Getting away from my normal Google-centric posts, I wanted to bring up an advertising medium that I encountered recently.
This past weekend I was tailgating in front of Gillette Stadium before watching the Miami Dolphins and Ronnie Brown run gadget plays around the once mighty New England Patriots. Being a long time Seattle Seahawks fan, I didn’t really care about the outcome of the game (was really hoping that Randy Moss would have a strong fantasy day…which he didn’t), but always love going to a NFL game which provides guaranteed fun everytime.
While sitting in the sun in a parking lot, we noticed some aerial advertising flying around the tailgating hot spots. Two dealerships, Commonwealth Motors and Herb Chambers, had banners flying in the sky letting the football hungry masses know about their businesses. Here are a couple shots we got of their respective ads (thanks you John Sappo for the spy shots!):
If I wouldn’t have know that Commonwealth was a dealership, I wouldn’t have been able to tell from their aerial ad. The automotive piece of the ad was blurred by being on the top of the banner that was pretty wavy. The call to action looked to be an after though with the Shop Us Last.com flag. If my mom would have seen this ad and went home to check out ShopUsLast.com, I’m certain that she would have put spaces between the Shop Us and Last.
The Herb Chambers ad I thought was very clean and effective. Simple, clear messaging with a recognizable brand. From a branding perspective, I think this ad was a great way of keeping the Herb Chambers name on the minds of the New Englanders waiting for their Patriots.
I have to wonder how a dealership, or any advertiser, could measure the ROI on an aerial campaign like this. Is this type of advertising effective in driving customers to a dealership’s sales or service department?
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
It is tough to measure return on this type of advertising. Many people that support The Herb Chambers companies also support the Patriots. I think this is a nice way of letting people know Herb Chambers is supporting our local team. I agree with the comment about branding.
Your question is an important one to ask when analyzing cost effectiveness to ad dollar spend. Herb Chambers is behind the Patriots, re familiarizing and re enforcing that with consumers is ideal in this particular application.
The Commonwealth ad seems to me like money wasted in the wrong channel. I had 16 bud lights and the message was never read, and more importantly the url is lost in the tail anyway. -Back at the office on Monday shopping my wife’s new car and I am spot checking the local dealerships’ inventory… what was that URL?
Look I think we both know the market today is too lean to waste it on flying banners and tinsel. I also feel your hinting at how everyone should be pushing their ad dollar spend in the right channel like web, and sem/seo driven marketing. The stuff that works.
For that I appreciate your continuous and insightful observations.