Booming Billboards

It’s normally hard to say anything very interesting about billboard advertising, with students often adding it to a long list of potential advertising techniques. But change is coming.

According to The Economist the falling price and improving quality of flat-screen displays mean that static posters printed on paper are being replaced by snazzy digital commercials with moving pictures, sound and sometimes interactive features. As some advertising media, especially newspapers, see their audiences fade, streets, airports and other public spaces are becoming crowded with more potential viewers than ever, as people continue moving to cities and travel more. Spending on this type of advertising is predicted to grow by 8.3% in 2011 to about $26.4 billion, faster growth than that seen for other non-internet forms of advertising. Spending on digital billboards and posters is expected to double in the next five years, to $5.2 billion.

One American firm thinks that in some countries more than 90% of its business will be digital by 2020, although the boss of JCDecaux thinks that it will mainly be inside airports, railway stations, shopping malls and other controlled environments. Ads in bus shelters and other outdoor spots at risk of vandalism will take a lot longer to move away from paper.

Marketers are optimistic about digital posters because they belief they offer enormous potential for making advertisements more effective. Advertisers can tailor their pitch to the time of day: McDonald’s can advertise its sausage and egg McMuffin at breakfast time, change to its regular Big Mac fare at lunch and follow that with ads for apple pie and ice cream during teatime. They can also react to events as they happen: when Spain won the football World Cup last year, digital billboards in Madrid, sponsored by Nike, showed the result within seconds.

Expect to see more of these billboards in London in time for the 2012 Olympics.