Gas Station Advertising

During the daylight hours most consumers are at work or in their homes, however, at night consumers venture out to bars, restaurants, and clubs.  Because of the overall increased activity at night, locations frequented during nighttime hours can be ideal locations for advertising.  Bar, restaurant, and nightclub advertising through dartboards, LCD screens, or even drink coasters provides maximum exposure and time spent with the advertisement.  In addition, advertisements are more likely to implant suggestions with consumers under intoxication. 

Focusing on nighttime advertising will overall increase your exposure to the general public, and allow you to target specific demographics of people and geographic locations throughout the United States.

One of the fastest growing ways to advertise is through digital mediums, whether that be television, movies, or video games.  Digital advertising is particularly potent because of its ability to reach so many people.  Unlike print advertising which in general requires proximity to the advertisement, digital advertising can reach consumers in all locations throughout the world.  Digital advertising techniques are mostly based around product placement or subliminal advertising; for example, you might see a hip character drinking a Pepsi in a film, or hear an advertisement for Domino’s pizza on a radio station like Chatterbox from the Grand Theft Auto video game series. 

Digital advertising is the new age; it’s cheaper and more efficient than print advertising, and can build off the success of one product in order to market another (see the success of Domino’s Gotham pizza promotion during the release of Batman: The Dark Knight).

Gone are the days when billboards, posters, and flyers were the standard advertising apparatuses.  In the modern era, advertising has spread into almost every facet of human day to day life.  We advertising it pop up on our computers and in our e-mails.  As we go about our errands we see Laundromat and gas pump advertising; advertisements are everywhere.  In this modern era, companies have a unique opportunity to reach consumers without having the consumer look for them. 

The most important things for companies to do right now is to think of new and original ways to reach the consumer, especially keeping in mind new technologies.

In a world where many people find themselves burdened with multiple jobs and to-do lists, it’s hard to find time to read the billboards and flip through the ads in a newspaper. To effectively get your message out, you need to be creative in your ad campaign. Eye-catching designs, striking pictures and texts, and humor will often grab the attention of people. But even more arresting is where you place those ads. A person might expect to see an add fall out of their newspaper, and not pay it another mind. But not as many people would expect to find that same ad written in the sky, or posted in the bathroom. If you hope to draw consumers in, non-traditional advertising is a must.
Some mediums for non-traditional advertising techniques:

• Door hangers and door knockers
• Coasters
• Sidewalk art
• Washers and dryers at a laundry-mat
• In bathrooms

When I was in college, most of my classes were held in the same wing of the same building. The bathroom in that wing always had advertisements placed on the stall doors. So every time I used that bathroom, I would just read the sign, over and over. By the time I graduated, I had all the advertisements memorized, and knew exactly which ads were in which stalls.Recently, I read an article about bathroom advertising and thought it sounded like a silly, ridiculous notion. Who wants to advertise in a public bathroom? Who is really going to pay attention to that? Well, me, apparently.

Bathroom advertising is some of the most effective advertising out there. Its placement pretty much guarantees that it will be read, and it can be precisely targeted to an audience. And if there’s any place that people for sure go, it’s to the bathroom. Studies have shown that approximately three-quarters of restaurant patrons will go to the bathroom at some point during their meal, and club-goers will about three times during an average evening at a night club. Which just goes to show – creative ad placement works best.

Advertisers have a very interesting job.  They have to know not only what will motivate people generally, but what will motivate certain groups of people.  Studying the demographics of high-traffic businesses such as nightspots, health clubs, sports and music venues, malls and movie theaters can help them target customers and create effective marketing campaigns for the products of their clients.

Indoor advertisements get noticed by sometimes thousands of people in any given month.  If people have to wait in line, they will study displays and signs at or slightly higher than their eye level.  If the advertising firm has accurately assessed the consumers at a venue where their indoor advertisements, such as high-quality posters, are displayed, great success can be achieved through the advertising campaign.

How many times have you said, “What a great idea!  I wish I had thought of it!”  Advertising methods are getting more and more innovative these days, and with the rising numbers of people going into business for themselves, no potential location for an advertisement can be ignored.

From gas pumps to automatic teller or tavern gaming machines, there are many nontraditional venues with a captive audience for your business message to be shared.  People will see your contact information over and over again!

Great to speak with all of you again.  Gas Prices are down again and the relief on the pocketbook is greatly appreciated.  Its so amazing that with all the different and unique things going on at the pumps regarding advertising that the full color placards are still the most effective tool. Everyone is trying so hard to place digital in so many different areas but what you need to keep in mind is that an impression is an impression.  Sure color is better then black and white at times but the impression is still the same.  Outside of radio many people feel that audio is quite intrusive to people.

There are so many ways to advertise your business that it would be impossible to list them all. Traditional forms of advertising may include purchase of advertising space community coupon packets such as Val-Pak, telephone directories, city maps and local tourist guides, and local area magazines and newspapers.   State fairs, community or church events, or job fairs often have reasonable table or booth rental; if you organize some kind of prize drawing or raffle, you will have contact information for many potential customers.  Donations of your products or services is also an excellent way to get exposure for your business–try local radio stations, TV local information channels, or bingo halls. Ask local restaurants and bars if advertising space is available for purchase on their placemats or beverage coasters.    Have a few T-shirts and tote bags with your business logo on them and hand them out to people you know.  Put a vehicle banner, window cling, or license plate holder on your vehicle that advertises your business name.  Business cards, business card magnets, window clings, and promotional flyers or coupons can be left with any business who gives you permission—some ideas are hairdressers, coffee stands, offices for any medical health provider you might know, banks, retail stores, hotels, restaurants, daycare centers, college campus or trade school student information centers, car dealerships, housing rental offices, and gyms.   

Pacific Media expands on the above-listed possibilities by offering advertising space on gas pumps, dartboards, nightclubs, concert and sporting event venues, movie theaters, and department stores, not just in the form of posters, but on the sidewalk, glass doors, and many more.  When it comes to making your business succeed, marketing and visibility is everything!

We’ve all seen a window cling in a home or automobile, maybe for a radio station or an organization.  This is what is known as cling advertising. 

Window clings with your logo are catchy, colorful and convenient, and can be placed so many more places than just an automobile window.  There are store windows, clear doors of a dryer at the Laundromat, the sliding windows of your favorite coffee stand, and so many more.  The more of these window clings you give out, the more you will see your business name everywhere—and so will potential customers.