The outdoor advertising market is an industry ripe for change. For far too long, the field of out of home media has been grossly inequitable. Indeed, while billboard advertising offers tremendous opportunities to some; for others it has long symbolized inequality. However, one company aims to change the mobile billboard industry. That company is Zeusvision.
Make no mistake, we are not talking about “Billboards” in the traditional sense on the sides of busses. We are talking about a 40 foot HD Television moving down the street that will make people stop and stare!
Zeusvision grew out of the idea that the average person or business owner should be able to get their message out, on the most desirable platforms, to the most influential groups of people, in the most sought after locations. They have created a platform that allows the average person or business owner to get their message out to the public in outdoor spaces generally reserved for large wealthy companies.
The Benefits of Mobile Billboards and Other Forms of Outdoor Advertising
Outdoor advertising and mobile billboard advertising offer several benefits that you won’t find in other ad channels. Particularly, mobile billboards deliver:
- Clutter-Free Ad Space – Unlike ads that you place on print, radio, TV or online media; billboard ads don’t have to be shared with countless other advertisers. This improves the chances of your audience actually seeing your ads.
- Efficient Targeting – Mobile billboards allow advertisers to broadcast their messages to highly strategic geographic locations. In fact, you can target all the way down to a particular section of the street – if you want.
- Unavoidable Messaging – Unlike other forms of advertising that gives your consumers a way out – there is no changing the station, turning the channel or closing the browser with mobile billboards. This is why outdoor advertising is able to boast a much more captive audience than other forms of advertising.
Why the Outdoor Advertising Industry Needs Change
With all of the benefits afforded by outdoor advertising, you’d think that small businesses would practically be falling over themselves to purchase outdoor ads. However, there’s one small problem. Outdoor ad campaigns – including mobile billboards can get very expensive. Granted, it’s less costly than some other forms of traditional advertising. However, relative to online marketing this is still considered a costly marketing channel.
In fact, outdoor media advertising is expensive enough that as a small business, you’re more likely to view it as a barrier to entry than as a practical marketing tool.
Just to give you an idea of how costly transit or bus advertising can get, in large markets such as New York, LA or Chicago; you can easily expect to pay as much as $600 to $1000 a bus per month in ad costs. On the other hand, small markets command an average price of $100 to $300 a bus per month.
On the face of it, this may not sound like much. However, remember that in most instances you’d be required to commit to a minimum number of buses (usually ten) before you can access this form of advertising.
Part of the reason that outdoor advertising is expensive is that historically, the industry has been controlled by a few very powerful corporations. Since this power is so concentrated, small businesses aren’t a position to negotiate or find less costly alternatives. Instead, they are left with two choices – chalk up the budget to reach a larger audience or risk being invisible to their audience.
How Location Impacts Advertising
You’ve heard it said that when it comes to advertising, location matters and it is true. But perhaps nowhere is it truer than in transit advertising. Advertising in large cities provides substantially more exposure than what you’d get from a small city.
Nonetheless, it’s still difficult to grasp the difference that location makes until you compare transit advertising costs in big cities to mobile billboard advertising costs in small cities. On average the cost to buy bus advertisements in large markets is typically 3 to 6 times more expensive than digital bus ads in smaller markets. This further tilts the odds in the favor of large corporations.
Enter Zeusvision
Zeusvision is a new entrant to the digital advertising space that builds and operates digital buses in several major markets, across the United States. These aren’t just any buses, they are double-deckers that are equipped with Super CinemaScope digital display screens, spanning the entire length of the bus – on both sides. Watch this video and see how people stop , stare and take pictures:
[youtube id=”QRI1zc49yP4″ width=”560″ height=”315″]
The company aims to level the playing field within the outdoor advertising sector. Pricing will be officially announced soon, but Giovanni Wolfgang, CEO of Zeusvision indicated to me in a recent phone call some very affordable rates they will be offering to agencies like ROI4My.com to offer to our clients and we feel they are poised to do just that.
The Zeusvision Advantage
In addition to small business friendly pricing, the company also boasts an easy to use platform that makes it possible for advertisers to purchase and schedule ads through a simple online advertising platform – similar to the Google AdWords dashboard. However, most small business will need help with the ad creatives and campaign management and should seek out a company like ROI4My.com for professional assistance.
Another thing that makes Zeusvision unique is that you don’t even have to be a business to use it. In fact, the company encourages private individuals to utilize the service. Among the occasions where it might be a good fit for consumers are:
- Wedding Proposals
- Congratulatory Messages
- Holiday Announcements
- Military Veteran Returns
- Etc.
And that’s not all… Since these digital buses use regular routes and are equipped with GPS, advertisers can take advantage of geographic targeting. This means that you have the ability to determine the specific locations that your ads are displayed. For example, if you were proposing to your fiancé – you can choose to have your ad displayed when the bus turns onto the street that you and your fiancé will be dining in front of at a certain pre-determined time. Also, we were told Zeusvision will have even more advanced technology like eye tracking to count views and real time video display (meaning the people looking at the Zeusvision bus will actually be on the screen!)
The Bottom Line
You may be thinking, “this is all well…but what does it have to do with me?” Here’s what it means to you – until now small businesses and private individuals have been locked out of big city outdoor advertising.
But the good news is that Zeusvision’s arrival signals the democratizing of the outdoor media industry. In much the same way that the Internet transferred authority from the business to the consumer; Zeusvision’s double decker digital buses represent a transfer of power from large advertisers to small advertisers.
While the company has already engaged in a limited rollout of its digital buses in some of the most prestigious cities in the United States, today marks its official launch! To learn more about Zeusvision or to find out how you can put the power of digital double decker buses to work for your business click here:
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