Industry Information

Industry News

Want to keep an eye on the state of the industry & where it's headed?

Check the Industry News section frequently to see what's being said, who's saying it and why it matters!

Industry News from Media Life Magazine

May 5, 2010
Media Life Magazine
Thinking small in very large letters
Obie winner: Billboard campaign for a Denver bank

"Babysitter" it says in large gray letters on a light green background. Below, in smaller letters, are the words "$12/hour" and "Abbie," along with a phone number. Then you see another sign, for a dog walker, also with the contact info below. Suddenly it clicks: These aren't real people advertising their services at all. They're ads for a bank. On each sign, there's the logo of 1st Bank of Denver, along with the motto: "We care about small businesses."

April 14, 2010
Media Life Magazine
Who's really seeing ads on video screens
It's a surprisingly young audience, and it's huge

Nielsen rolled out its first-ever out-of-home video ad numbers for movie theaters and such other venues as gas stations, health clubs, restaurants and convenience stores. The data is compatible with Nielsen ratings for TV and the internet, thus allowing media buyers and sellers to make cross-media comparisons. The numbers are certainly striking.

April 5, 2010
Media Life Magazine
Your client's ad at the boxing ring
Reach an audience of young males advertising ringside

Advertisers are always eager to connect with young men, and there's perhaps no more reliable place to find them at boxing matches, where more than three quarters of the audience is male and young.

March 29, 2010
Media Life Magazine
Your client's ad in the clubhouse
Golfers are always a favorite target of advertisers

Golfers are an attractive audience because of their affluence, and advertisers have been reaching them on the course for years with ads on golf carts, practice mats and flagsticks. These days advertisers also have another option: Advertising in the clubhouse, where golfers check in to play, share a beer with their foursome, or buy new gear at the pro shop.

March 23, 2010
Media Life Magazine
Who really won in Vancouver
Four of the five top brands were not official sponsors

Though these brands had no official Olympic presence, they managed to get themselves linked to the Games in the mind of the public by using Games-like imagery, such as skiers or ice skaters, in their ads, employing past Olympians in their campaigns, or setting up displays in Vancouver near where the Games took place.

March 15, 2010
Media Life Magazine
Your client on ice cream trucks
Wrap the truck in a giant ad and hand out samples

Advertisers earn goodwill by bankrolling the treats. They also get a unique way to reach people in an unexpected place, appearing in areas where there's little or no advertising, such as suburban neighborhoods. The trucks are very versatile. They can be either stationary or mobile, and they can include a variety of extras, including street teams, product samples and branded elements such as napkins.

March 8, 2010
Media Life Magazine
Your client's logo on a water bottle
Who turns down a free bottle of water as a gift?

It's a good time for advertisers to try couponing to draw in new customers and revive ties to old ones. A unique way to do that is by placing coupons on customized labels of bottled spring water that can be distributed by local businesses such as clinics, auto mechanics, hotels and spas. Nobody turns down a free bottle of water, and the label ensures that your coupon makes it quite literally in front of the customer's face.

March 1, 2010
Media Life Magazine
Your client partying in the sand
Reaching college kids by sponsoring events on beaches

College students are always a desirable target for advertisers. During spring break, advertisers can reach them by the hundreds of thousands by sponsoring concerts, contests and booths at the hottest U.S. beaches.

February 22, 2010
Media Life Magazine
Your client at the NCAA Final Four
Advertisers can connect with fans at the big games

College basketball fans are a very desirable audience. They're young, with nearly half under age 44, and wealthy, with 42 percent boasting a household income of $75,000 or more. To give their clients a little extra oomph at these hugely popular events, media buyers can place their ad messages in the arenas and at pre-game events when the men's or women's Final Four are held during the first weekend in April.

February 16, 2010
Media Life Magazine
Your client kicking up her heels
Flash mobs are the hot thing in alternative media

These days a great out-of-home advertising campaign doesn't just connect with the people on the street. It also finds a second life on the web, and there are few stunts more effective at drawing people online than a video of a wacky flash mob.

