Early last year, the OAAA announced its formation of the Truckside Advertising Council of America (TACA) to serve the needs of mobile advertisers. Transit messages — typically affixed to moving vehicles or positioned in key transit areas — are becoming increasingly popular among outdoor advertisers. As reported in ST’s October 2000 issue, transit ads, along with street furniture, are the outdoor industry’s second most popular form of out-of-home advertising.
The dazzling graphics and high-tech imagery used on trucks today are garnering local and national media attention. Many brands, including McDonald’s, Saab, the Texas Lottery and Sprint PCS, have successfully implemented truckside-advertising and mobile-billboard campaigns in the past 18 months to reach their target audiences where they work, play and congregate. $image1
Offering unprecedented cost efficiency, truckside advertising incorporates new tracking systems that measure impressions/performance and enable advertisers to assess campaign effectiveness.
Truckside advertising uniquely matches advertisers with third-party urban delivery trucks and over-the-road conveyance or freight trucks. Also known as "pure advertising," mobile billboards serve short-term, promotional purposes. They are typically found on flat-panel, advertising-dedicated trucks.
Due to the increasing popularity of truckside and mobile-billboard advertising, several new outdoor media companies offer national coverage, as well as an array of service and production options. While some firms provide adhesive-vinyl applications, others offer framing systems that use a welded-beading/aluminum-frame track process and allow the use of non-adhesive vinyl substrates. Both processes boast appealing benefits with photorealistic output of more than 150 dpi. $image2
In a December 2000 milestone, the Traffic Audit Bureau for Media Measurement (TAB) launched its new truckside media measurement methodology.
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According to OAAA chief marketing officer Stephen Freitas, "Outdoor advertising is experiencing unprecedented growth in resources and revenue, and truckside advertising plays a key role in fueling this growth by providing advertisers an important new planning option."
"Marrying basic advertising with technology to drive truckside and mobile-billboard mapping and measurement is a complete value-added benefit," says Mark Freeman, a truckside advertiser and president of the Chicago Downtown Owner/Operator Committee. "The photo quality and food-focus of our Chicago trucks is ideal for driving impulse purchases — the core of our downtown business," Mark continues.
The images showcased here are examples of this outdoor-advertising media format.