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Travel along any highway and there they are, shouting for attention with their bold colors and catchy phrases. Around as long as there have been travelers, they often provide necessary information and definitely help break the monotony of those long, boring stretches of highway.
Beginning with hieroglyphics carved on Egyptian obelisks to today's trivision, outdoor advertising has been proven to be an effective media.
Eyesores to some and welcome advertising tools to others, they can be traced back to the first commercial billboard on record in America which was a poster produced by Jared Bell for the 1835 circus season. A mere $6 years later, the Outdoor Advertising Association of America was formed and has been serving the outdoor industry ever since.
In a region that depends on the tourist trade for much of its revenue, it is no great surprise that 39 percent of the outdoor advertising business in this area is related to travel and tourism. Compared to 23 percent for the same market elsewhere, it is easy to see why Lamar Outdoor Advertising of Savannah is so successful.
Research shows billboards are a primary source of information for the traveling public:
* 9 out of 19 automobile travelers in the United States rely on billboards to locate gas, food, lodging, and tourist attractions (U.S. travel data center, Washington, D.C., 1991)
* 7 out of 10 travelers looking for affordable lodging are influenced by billboard in making their choice (Budget User Lodging Study, McNabb, Desoto & Co., 1990)
* A 1995 survey for the Florida Lottery found that billboards were the most frequently mentioned source of advertising awareness among the sample group (Market Vision Research, Inc. May 1995)
* Shoney's Restaurants have found that each billboard results in $8,000 of sales a week per restaurant
* 70% of Outdoor advertising revenues come from local advertisers who count on billboards to direct customers to their business products
Founded in 1902 in Pensacola, Florida, Lamar now operates 54 outdoor advertising offices in 17 states as well as 13 transit offices. In addition, they are located in all but four of the 22 states, including Ontario, Canada, that currently have privatized logo programs and are, in fact, the largest business with approximately 61,000 logos.
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