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Having run my own local Advertising Agency specialising in the outdoor and out of home industry, I have for the last 30 years strived to help local business understand that it is not as costly as most people think to promote their business on a billboard, bus shelter or train station for example. I think that because 90% of business who advertise within the outdoor and out of home advertising sector are national brands, local businesses automatically assume that it is not affordable to them – and this is not the case.

So the size of the business is not an indication of whether this is an affordable form of advertising, no more than the size of the advertising medium is an indication of affordability.

As the industry has grown over the last 30 years, more non traditional and innovative forms of advertising have evolved. This has meant that a lot more of your advertising spend can be placed to reach your target market in a much more productive way than used to be the case 30 years ago. When I set up Focal Point in 1987, there were literally a handful of outdoor advertising opportunities available – Billboards, Bus shelters, London Underground, Buses and Taxis and today there are over 50 services and in the region of 500 suppliers.

Now businesses can advertise on petrol pump nozzles – one of the fastest growing forms of outdoor advertising – sandwich bags, washroom posters, beer mats, ATM machines just to name a few.

The opportunities for you to reach your target market is greater than it ever has been, more affordable than it ever has been, and please don’t think that because you see national brands primarily advertising on billboards, that it is not affordable to your business, as size is not everything.

 

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The following story is a great example of some of the hi tech digital boards going up. This format is unaffordable for most of the clients we deal with and there are a lot less costly ways to get a local message out on prominent static billboards for under £200 a week. But this video and story shows the possibilities of Billboard Advertising.

Old Street EC1 provides a powerful communications channel for brands to engage with the unique and exciting audiences who live, work and socialise in EC1. The newly digitised, iconic advertising architecture in the centre of Silicon Roundabout has become synonymous with the EC1 area, providing unparalleled impact within the vibrant and creative East London community.

As discussed in our EC1 Technology Briefing early in 2014, this location is in the heart of the world’s largest technology hub outside of San Francisco and New York City, and is bringing forth some exciting new technological developments.

It is the people who live, work and breathe EC1 who provide this momentum: the creators of technology, the leaders of fashion and the new city socialites, who always have the latest apps and know where the coolest new bars are. To quote Gerard Grech, CEO of Tech City, EC1 is made up of the “opinion formers and tastemakers of today.”.

YouTube’s launch advertising campaign saw its content stars taking to the streets of EC1.  Google’s Media Manager, Rob Maddison, commented:, “The launch of Old Street EC1 really suits our campaign perfectly as it allows YouTube to become part of the fabric of this highly desirable and exciting part of London, around Tech City.”

Select Car Leasing are regarded as one of the UK’s leading independent specialists for car and van leasing.

Established in 2004, they have now supplied lease vehicles for over 10 years to thousands of satisfied customers.

They are always looking to expand their market share and have recently conducted a billboard campaign on a highly prominent poster site on Gosbrook Road in Reading in the lead up to Christmas.

If you want to find out how Billboard Advertising can help your business, please call Richard Knight on 01256 767837.

There has been a call recently for motorists to be more aware of motor cyclists and also to make motor cyclists more aware that they are not always easily seen.

Hampshire Constabulary used the services of Focal Point to book a strategically located billboard campaign close to junctions. All sites were cherry picked as close to junctions as possible to give the campaign maximum effect.

The campaign ran from 28 July through to the end of November. Several sites were booked in Portsmouth and Southampton, each being booked for 2 to 4 weeks and then being moved to another location. This gives the impression of the campaign being bigger than it is but also spreads the message to a wider audience.

Having been involved in the poster industry for a number of years does offer some great advantages, especially when it comes to a special celebration. Richard is fortunate to know the owner of some billboards in Bracknell and May 6th, 2008 was the 50th birthday of his wife, Denise. Richard is always being accused of forgetting to get a birthday card until the last minute, so a 20 foot x 10 foot card should make up for it and it has a prominent position at the entrance to Bracknell Town Centre for 2 weeks.

Richard says, “ I found a three inch square photo of Denise on her 21st Birthday, and this was the best photo I could find. I did not want to put a current photo up and thought it would be good to take a photo from another special birthday. All I did was to send the photo together with some text to our production team in Birmingham and they did the rest and what a great job they did. It is at times like this that it is so great to have good business contacts and good relationships.

When he knew the poster had gone up, Richard asked Denise to go down to the billboard and told her another client’s poster had gone up, and we needed to get a picture taken. When Denise approached the roundabout and was stopped by the lights, her first thought was the poster looked a bit bright and not usual for the client she was expecting. She though the wrong poster had been put up, and it was not until she looked a bit harder, saw the text that she realized what it was. She had to go round the roundabout again to drive past the poster to get a better look at it. To say she was surprised would be an understatement. Within hours, she had told several people, people had rung her, photographs had been taken, and plans for it to appear in the local paper had been arranged.

Richard was informed this could open up another business opportunity, and yes it could. Not only could space be offered on billboards, but also on taxis, train stations and a number of other opportunities. It is not a cheap way to promote a birthday, but it is very novel and, for a special occasion, why not?

For more information on what could be done to promote a special event, why not give Richard a call on 01256 767837