Varieties of Outdoor Advertising

In broadcast media such as radio and television, advertisements are very much standardized.  On television, the commercials are video segments that run for a fixed amount of time (usually 5 seconds, 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 45 seconds, 60 seconds, 2 minutes or even half-hour infomercials).  On radio, the commercials are either fixed-length recorded commercials, or they are live announcements.  When considering the trade-offs between various types, one has to consider only a small number of factors.  On one hand, a short commercial gets people's attention for a simple message.  On the other hand, a long message can communicate complex messages at the cost of losing people's attention.  

In print media such as magazines and newspapers, advertisements are almost as standardized.  In magazines, the advertisement rate cards may be based upon the size (usually 1/4 page, 1/2 page, full page, 2 pages) and color (black & white versus full color).  When considering the trade-offs between various types, one has to consider only a small number of factors.  On one hand, a small advertisement may be placed next to editorial material that will complement each other (e.g. a vacation package ad next to a travel story; a food ad next to a recipe).  On the other hand, a large advertisement is more of an eyeful at the cost of being quickly glossed over.

But the main subject of this article is about outdoor advertising with its many varieties.  Outdoor advertising is basically defined as any form of advertisements that can be found outdoors.  It may include elements of broadcast and print media.  For example, audio messages delivered over public announcement systems in malls are a form of outdoor media vehicle for advertising.  As another example, television shown in public places such as airport lounges (e.g. the CNN Airport service), elevators or rest rooms (yes, I've seen them personally!) is a form of outdoor media vehicle for advertising.

We will now refer to some survey data from the 2004 TGI Argentina study.  This is a survey of 5,154 persons between the ages of 12 to 75 years old conducted in Argentina during 2004.  This TGI Argentina is a multimedia study that surveys exposure and attitudes to various kinds of media, including print, broadcast, internet and outdoor.  The survey questions for the other media are usually conducted in a top-down manner.  For example, we would ask, "Have you used the Internet within the past 3 months?"  Those who say "No" will not be asked any more Internet questions (except for future intent) while those who say "Yes" will be asked more detailed questions about their usage.  The survey questions for outdoor media cannot be asked this way, because most people do not register just what outdoor advertising is exactly.  Some people may think that it is only outdoor billboards, when it is much more than that.  For examples, see the previous articles: Outdoor Advertising in Latin America: Part 1 and Outdoor Advertising in Latin America: Part 2.  Therefore, the questions about outdoor advertising are bottom-up constructs.

So we began first with a list of illuminated outdoor displays.  This is the most commonly identifiable form of outdoor advertisements which will work on a 24/7 basis..  There are six sub-categories here: (1) illuminated signs outside places of business such as bars, supermarkets, department stores, gasoline stations, etc; (2) illuminated signs posted by highways and avenues; (3) illuminated signs on the outside of buildings; (4) illuminated signs on sidewalks; (5) illuminated public telephone booths; (6) illuminated running digital lettering signs that appear inside or outside buildings and other places; (7) illuminated signs on bus shelters.  The chart below show the exposure incidences in the last 7 days, for the total population as well as by socio-economic levels.  On the left hand side is the net exposure, which represents exposure to any of the six sub-categories.  

(Source: 2004 TGI Argentina)

Next, we present a list of non-illuminated outdoor displays.  Since they are not illuminated, they cannot be easily seen at night.  There are six sub-categories: (1) billboards on the outside of buildings; (2) small- and medium-sized signs on sidewalks; (3) large- and over-sized signs on sidewalks; (4) billboards surrounding construction signs; (5) regular wall banners and (6) large wall banners.

(Source: 2004 TGI Argentina)

The third category is traffic displays.  These are outdoor media vehicles that are associated with vehicular traffic, of which there are six sub-categories: (1) trucks/vehicles with painted logos; (2) motorcycles with painted logos; (3) advertisements affixed to traffic lights and street signs; (4) placards on the exterior of buses; (5) placards on the back of buses; (6) running electronic placards inside buses.

(Source: 2004 TGI Argentina)

The fourth and fifth categories are point-of-purchase displays and airport displays respectively.  The point-of-purchase displays really should merit a long list of their own, including flyers, wall posters, shopping aisle displays, televised videos, taste-sampling booths, etc.  The airport displays are directed to the much smaller group of travelers, but this is an essentially captive audience which has no choice but to hang around until their flight is ready to depart.  While the travelers go through the airport, they are based with all sorts of displays, including dioramas of various sizes and even rotating ones.  They may also sit in the lounge and watch the special television programs. 

(Source: 2004 TGI Argentina)

The sixth category is present in the subway.  The overall levels are much lower than the other categories, because only Buenos Aires has a large subway system in Argentina.  Subway riders will see a large number of different media vehicles in the system, including television and standard displays either inside the subway trains or in the corridors.

(Source: 2004 TGI Argentina)

In the seventh category, we have collected a motley collection of different outdoor media vehicles.  These are the unique kinds of creative ideas that one might not ordinarily associate with traditional outdoor advertising.  Flyers refer to handbills that are distributed to passerbys in public areas.  Loudspeakers at public markets and shopping malls are another form.  Postcards that carry advertisements are given out for free.  Then there are the large inflated displays such as dolls and animals, and the costumed persons (such as Barney) in public places.  This list is not exhaustive and there is perhaps impossible to create an exhaustive list because the human creative spirit will not be bounded.  Here is a list of examples: skywriting done by squadrons of airplanes; advertisements that appear on large television screen in sport stadiums; logos on racing cars; logos on soccer players' shirts; rotating boards on soccer field sidelines; logos painted onto soccer grass fields; displays on top of taxicabs; etc.

(Source: 2004 TGI Argentina)

The next chart below shows the summary exposure statistics for the various categories of outdoor media vehicles.  The net weekly reach across all the listed outdoor media is 94%, which is every bit as high as the broadcast media and much higher than the print media.  In terms of user characteristics, there is a tendency for the reach to increase with socio-economic level.  This makes outdoor a powerful medium that can reach targeted audiences in specific neighborhoods on a 24 hours a day and 7 days a week basis without the interference of editorial material.  However, we point out that the astonishing variety of outdoor media vehicles is what precisely cause it to be much more difficult to measure than the relatively standardised broadcast and print media.

(Source: 2004 TGI Argentina)

(posted by Roland Soong, 6/25/2004)