February 01, 2010
Media Life Magazine
Your client's ad at spring training
How to reach the most avid of Major League fans

At spring training, advertisers connect with fans who are passionate enough about their teams to travel great distances to see them. Fans schedule their trips to include preseason games, batting practices and hanging out at the park, where advertisers can set up booths to engage people one on one.

January 25, 2010
Media Life Magazine
Your client at the Daytona 500
Coming up Feb. 14, it's the big event in NASCAR racing

Getting your courtside logo flashed on the screen for three seconds during a nationally televised sporting event makes for good brand exposure, but at its best outdoor advertising is about actually engaging people in your brand. And in that respect, there may be no better audience than NASCAR fans, who are extremely loyal to the sport's sponsors, and no better race than the Daytona 500, often referred to as the Super Bowl of racing.

January 20, 2010
Media Life Magazine
What 2010 holds for alternative media
Expect to see ad spending pick up with the economy

What will this mean for alternative media? To find out, Media Life talked to Nic Denyer, senior vice president for non-traditional media at Streetblimps, which offers a wide selection alternative media. Denyer talks about the effect of the ad downturn on alternative media, when he sees spending coming back, and the great appeal of alternative media as compared to traditional media.

January 19, 2010
Media Life Magazine
Your client wrapped around a train
The sight of those brilliant colors rushing toward you

At its best, out of home advertising offers advertisers the opportunity to break beyond clutter and be seen where few or no other advertisers are visible. At its very best, it delivers a dramatic visual impact. Those are two qualities in abundance when an advertiser chooses to wrap his message around a moving train.

January 11, 2010
Media Life Magazine
Your client as a sand sculpture
Think of them really as events that unfold over days

At its best, alternative media is about turning a simple ad message into an event that gets people staring and talking, and when it comes to buzz-building events, there's nothing quite like a 50-ton sand sculpture erected at a busy location miles from any beach, say Times Square.

January 7, 2010
Media Life Magazine
What the year holds for out of home
A recovery in ad spending taking hold in third quarter

Posterscope U.S. chief executive officer Connie Garrido and senior vice president Ray Rotolo talk to Media Life about when the recovery will take hold, what categories will lead that recovery, and how alternative media has been impacted by the recession.

December 21, 2009
Media Life Magazine
Outlook for outdoor in 2010: Lots better
Advertising should pop back up into positive territory

Like every other medium, outdoor advertising saw steep spending declines in 2009, battered by the recession and greater caution on the part of advertisers wary of investing in all but the most proven media. But 2010 will bring more changes to outdoor than most other media. The industry will be poring over the first full year of the Traffic Audit Bureau’s Eyes On Out of Home Media Measurement data, which tracks who actually sees billboards.

September 15, 2009
Media Life Magazine
Harsh spring for out-of-home advertising
Ad spending falls 18 percent in second quarter

For the third straight quarter, out-of-home ad spending was down by double-digit percentages. But media people say the worst seems to be over.

August 17, 2009
Media Life Magazine
Digital Out-of-Home to Lead OOH Growth, Soar 13.2% through 2013

Out-of-home ad revenue will climb 4.9% from 2008 to 2013, compared to a 3.3% decline for traditional advertising, with growth driven by digital billboards, out-of-home digital video networks and alternative ambient advertising, which includes guerilla advertising, street teams and other nontraditional approaches.

August 14, 2009
Media Life Magazine
Big driver behind out-of-home: Digital
Forecast: Digital ad spending will almost double

The increase in digital billboards, video advertising networks (VANs) and alternative ambient advertising which is included in digital estimates, has driven much of the growth of the OOH industry the past few years, and it will continue to do so at least through 2013.

July 14, 2009
Media Life Magazine
But again, a sunnier view for outdoor
Magna sees recovery beginning in second-half 2009

Magna's 2009 U.S. media spending report, issued yesterday, suggests that out-of-home will be hit hard by the down economy during second quarter, like virtually all categories of media. But the sector will recover much more quickly than other areas of media, posting a compound annual growth rate of 3.6 percent through 2014, behind only online during that period.

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