Out of Home Advertising Product Spotlight - Beach Media

Summer is a great time for out of home media. Vacationers put the winter months behind them and start heading for warm beaches and sunnier locales. The vacationing demographic is more willing to spend than those stuck behind the desk from 9 to 5, making them an excellent target for advertising messaging. And with more people spending more time outdoors, out of home advertising can reach more members of your target audience.

For advertisers looking to reach this suntanned demographic, what better way than at the beach!? Whether your target audience includes spring breakers, vacationing families, snowbirds, or high-income resort travelers, there are many effective ways to reach each of them. Advertising opportunities are in abundance at the beach, including aerial, water vessel, sand imprint, telephone kiosks, lifeguard towers, wrapped vehicles, inflatables, tents, trash receptacles, umbrellas, and street teams - just to name a few.

Benefits of the Out of Home Medium -

Beach advertising can have a great impact because of frequency. Vacationers are usually at the beach for a few days at a time. The message reaches them every day - and possibly all day - depending on the advertising vehicle. Plus, beach-goers tend to be a captive audience with an open, relaxed mindset.

Beach media is unique, giving the advertiser the opportunity to stand out and make an impact. Plus, advertisers don't have to break through the typical ad clutter on the beach like they do in other venues.

How this Form of Out of Home Media is Used -

Advertisers can target different demographic segments with beach media using location, time period and venue. College students can be reached by targeting spring break destination beaches in March and April. In addition, clients can target spring break parties with tents, inflatables or street teams.

If families are the target consumer, then summer months work best. For a campaign lasting a couple months, more standard media may work better - lifeguard towers, trash receptacles, beach panels and phone kiosks. Aerial advertising and sand impressions can grab attention as well.

Higher income couples may opt for the more elusive beaches, but you can still use water vessel and aerial advertising to grab their attention. Countless opportunities exist when incorporating beach media.

How to Measure Out of Home Beach Media -

Currently, there are no standard guidelines for measuring a beach campaign. However, you may be able to incorporate street teams for surveying, sampling, etc. Beach media can also be measured if it directs the consumer to a particular website. Another option is to get involved in a beach event and monitor attendance numbers.

Markets Where Out of Home Beach Media is Available -

You can find beach media in just about any coastal market. If you aren't aware of any companies covering a particular beach, you could contact one of the many companies on DOmedia who may be able to customize a program for a particular location.

New Beach Media Technology -

Some products such as phone kiosks might have built-in charging systems. Others may have audio capabilities or digital displays. For instance, some water vessels may have digital displays visible as they pass by beach crowds.

Who Provides Beach Media?

Contact an out of home media specialist to learn who provides traditional and digital beach media, and how to purchase it. Alternative advertising agencies and other digital media companies often have large directories of asset providers.

Jeff R. Lamb is the president of DOmedia: an out of home media company. DOmedia specializes in connecting asset owners with buyers for all forms of traditional and digital out of home media. Learn more at http://www.domedia.com

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Generating Publicity - Will The Media Be Interested In My Product or Business?

When it comes to launching a new business or product, some marketing consultants might say that EVERY product is appropriate for a publicity or media exposure campaign. That is true to a degree, but as a PR/publicity professional and former media person, I would qualify that statement by saying that although new products would benefit from a solid publicity campaign, not all businesses or products and their pitches will grab the attention of the media.

A number of strategically generated features or product mentions in magazines, newspapers and TV/radio/cable shows nationwide can lend strong credibility to a new product. That "media bullhorn" can also do wonders toward educating consumers about your product. But does your product -- and it's media pitch -- have what it takes to attract the media into giving you coverage in their pages or on their airwaves? As I mentioned, many products or businesses can generate some type of publicity and media interest, but in my professional experience, the types of products and pitches that lend themselves to the best media exposure include:

home/garden products

kitchen/cooking/food products

consumer electronics

automotive accessories

home repair/DIY tools

personal health/medical/fitness products

recreational/outdoor products

experts (business, health, technology)

If you have a new or under-publicized product in one of these categories, the media could be a good friend to you. However, you first have be a friend to the media. Your product (and pitch) needs to have what the media calls a "news peg" -- that gives them a logical and newsworthy reason to feature YOUR product as opposed to the 200 other media pitches that are on their desks right now. Additionally, you need to make it as easy as possible for them to do your story or they WILL move onto a competitor's pitch and product that is easier to cover.

Can you provide a media sample?

Do you have quality photos of the product?

How can the product be purchased: in stores, catalogs, online, by phone?

Can you arrange a quick interview if needed?

Products/services that don't really lend themselves to media interest or publicity are things like:

website developers

cell phone/printer cartridge sales

vitamin supplements

insurance

financial planning

MLM/downline schemes

I'm not implying that these types of businesses aren't media worthy. I'm simply saying that from a media interest, editorial standpoint, there are thousands of competing product and businesses like these on the market and unless they are offering something truly unique, they lack that "news peg" that will attract the media's attention. If you are launching, let's say, a new garden tool that is very similar to many other garden tools on the market, don't expect much interest from the media in putting together a feature. You can create that news peg by answering a few questions:

How does your product differ from competing products already on the market?

Why should the media and subsequent consumers be interested in your product?

Does it provide a solution to an existing problem for consumers?

Bottom line -- an expertly maintained publicity campaign can help forge wonderfully reciprocal, mutually beneficial relationships with the media. Reciprocal, in that the media constantly need interesting information to put together their product profiles and business features -- and YOU need constant media exposure to get the word out. If your product or business can meet the media standards mentioned above, you could benefit greatly from some solid nationwide media exposure. Getting your product mentioned in print articles and on TV/radio shows nationwide will help spread the word to customers -- and at a fraction of the cost of a nationwide advertising campaign.

About The Author

Todd Brabender is the President of Spread The News Public Relations, Inc. His business specializes in generating media exposure and publicity for innovative products, businesses, experts and inventions. Free Publicity Consultations offered online: http://www.spreadthenewspr.com; todd@spreadthenewspr.com; (785) 842-8909

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