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 Over
the past few years, the outdoor advertising industry has evolved
and is poised to compete aggressively in the 21st century advertising
marketplace. While many traditional media segments have struggled
as they become increasingly fragmented, the outdoor advertising
industry hasremained remarkably unscathed and solvent due in
large part to the strength of local sales, as consolidations
in the real estate and many other industries have directed advertising
dollars to grassroots branding and advertising. Here at the
Outdoor Advertising Association of America, the trade association
that represents more than 90% of America’s outdoor ad
companies, we track these trends carefully and we’ve had
our eye on real estate advertising for some time now. Quarter
after quarter, the revenue spent on outdoor advertising by real
estate agents, agencies and brokers ($29 million in ’05)
and real estate developers and developments ($32 million in
’05) continues to soar. This segment of the outdoor industry
grew nearly 23% between 2004 and 2005. And why is outdoor advertising
growing in popularity with the real estate industry? For starters,
the same adage from real estate holds true for outdoor advertising:
location, location, location. Today’s home buyers and
sellers are in a hurry and outdoor advertising provides quick
and concise information to help individuals make decisions.
Outdoor advertising offers extremely targeted messaging that
reaches people in their cars or on subways, in airports and
malls or in any number of growing outdoor media settings. Outdoor
advertising is roadside, outside and inside, above and below
ground and on the move. Outdoor advertising allows real estate
advertisers to target specific clientele, neighborhoods, offices
and the competition.
BUILDING A LOCAL
PRESENCE
In a very competitive and consolidating real estate
market, outdoor advertising is the best vehicle for branding
name awareness and creating name recognition and dominance over
the competition. In short, outdoor advertising is the best advertising
medium there is for establishing a local presence. And real
estate and the outdoor industry share similar consumer demographics.
The heaviest drivers, the strongest outdoor advertising audience,
are between 35 and 54 and make over $100,000 a year. With the
average age of first time buyers at 32 and repeat home purchasers
at 45, outdoor advertising’s prime demographic is the
real estate market’s prime consumer.
CASE STUDIES
Case studies prove the right message in the right
place at the right time generates sales. Whether promoting individual
agents, agencies or new developments, both local and national
companies know by dominating the medium and moving the message
closer to the sale location, outdoor advertising works. Ryland
Homes, the second largest builder in Maryland, needed to create
awareness of their new communities, drive traffic to specific,
new communities and drive traffic to their website for information.
Their outdoor advertising campaign consisted of six posters
and six bulletins strategically placed en route to each of the
new communities. Ryland Homes’ 1200 posters and 214 bulletins
in the Baltimore area enabled them to select ideal locations
en route to the six new communities. Traffic increased 30% and
each Ryland community sold out. Cindy Wick Plackmeyer, the marketing
manager for Ryland Homes, said “Outdoor advertising put
us on the map. It allows people to find out about our new communities
and our website and billboards are a great way to get people
to drive to their new home.” Outdoor advertising has another
advantage — cost. It offers outstanding value for the
dollar and a myriad of ways to ratchet up exposure. It’s
80% less expensive than TV, 60% less expensive than newspapers
and 50% less expensive than radio. This opens the door for all
real estate advertisers, large or small.
MAJOR FIRMS SIGN
UP RE/MAX
Agent Leonard Fazio needed to make home-sellers aware of his
“120 Day or We Buy It” program. The best way to
achieve his goal of boosting sales by exposing his message to
as many people as possible was with outdoor ads. He saw it as
a huge extension of his yard signs. He also needed a new way
to get back in front of the local builders and increase his
name recognition among more than just the local home buyer/seller.
Fazio utilized a custom poster program consisting of 15 posters
evenly distributed throughout the Des Moines metro and surrounding
areas for a four week campaign 124,500 exposures per day, and
3.5 million exposures by campaign end). He received his first
call within hours of his boards being displayed and listed 15
new houses within the first four weeks, selling three of those
15 while his message was still on the streets. Calculating around
a 300% return on his investment, Fazio said, “This is
one of the most successful advertising mediums I’ve ever
used. It’s the first time in four years that I’ve
been taken seriously when it comes to my ‘120 Day program’.”
Matched with other media to extend reach, outdoor advertising
can’t be beat. It’s an ideal supplement to TV, stretching
a 30-second TV or radio spot. RE/ MAX agent Mike Costigan was
looking to maintain his brand image, but at the same time, increase
awareness of his services in the West Cobb County area of Metro
Atlanta. Looking for an effective way to communicate his message,
while complementing advertising he currently had on TV and in
magazine and trade show publications, Costigan looked to outdoor
advertising for assistance. Working with maps supplied by a
local outdoor advertising company, bulletins were proposed for
12 months as the outdoor media to best target Cobb County. The
results surpassed Costigan’s expectations. Constant exposure
to the targeted area and overwhelming response significantly
increased awareness of his services as well as name recognition,
along with the number of home listings the boards generated.
BEYOND BILLBOARDS
Billboards have traditionally been the format
of choice for the real estate industry. But that’s changing
rapidly. Combining traditional billboards with other newer forms
of outdoor media products can make a tremendous impact improving
reach, frequency and overall awareness in one cohesive media
package. Beyond billboards, a whole new field of advertising
formats has emerged to impact busy, illusive consumers with
little time for in-home media, head-on during the course of
daily activities. Originally developed to bridge gaps in urban
centers, the alternative outdoor advertising products have today
grown into a sophisticated and viable billion-dollar business.
Outdoor ads can be found in or on bus shelters, taxi-tops, benches,
airports, malls, stadiums, escalator steps, subway cars and
tunnel walls, buses and even trash cans. Digital advertising
monitors can be found in taxis and office building elevators.
There are more than 40 types of outdoor advertising to choose
from. The beauty of these ad forms i the targeting they provide,
and their synergy within micro markets. As for the future, for
the real estate market, outdoor advertising will become increasingly
easy to use and buy, will offer ever shorter campaign periods,
quicker turn around times, advanced digital enhancements, effective
measurement on a par with TV and radio, photographic quality
and design consistency. And, new digital and bluetooth technologies
are turning the oldest ad mediums into one of the most effective,
high-impact ad mediums available.
THE TIME IS NOW!
Before long, real estate agents should expect to be able to
rotate the messaging and images on their digital networked billboards
almost immediately and for their billboards to interact with
customers, allowing homebuyers to download multiple listings,
directions, community maps, open house dates, home and neighborhood
details and any other promotional materials on any of their
listings. The technology has arrived. For the real estate industry,
it just needs to be applied. To learn more about outdoor advertising,
visit www.oaaa.org.?
– Stephen
Freitas
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Stephen
Freitas has been, since 1999, the Chief Marketing Officer for
the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, the leading
trade association representing the outdoor medium. He joined
OAAA after spending 10 years developing high profile marketing
programs for Clear Channel Communications and Eller Media Company.
As senior vice-president of marketing, Mr. Freitas was responsible
for global branding, advertising, research, public relations
and corporate communications, in addition to being heavily involved
with business development initiatives.