your brand. Online advertising can achieve this, but reaches a limited audience, whereas digital outdoor takes that flexibility to a mass market level.

Click the links below to see how local businesses are currently using Twitter for marketing:

Lowry Park Zoo
Creative Loafing
Hooters
Tampa Bay Rays
MOSI
TBPAC
USF Football
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa Bay Lightning

Do Digital Billboards Cause Traffic Accidents?

A comprehensive study was conducted in Minnesota to determine whether digital billboards are a dangerous distraction to drivers. The results were released Monday, concluding that the changeable-message signs do not pose any significant threat.

Data was gathered and analyzed from over 18,000 accidents over a 5-year period. Researchers concluded that no relationship existed between accidents and the placement of digital billboards. In fact, there were an average of 4% fewer accidents within a half mile of each digital sign location.

The report follows a 2007 study conducted in Cleveland (the first Clear Channel market to build a digital billboard network) which also concluded that digital billboards don't cause accidents. The Cleveland study, conducted by Virginia Tech's Transportation Institute, focused on billboards placed on highways and interstates. The Minnesota study was conducted by Tantala Associates, and primarily looked at signs located on surface streets.

"This study is more evidence that these valuable advertising and public service tools belong in forward thinking communities," said Nancy Fletcher, CEO and president of the Outdoor Advertising Association of America. "The evidence is clear: digital billboards are not related to traffic accidents."

I will be the first to profess that digital billboards succeed at grabbing your attention. That's what makes them so effective. But they draw your attention to your surroundings outside the car, while radios, iPods, and Blackberries take your eyes away from the road and place your focus inside the vehicle.

What do you think? Post your feedback in the comments section.

Combining Two Emerging Forms of Media

Yesterday, the digital out-of-home media company Adcentricity announced that it will offer an in-house mobile marketing solution. The move is creating a lot of industry buzz because it helps to legitimize the prediction that over the next few years, digital outdoor, internet and mobile will combine to create a "triad of emerging new media."

I've been pondering this idea for quite some time, actually. We created a partnership last spring with a local mobile marketing company that allows our advertisers to combine the two mediums. The picture above shows how the two could work together by allowing a car dealership to send special offers or "digital coupons" to interested customers. It's important to note that the target audience must be pedestrian traffic or passengers, since drivers can't be expected to remember the prompt until they have a chance to respond.

For the first time, billboards can create dialogue with consumers and extend their message beyond the small window of time a consumer has to view the billboard itself. Insurance companies could send local rates for customers who text in their zip codes. Sports teams could hold contests by posting a different trivia question each day on the billboards, prompting fans to text in their answers. It's a concept that is just begging to be explored by advertisers looking to reach out to customers in exciting new ways...

Let There Be Lights!

(Click image to enlarge)

Yesterday morning, our crew fired up the new 12'x25' digital poster on Dale Mabry, South of Fletcher. The board reaches Northbound traffic on Tampa's longest road, and provides exposure opportunities of more than 45,000 adults 18+ per day.

The new location is the first of its size in the Tampa market, providing advertisers with a lower price point for the state-of-the-art digital technology. The addition will mark the first time traditional 30-sheet poster advertisers will have the option of using a digital poster in conjunction with their static posters. Four of the eight slots will be used for these hybrid campaigns, and the other four will be sold as standalone digital units. Aside from the flexibility of changeable messaging with no production costs, this location also gives poster advertisers coverage in the highly sought-after Carrollwood area.

The first three advertisers (State Farm Insurance, David Weekley Homes & Piccadilly Restaurant) are up and running now, and each one looks fantastic on the shiny new structure.

The Changing Landscape

One of the classic pairings in mixed-media expenditures is Radio+Outdoor. I can remember several instances when I've heard a radio ad while driving, only to pass a corresponding ad for the same product on a billboard a few minutes later. More recently, radio stations have used digital billboards to show a live feed of what song is currently playing. The combination of multiple mediums in an advertising campaign always serves to make your product more memorable, and gives you greater credibility in the eye of the consumer.

It has been said that the triad of new media consists of internet, digital outdoor and mobile media. The measurability, flexibility, immediacy and intimacy of these mediums are elevating them from peripheral forms of advertising, to legitimate ways for advertisers to move the needle. The technology itself sets the creative mind reeling with ideas on how it can be used, but we've barely scratched the surface of what's possible. There's a great opportunity right now for advertisers and agencies to stretch the limits and really separate themselves from the crowd. The exciting part is sitting back and watching who will step up to the challenge.

TV Down: Can Digital Pick Up The Slack?

Today, local NBC affiliate WFLA News Channel 8 announced that, due to tough times, they are cancelling their 11 am newscast and will no longer offer a 10 pm newscast on WTTA Channel 38. The change will take effect April 30th, and comes following a steady stream of bad news regarding parent company Media General's Tampa properties. The publishing and broadcast company lost $85.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Across the country, TV viewership is down, and most of the remaining viewers take advantage of TiVO and DVR technology which allows them to skip advertisements. Brands are shifting ad dollars away from television- but to where? In tough economic times, brands must reach people while they are away from home and in the marketplace, or risk losing customers to low-cost generic brands. The timeliness of outdoor advertising, coupled with the flexibility of digital makes digital billboards a unique and effective solution for advertisers, but it's still a relatively new medium.

Those who are jumping on board early (Carrabba's, Outback, Tampa Bay Downs, Knology, Snickers, Universal Studios, St. Luke's Eye Center, etc.) are positioning themselves to be leaders in what will inevitably become a popular solution to a common problem.