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Truck Advertisers Drive into the Future
New committee works with OAAA and TAB
Sheila Hayes, Outdoor Adv. Assn. of America, for Signs of the
Times Magazine
http://www.signweb.com/outdoor/cont/out300.html
People will try anything to get into today's truck advertising. Fox
News uses fleet advertising to promote its daily news broadcasters.
Thanks to new technological developments solidifying the marketplace
for truck advertising, fleet advertisers can now scientifically gauge
the impact of certain messages on a particular audience. As this slice
of the outdoor pie continues to gain in popularity, its need for representation
in the marketplace grows.
As such, the Outdoor Adv. Assn. of America (OAAA), Washington,
DC, formed a committee to serve the needs of the growing number
of mobile advertisers. The OAAA's Truck Adv. Committee's (TAC) most
recent undertaking will provide standards, methodology and promotional
ideas for mobile advertisers.
At a preliminary meeting in December 1999, representatives from
more than 45 mobile billboard companies discussed goals and objectives
for the future of truck advertising. In January, a steering committee
began work on a strategic plan to establish several clear-cut goals.
Among the items at the top of the committee's list:
• Establishing a clear marketing program for the industry,
thus "reinventing" truck advertising as a new medium;
• Industry legislative representation and protection;
• Communications support;
• Timely research;
• Educational materials; and
• An online presence through the OAAA Website.
New TAB methodology In addition to the TAC's undertakings, the
Traffic Audit Bureau (TAB, New York) also has unveiled updated
technology that confirms the amount of people exposed to a truck-advertiser's
message.
While individual companies have developed various forms of truck-tracking
to garner specific information, TAB's new methodology sets standards
and provides real numbers to gauge actual exposure.
Such high-tech methodology requires the use of a Global Positioning
System (GPS) tracking device, and is based on a data model from
the Federal Highway Administration's Highway Performance and Monitoring
Systems. As the truck travels, GPS data is entered into the model
using custom software. This software then estimates the number of
impressions visible to the occupants of cars passing the truck in
both directions.
Using this estimate, a truck-advertising operator can provide clients
a project statement detailing the total gross impressions during
a completed campaign and the average daily effective circulation,
per truck, for the advertiser's program.
Additionally, TAB will perform annual on-site audits with participating
fleet- and truck-advertising operators to substantiate they correctly
use the methodology and software.
Street Blimps (Jamaica, NY) and the Fleet Adv. Media Group (St. Paul,
MN) design fleet graphics for a variety of advertisers.
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