Outdoor Advertising - Thoughts? Experiences?

[90DC]

Having walked or driven past a lot of spaces with "ADVERTISE HERE" recently, I thought, why not offer this on more of a mass market?

I'd be looking to set up a website, (Aimed locally to begin with), contact the people with the space, agree terms with them (Percentage of advertising costs). People will visit the website, find a space in an area they wish to advertise, contact me and I will manage the negotiations with them.

It'd work in a very similar way to a letting agent. I've tried to explain in it's most simple form. I could also provide the advertiser with the design should they wish to and offer other aspects to the business.

Thoughts?

 

[Psl]

The DOOH marketplace is competitive. What are the 'spaces' that are empty you have seen, billboards?

 

[90DC]

The DOOH marketplace is competitive. What are the 'spaces' that are empty you have seen, billboards?

There are various kinds of spaces I have seen. Namely being on the side of shops, in car parks. All on private property. Possibly also anybody who has a high trailer or moving transport.

I am not particularly looking at bus stops, huge billboards etc. as these are very highly priced and you'd be competing with national companies. I want to plug a gap I feel that exists between advertising in the local Post Office and advertising on phone boxes.

I am considering the one man bands who have, say space on a prime arterial route or space at the side of a shop in the city centre of Nottingham. Having taken a look today in Nottingham City Centre, I noticed eleven empty advertising spaces within a five minute walk. There are possible opportunities in the towns within the county as well.

The advertisers will mainly be local businesses, with the theme of "Local advertising for local businesses." If that helps make any sense of the idea.

Anybody else's thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Psl]

Here's an idea for you.

Find out how many empty shops there are in Nottingham city centre and approach the agents with a view to placing advertising sheets on the inside of the empty shop windows.
The agent charges you per shop window, you add a mark up and produce the advertising sheet and sell them on.

 

[90DC]

Here's an idea for you.

Find out how many empty shops there are in Nottingham city centre and approach the agents with a view to placing advertising sheets on the inside of the empty shop windows.
The agent charges you per shop window, you add a mark up and produce the advertising sheet and sell them on.

...and improve the general look of certain areas of the city centre in the process.

Now, how do I delete this thread so nobody can take that idea! Thanks, that's certainly an idea I'll seek to consider further.

 

[arcon5]

...and improve the general look of certain areas of the city centre in the process.

Now, how do I delete this thread so nobody can take that idea! Thanks, that's certainly an idea I'll seek to consider further.

So nobody can take the idea from you like you have taken is from Psl ya'mean

If an idea is a good one you bet the second you start up somebody will jump on the bandwagon so better be first to the post.

The only thing to consider is many shops are boarded up which makes it impossible to display signage it a way that won't be damaged or vandalised. The ones that aren't you'd need to work out an effective system because the agency are unlikely to give you a set of keys to the properties and if they have to attend the property to change the advertisements regularly I imagine they will want a cut for their time. Paying them and the landlord could leave your revenue a bit thin.
Other wise it's a good idea

 

[Psl]

...and improve the general look of certain areas of the city centre in the process.

Now, how do I delete this thread so nobody can take that idea! Thanks, that's certainly an idea I'll seek to consider further.

Good luck and happy to help. If you do make a good few quid, mine's a pint of Guinness

 

[Psl]

So nobody can take the idea from you like you have taken is from Psl ya'mean

If an idea is a good one you bet the second you start up somebody will jump on the bandwagon so better be first to the post.

The only thing to consider is many shops are boarded up which makes it impossible to display signage it a way that won't be damaged or vandalised. The ones that aren't you'd need to work out an effective system because the agency are unlikely to give you a set of keys to the properties and if they have to attend the property to change the advertisements regularly I imagine they will want a cut for their time. Paying them and the landlord could leave your revenue a bit thin.
Other wise it's a good idea

Good points in the last paragraph.

I think an effective system would be to sell the space for a minimum
of three months at a time, makes the effort with it then and the revenue should be sufficient enough to make it viable.

I don't what a businesses would pay but if you do some research on billboard costs in the area and use those prices as a guide,you shouldn't be too far off the mark with your pricing.

If a shop is boarded up try approaching a fly posting business to place the sheets on the outside for you.

 

[Jamthesun]

I've found it very hard to get landlords to play ball in the past wrt using empty space. They want to make sure that if a tenant comes along there is no issue with handing over keys. Contracts with advertisers for window space would/could cause problems.

 

[90DC]

Thanks for the replies, the debate has provided more food for thought and I now need to work out exactly what I wanted to acheive from this idea. With regards to taking ideas, I'm constantly on the prowl for clever, out of the box ideas to come from somebody else's thinking and will seize an opportunity if I think it is there worthy of it. Millions of minds are better than one, eh?

Somebody also said something about shops being boarded up. Not where I am. Infact, quite the opposite. You can see the empty shells. Somebody is getting into certain empty units on a regular basis to put posters for events on the inside of the windows. They're probably paying pittance. The idea psl said was more to do with large, street level advertising, which I see many benefits and just one or two hurdles. The benefits namely being that it should improve the look of high streets (Empty shops are dark, often show signs of disrepair and I consider them to be an eyesore), the landlord will receive a larger income from their empties than these flyposters, the window areas are usually of sufficient size to create a marketing campaign for a local business.

 

[Psl]

It is not a new idea, I have since found out
This is the top end of the market, they deal with the big brands etc;

http://www.motomedia-uk.com/
http://www.mywoop.co.uk/woop/

This well worth a read as well;
http://www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/community/advertising_idea_could_mean_smarter_stores_1_3238817

and this is the guys website;
http://www.window-ad-plus.com/

My advice would be research, plan then execute.

Make sure the graphics graphics/product are quality, get some sample images done.
Your website needs to be of the highest standard because that will most likely be the first port of call for advertisers, so it is worth investing a good amount into this part of 'your' business shop window.

You would also need an advertising contract for both the landlord/agent/shop owner and the advertiser.

Talk to your local council about your plans, your local business networking clubs and chamber of commerce.

Have you worked out what your target market is, local businesses from your sole traders to SME's, i.e local car dealerships,garden centres etc?

Don't just target city centre's target arterial roads as well, they have great traffic flows but the advertising has to be higher impact than in city centre's - traffic flow versus footfall.


Hope that helps, anyway back to my day job, the coffee's wont make themselves

 

[90DC]

PSL thanks for the information and encouragement. I've already had a look at one or two of the larger companies but I certainly think I will take a deeper look at the idea.

The target market would be local businesses and having various options to explore, such as your shop window idea, would hopefully enable me to offer suitable out-of-home advertising solutions for anybody from your one man band gardener to regional companies.

Obviously, people could go direct to the advertiser but it's a case of finding the right space in the area that suits your business best and that takes time, my advantage is that I'd have a large number of advertising spaces available on the website and I am sure it wont bother most landlords. Income is income to them.

Obviously there is a fair bit of planning involved but I'll crack on and give it a go. I totally agree with the website, it needs to be up to a similar standard of Motomedia.

I'm pleased too by the encouragement and opinions shown in this thread and if anybody else has anything to add, I'd be grateful.