Rock You Like A Hurricane

Offering relevant information, such as weather or traffic updates, is a great way to ensure people pay attention to your ad. The ability to display live content on digital billboards has been underutilized by local advertisers. Most people probably don't realize that any text or image that's on the web can be added as an automatically updating element on the sign.

In the Tampa Bay area, there is a huge market for windows and doors specifically designed to withstand high-impact winds. As hurricane season approaches, I've been thinking about how cool it would be to show a live 24/7 Doppler radar image of current cloud coverage as part of a campaign to promote the storm-proofing of homes. Over the course of such a campaign, drivers would make a point to check the radar as they pass each day, enhancing the effectiveness of such a branding campaign.

Effective advertising is essential to weathering the current economic storm. Adding live content to your outdoor campaign is a great way to set yourself apart from your competition, ensuring that your company's future will be bright and sunny.

Gathering Artists For Billboard Exhibition

ArtPool Gallery & Vintage Boutique in downtown St. Petersburg is one of the hidden gems of Pinellas County. Started by Marina Williams in 2008, ArtPool lets up-and-coming talent display their work at a very low cost, and allows the artists to keep 100% of the proceeds.

I spoke with Marina regarding our upcoming Digital Billboard Art Exhibition, hoping to spread the word that we will be using our billboards across Tampa Bay to display the work of local artists. Our goal is to generate interest in local culture and the arts, while beautifying the streets with something bold and meaningful. Her enthusiasm about the exhibition was contagious. I truly can't wait to see some of these paintings up in lights.

If you haven't been to ArtPool, you're missing out on one of the best additions to St. Pete culture. The gallery will host a launch party tomorrow, May 9th for "Zero: Modern Arts Directory", a sort of Yellow Pages of local talent.

Check back here for interviews and articles on participating artists, and if you or someone you know would like to display your work in our free Digital Billboard Exhibition, please call 727.299.2456 or email ryanfrazier@clearchannel.com.

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.

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.

LA Board Approves Revised Regulations

The Los Angeles Planning Commission voted 6-3 last Thursday to limit the addition of new digital billboards to 21 specific districts throughout the city. The proposal now goes to the City Council for final approval. If passed, the council would decide on a case-by-case basis whether new signs may be built within a specific district. Opponents of the bill feel that it could leave itself vulnerable to court challenges contesting it's constitutionality.

These kinds of discussions are taking place in cities across the country, as some fear that a lack of clarity in sign ordinances with regards to digital billboards could lead to digital signs on every street corner. Local municipalities such as the City of Tampa and City of St. Petersburg are facing similar decisions. The removal of antiquated traditional billboard structures in exchange for the right to build a limited number of digital billboards can be a win/win for the community. Hurricanes threaten the structural integrity of older, pole-mounted signs each year, and the current laws prohibit upgrades or reinforcement that could prevent potential property damage.

The thinking amongst law makers and the community seems to be that when it comes to billboards, we should have fewer. And a higher percentage of those remaining should be state-of-the-art digital signs that allow for the use of emergency alerts, hurricane evacuation messages, amber alerts and information about wanted criminals. Since each digital board broadcasts a rotation of 8 advertisers, the result is a smaller billboard footprint that creates more opportunities for local businesses.

Thirteen FBI Success Stories

For a little over a year now, Clear Channel Outdoor has partnered with the FBI to display info about "wanted" criminals. Since the beginning of the arrangement, the FBI has attributed the apprehension of 13 criminals to leads or pressure generated by Clear Channel's digital networks. A recent press release contains the names and crimes of the 13 criminals who've been caught.

1. Tyrone Grimes - Tampa, FL (murder)
2. Glyn Richards - Tampa, FL (white collar crimes)
3. Jordan Lewis - Philadelphia, PA (murder of police officer)
4. Pedro Carrasquillo - Philadelphia, PA (rape)
5. Andre Williams - Philadelphia, PA (attempted murder)
6. Larry Lemay Jr. - Las Vegas, NV (attempted murder of police officer)
7. Stanley Gatson -Milwaukee, WI (armed bank robbery)
8. Walter Haskell - South Orange, NJ (armed bank robbery)
9. Charles Williams - Cleveland, OH (drug trafficking)
10. Filbert Romero - Albuquerque, NM (armed bank robbery)
11. Dennis Martin - Akron, OH (rape)
12. Donald Ray Williams - Dallas, TX (armed car robbery)
13. Anthony Stewart - Milwaukee, WI (drug conspiracy)

"Locally, we have been able to assist Tampa area police agencies to resolve two significant cases," says Dave Couvertier, who is the Public Affairs Officer for the FBI's Tampa field office. "The resolution of both of these incidents were directly related to the pressure put on family members to come forward with information, and to convince the perpetrators to turn themselves in because the FBI was profiling them on billboards."

