Oldest Ad Medium Becomes New Again

You can't avoid it. There's no Tivo or ad-blocking software to protect you. You can't just turn the page to make it go away. It's everywhere. And that's its advantage.

It's not a new invention from Google. On the contrary, it's antithesis of new media: In polite company it's called "out-of-home advertising" -- but to you and me it billboards, posters, and ads slapped on everything like phone boots, bus benches, and streetside trash cans.

The industry got together last week in New York City as part of the fifth annual Advertising Week and showed off all places ads can go: eye-level above urinals and on the back doors of stalls in women's rooms; on the front of Segways; on pizza boxes; on stairways; on banners in the sky; in the bins used to hold your dirty shoes at airport checkpoints; on paychecks; on lunch trucks; on gas pumps; on sidewalks; and even on 360-degree L.E.D. screens.

Ubiquity is the medium's biggest advantage over print, broadcast, or the Web. "It's the only advertising medium that's immune to customer avoidance," says Paul Meyer, global president and chief operating officer of Clear Channel Outdoor. He means that as a good thing.

Most of the media world doesn't have this luxury. TV, radio, and Internet ads can be dodged with the press of a button. Fewer people are reading newspapers and magazines, and then the ads are as easy to avoid as the flip of the page.

To get consumers' attention, advertisers in the larger marketplace now have to do more than catch your eye. They are trying to create a relationship with you.

"We have to stop thinking about media as bridges that we march messages over into people's mouths and mind," Andrew Robertson, president and C.E.O. of advertising agency network BBDO Worldwide, said, "and start thinking about creating experiences that change behavior and providing access to those experiences in the most relevant places."

The out-of-home industry may have the places part down.

No matter how you see an ad, as friend or foe, the industry is making sure you're going to see one -- and almost everywhere you look.

by Willow Duttge

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