Signs of the Times - July 2013 - (Page 30)

THE MOVING MESSAGE By Bob Klausmeier Digital-display consultant Bob Klausmeier brings 34 years of firsthand, professional experience to all digital-sign markets. You can reach him at bob@klausmeierassociates.com. Know the Value of Your Advertising Space You could be amazed at what a few seconds is worth. If your electronic digital display is adjacent to a stoplight, has high resolution, stands in a high-income area and along the approach to a high-end shopping mall, you could have a valuable opportunity. If your digital display is in New York, Los Angeles or any area where advertising rates are exorbitant, you may be shocked at what a client will pay for ancillary advertising space… I believe the savvy owner ofcenter. In almost all sign a dynamic digital should also see it as a profit cases, if the sign has value as on-premise advertising, there’s an opportunity to expand that value through thirdparty ad sales and co-op revenue from products sold on site. I’ve previously written about sharing on-premise, digital-display time with supplementary advertisers who want the exposure opportunity, but here I’m covering how to value and price such ancillary advertising. Sharing digital-display time can add income, but offering a shared advertising program at the right price is essential to your success. Multiple factors impact any such valuation. All are important and must be considered before ad sales are proposed. The following discussion explores these variables and how they affect the valuation of digitalmedia advertising. Audience size – Most important is the number of people exposed to the advertising. For most locations, the audience comprises motorists who pass a sign on a given day, i.e., the traffic count. If the road is a state or federal highway, the state DOT probably has such a count. If it’s a city street, a municipal-DOT measurement system is likely in place. Many DOT offices publish Ocean Outdoor’s (London) dynamic, double-face sign’s four, 10-second ads catch sidewalk and vehicle trafﬁc. 30 SIGNS OF THE TIMES / JULY 2013 / www.signweb.com their information online. However, the traffic count only provides the number of cars passing the site. In typical advertising applications, ad-space sellers multiply the traffic count by a factor of 1.35 (which approximates the average number of adults per vehicle). The sum represents the potential number of viewers per day. Viewing distance – You’d think this only measures distance, but the actual numbers you seek are both time and distance. You want to know how many seconds the display is visible to the average passerby and from what distance. You need to determine the approximate observation distance and the time required to drive it – from both sides of the display. Begin at the closest point from which you can read the display and, at the speed limit, drive to the last point at which you can still recognize the image. Use your vehicle’s odometer and a stopwatch to record the experience in both miles and time. For example, your report might say the display is readable for 7/10 of a mile during an 18-second viewing interval. Compare this figure against your competitors’ proximity signs to help establish value. In all cases, the numbers will be somewhat subjective, given that no two people have the same eyesight or driving habits. Also, the presence of a traffic light in the viewing range can positively (and exponentially) skew the viewing time. Physical size of the image – Size is the most overlooked, but important, aspect of a valuation, relative to your price and value estimation. Certainly, it impacted choosing the installed display, because local sign regulations have established limits for the display’s size and setback. In most cases, the maximum size for on-premise displays is dramatically lower than for third-party advertising structures, such as billboards. However, that disadvantage is reversed if the on-premise display is located closer to the street. A 14 x 48-ft. billboard is of no greater advertising value than a 10 x 20-ft. sign, if the billboard was installed at a markedly greater distance from the viewing traffic. Digital-display aspect ratio – the best display’s visual area is twice the length of the height, to give advertisers flexibility when creating ad images. Display pixel pitch – Most third-party, LED-lamped advertising displays’ vertical lamp-group comprises 160 RGB pixels; the recommended minimum is at least 144 RGB pixels. The number of pixels determines the image clarity. For example, a 10 x 20-ft., 20mm, pixel-pitch display’s overall resolution is 41,472 pixels. A same-size display, equipped with a 16mm pitch, will comprise http://www.signweb.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Signs of the Times - July 2013

Signs of the Times - July 2013
Contents
ST Update
Technology Update
Vinyl Apps
Strictly Commercial
Lighting Techniques
The Moving Message
Technology Review
Technology Review
Design Matters
New Products
Vehicle Graphics Contest Entry Form
Public Displays of Affection
Electric-Sign Company 1 on 1’s
Screenprinting for Signmakers
A Century of Going Places
Industry News
Advertising index
Editorially speaking

Signs of the Times - July 2013