Constructive Criticism

Yesterday, an article was published on Re/Creating Tampa, a local blog "about lots of stuff, but mostly Tampa and Florida," that expressed some concerns about billboards and my blog specifically. The author, Dave, made a very valid argument that I should fully disclose the fact that I work for Clear Channel Outdoor, so that my readers are aware of the perspective from which I write. I thanked Dave for his advice and immediately added the "about me" section.

Additionally, Dave addresses the aesthetics of outdoor advertising, and the censorship rights that companies exercise with regards to billboard creative. I definitely agree that some billboards are more aesthetically pleasing than others. We're limited from making improvements to outdated or ugly billboard structures because of restrictions that have been in place for over 25 years. Thankfully many communities (including Tampa) are beginning to see the positive impact of a reasonable win-win solution when it comes to the regulation of outdoor signage.

Regarding censorship, Dave is right, there are definitely things we wouldn't put up on our billboards. We have to be more conservative than other mediums because with outdoor advertising, concerned parents can't change the channel, turn the page or tune us out.

I want to personally extend my thanks to Re/Creating Tampa for reading, and for caring enough to comment. On a local level, I'd like to be as transparent and as open to suggestion as possible. On a national level, the billboard industry is continually striving to improve by increasing the use of recyclable materials and exploring innovative ways to conserve energy. Author Issac D'Israeli once said "Those who do not read criticism will rarely merit to be criticized." Without people like Dave, companies like Clear Channel would operate in a vacuum and would be unable to address the concerns of the public.

Full Market Coverage May Be Possible Soon

Tampa City Council is considering allowing the placement of digital billboards within the city limits. Currently, the boards have been limited to roads such as Dale Mabry, the Veterans Expressway and I-75, but this settlement would give advertisers digital coverage on the other major roads such as I-275 and I-4.

Some detractors of digital billboards envision bright, animated signs like the ones seen on the Las Vegas strip. However, the new locations would still be limited to static images which change every 8 seconds. With the use of dimming sensors, the digital signs don't look much different from a traditional billboard, as you can see in this video.

According to a poll conducted by Bay News 9, citizens are in favor of allowing the signs, which are also used for public services such as Amber Alerts and FBI wanted ads. View Poll

New FL Amber Alert!

Within minutes of being issued, this Amber Alert notification was sent out to Clear Channel's Digital Outdoor Network in Tampa. It is the billboard company's policy to suspend all other advertising for one hour, showing only the Amber Alert, after which the design is placed into a rotation with the paid advertisements. Here's a webcam shot of the board, which went up literally 10 minutes ago...

UPDATE: Investigators are calling Haleigh's disappearance an abduction... Read More

Better Than The Bat-Signal: Digital Billboards Used To Fight Crime

Glyn Richards, a 45-year-old white collar criminal wanted for defrauding his victims of approximately $5.8 million through a ponzi scheme, was arrested on Friday.

The FBI suspected that he had recently fled Pennsylvania and that he may have been hiding out in the Tampa area. On Wednesday, Feb. 4th the FBI contacted Clear Channel Outdoor in hopes of using digital billboards to alert the public. Two days later, Richards was taken into custody as a direct result of a tip that was generated by the billboards.

This was the third time that Clear Channel's digital billboards in Tampa were credited with helping the FBI capture wanted criminals. The first two instances involved local murders. According to Dave Couvertier, Public Affairs Officer for the FBI's Tampa field office, the FBI has captured numerous criminals nationwide, since this service has been provided.

Clear Channel also makes their digital billboards available for Amber Alerts and hurricane evacuation messages.

The Growing Footprint Of Digital

The expansion of digital outdoor is one of the most exciting developments in the current media landscape. Each time a new digital billboard is built, advertisers gain an opportunity to reach out to a new group of potential customers.

In April 2009, Clear Channel Outdoor will complete construction on a brand new digital billboard on Dale Mabry Hwy just south of Fletcher Ave. in Carrollwood. The new display will be twelve feet tall and twenty-five feet wide reaching consumers with more of a "full screen" aspect ratio, as opposed to the rest of the digital billboards in the bay area, which take more of a "widescreen" approach.

Boasting a price tag that is approximately 40% lower than the other Tampa locations, this new display will offer local businesses the opportunity to run with the big players like AT&T, Disney and Coors, who purchase space on the digital billboard just South of this one on Dale Mabry at Waters Ave. Additionally, because it's the same size as Clear Channel's static (or non-digital) poster units, this panel will actually allow advertisers to incorporate a changeable, digital message as part of their traditional outdoor poster campaign.

Click here to explore the area where the board will be!