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with moving images
LED screens tout advertisers' in-motion messages
By Kathy Prentice
Stationary LED screens have been installed to display ads in locations across the country, from Fisherman’s Wharf to Times Square.
At the same time truck-side advertising is turning America’s highways into a stream of moving billboards.
Now combine the two—LED screens mounted on the sides of trucks—and you have yet a new venue in the whole out-of-home category of advertising.
Mobile video billboards have hit the road and are carrying their moving messages into markets across the country.
To find out more about getting your client’s ad on mobile video billboards, read on.
This is one in a Media Life series on buying the new out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.
Fast Facts
What
Advertising on mobile LED screens that are mounted on trucks or are transported to events.
Who
HavaVision, headquartered in Downingtown, Pa., is a division of Haverford Systems.
How it works
Full-motion video ads are displayed on LED screens mounted on truck sides. Haverford calls these HavaVision Mobile.
There are two 10-foot diagonal screens on each side of the mobile units for a total of 96 square feet of display. The screens can show a combined panoramic image or side-by-side images.
Screens can also be transported to sites to be assembled for events. The portable screens are 13 by 23 feet.
Ads can run alone or be integrated into programming. “Advertisers can run loops of their ads or commercials during an event like a rally or game,” says Maureen Wylie of the HavaVision marketing department.
Displays can be used outdoors or indoors, daytime or nighttime.
Sound systems are built in to accommodate any size audience, Wylie says.
Images can be video, animation or computer-generated from programs like PowerPoint.
Creative is provided by the advertiser. “They usually develop something specifically for this type of ad, rather than using video developed for television,” Wylie says. An advertiser’s logo, as well as hard copy, can be scanned and used.
Ad length varies with the type of presentation. Hard copy might be used on a display parked at an event while a vehicle in motion would be more likely to use a repeating video loop.
The portions of mobile units not covered by screens can be wrapped with ads.
LED display ads are used for branding, new product launches, and promotions.
Exclusivity is often built in as advertisers usually buy the entire mobile unit, Wylie says.
At events like the Superbowl, it’s more common for multiple advertisers to share a screen.
One LED stationary billboard is available in the Philadelphia market.
Markets
HavaVision can travel to any market, Wylie says.
How measured?
Tracking impact is tied to the type of campaign. Transportable LED displays and mobile units at events can use ticket sales and venue-generated crowd counts to estimate impact. The impact of mobile units traveling long distances can be measured using formulas developed by the American Trucking Association.
What product categories do well?
“Anything from A to Z will work,” Wylie says.
Products are often tied to an event theme. For example, entertainment and electronics would work well at a rock concert and clothing brands at a mall opening.
Demographics
Advertisers usually determine a demographic target before contacting HavaVision, Wylie says.
Fox Sports created a congratulatory video for the Red Wings when they won the Stanley Cup and used a mobile screen to cruise the streets of Detroit and the suburbs. Souvenir shirts and hats were thrown from the truck to fans in the street.
“We were primarily targeting males, 18 to 34,” says Bill Bergofin, vice president of marketing for Fox Sports Network. “I knew it worked, that people were excited, when the driver told me he got nervous because people ran out and tried to jump on the truck.”
Making the buy
Lead time depends on availability. “When they give us the disk with creative we simply put it in the laptop or CD player,” Wylie says.
Campaign lengths vary. One-time events are common. Advertisers often book a series of events throughout the year, Wylie says.
Pricing is a flat rate plus transportation costs like mileage and drivers’ expenses.
There are two mobile units and one portable screen available.
Sales offices are in Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Elmwood Park, N.J.
Who’s already on HavaVision?
Fox Sports, WYSP, Q104.3, The Local Music Directory, CarOrder.com, WXRK and Anteaks of Downingtown
What they’re saying
“It feels progressive. It feels hip. We used it to break the mold a little bit so that when hockey fans think Red Wings they’ll think Fox Sports.”–Bill Bergofin, vice president of marketing for Fox Sports Network, headquartered in Los Angeles
“With more people commuting and mothers out late with their kids, going to soccer practice or whatever, we just go where the target is. This is a multimedia center on wheels.”–Maureen Wylie, HavaVision marketing department
Web site info
HavaVision at www.havavision.com
Etc.
A new portable hanging display will be available soon through HavaVision.
For info on traditional truck-side advertising, see the edition from April 17, 2000, “Semi-conscious: For slogans that can’t be ignored.”
November 13, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
-Kathy Prentice writes about out-of-home advertising for Media Life, penning her stories from the resort town of Traverse City, in the upper reaches of Michigan.
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