Vinyl Billboards And
The Environment

Author: Dev_FF

Vinyl Billboards And The Environment

Most modern billboards are made of printed vinyl. In the past, large pieces of paper were used and glued together to form a single image or message, but nowadays large, intact sheets of vinyl can be printed with special machines. The type of vinyl that is most commonly used is called PVC, and because this consists basically of plastic, people tend to consider it environmentally unfriendly. While digital billboards are starting to surface on the market and are considered more environmentally safe, the components going into digital billboards can actually be quite difficult to dispose of because they contain toxins that can leach into groundwater and soil – the same way that all electronic equipment can be dangerous to dispose of. Vinyl, however, can be repurposed for different things and the demand for vinyl scrap from billboards is getting increasingly higher.

How Are Billboards Made?

But, before we talk about repurposing vinyl it helps to know how billboards are made. Billboards (regardless of size) are usually constructed with a frame and a permanent backing that sits within the frame. The image sheets are then usually screen printed – a process that prints only one layer of colour at a time. Screen printing is very cost effective when it comes to large sheets, especially if multiple copies of the same image have to be made for different billboards. Digital printing is also used, and this is more expensive than screen printing. The beauty of digital printing is that the ink used in this process is specifically designed to be weatherproof, which means that colours don’t fade and that the billboard remains intact and highly visible for long periods of time. The vinyl on which the image is printed is made up of two layers that are covered with a nylon finish which is UV resistant and water resistant, and stops the vinyl from ripping. This means that the vinyl itself also has quite an impressive lifespan – around 3 years, even in harsh weather conditions.

Re-using And Repurposing Billboard Vinyl

Because vinyl is a practical and flexible material, it can be used for many different things, and there are several companies that specialise in creating art pieces and reusable items from billboard vinyl. From shopping bags, tarpaulins, slip & slides, waterproof sleeping bags for the homeless to tent liners, tents and woven mats are all created from the leftovers once the billboard poster is taken down. The businesses and individuals that recycle or upcycle billboard vinyl in this manner not only benefit the environment, but also provide employment and teach new skills. This means that, if you are worried about the environmental impact your vinyl billboard will have, you can stop worrying! Billboard vinyl is usually recycled and is a very environmentally friendly way of advertising.

4 Top Tips On Effective Billboard Advertising From The Experts

Billboard advertising is one of the oldest forms of advertising, and it is clearly here to stay. It remains one of the most effective forms of marketing services or goods because it is an easy way to create visual impact on large scale audiences. It can even be targeted to specific markets and locations, and provides a high return on investment compared to other popular advertising media such as television and print advertising. Nowadays, however, we tend to experience sensory overload with all the activity and advertising going on around us, and this is why you need to know how to deal effectively with billboard advertising in order to be truly successful.

Even if you have a prime spot for your billboard marketing, it is important that yours stands out above the competition. Often the most lucrative spots have more than one billboard, and you have to ensure that yours is the first one to draw attention. Here are some tips from the experts to ensure that your billboard advertising attracts maximum attention:

TIP #1 – Make it shareable: With social media playing such a large role in modern life, people love to share things they find interesting. If you create something clever, topical, funny or impactful, people will share it on social media platforms. If your billboard is extra impactful it may even go viral, which means your exposure is significantly increased. Think outside the box and come up with something that people would love to share!

TIP #2 – Choose prime sites: While high traffic spots are definitely more expensive than quiet spots, it pays to spend the extra money on getting the prime spots for your billboard. It is a waste of time and money to have a billboard where you only get limited exposure. If you want a better return on your investment, always go for the high traffic locations.

TIP #3 – Get inspired: Often your competitors can inspire new ideas for billboards. While it is unwise (and usually illegal) to copy a concept, it can help a lot to provide commentary, a funny take, or a strategic design that is aligned with or responds to your competitors. If you check out what your competitors are doing you can also figure out what is effective and what is not, and learn from this. You can then design a strategic campaign subtly directed towards your strongest competitors. Be careful, however, not to flout competition laws – this may get you into hot water!

TIP #4 – Simple is good: Because billboards are observed for only a few seconds you have very little time to convey your information. This means that it is best to use fewer words and keep images clear and concise in order to form a precise concept in a hurry. Don’t duplicate the image with words – rather provide another related message. Usually images are best at drawing the eye, but a funny punchline or impactful commentary on the image can reinforce the message infinitely.

While billboard advertising can be hugely effective, you have to use it correctly, otherwise it is a waste of money and you get very little return on your investment. Apply these tips and you will get it right every time!

5 Important Considerations When Choosing Billboard Locations

If you want your billboard advertising to have maximum impact, it helps to choose sites that will generate sales. Location is one of the primary considerations. Most people focus only on the traffic rates at particular sites, but there are other factors to consider as well when choosing billboard locations.

  1. Site visibility: Not all high traffic sites are highly visible! You have to ensure that the board is set at the right distance for maximum visibility. The board also has to be placed at a height that is readable and angled in order to increase visual impact. Other visible interferences, such as additional billboards or a backdrop with a lot of busy advertising can detract from the visibility of your board. Choose a location where your board stands against a calm backdrop and is the only billboard on that site.
  2. Demographics: It is possible to target specific markets by strategically placing your billboard advertising where it is exposed to your target demographic on a constant basis. For instance, if you run a fashion forward, modern clothing store, placing your billboard near universities or other areas of study will have a greater impact than if you placed it next to an industrial area. It is of course essential that you fully understand your target market in order to identify the most suitable locations where they can be targeted.
  3. Proximity: If you place your billboard closer to your business premises you will have greater success in driving traffic towards your business. There is no point is setting up a billboard for a business which is located 50km away. For instance, if you run a fast food outlet, set up your billboards where they are visible to oncoming traffic that will pass your business. This may encourage people to drive into your premises instead of passing it. See it as a visible reminder that the business is there, and stimulate hunger with attractive images. Billboards can also be used to direct, e.g. a billboard with an attractive food image and your logo, with an arrow pointing in the direction of your shop. The text can read something like “Bob’s Burgers – 1km”.
  4. Commercial or residential sites: Again you have to know your target audience very well. If you work in a B2B environment, setting up in industrial sites may be best. If you are targeting individuals or households, however, there is no use setting up a billboard in an industrial area.
  5. Slow areas: During rush hour there are often points where traffic slows down considerably, such as stop streets, crossings, roundabouts and traffic lights. While they sit in traffic at these points they have more time to observe your billboard and to absorb information. Targeting these slow areas can generate a lot of sales!

Now that you have a better idea of where to place your billboards, consult with our team at Face First Media to find your perfect spot. We have access to highly desirable billboard locations, and will help you to target your specific audience to optimise your advertising investment.

How to Measure the Effectiveness of Your Billboards

There are many advertisers that believe that the use of billboards is one of the most efficient and cost effective advertising media. They are visible just about everywhere one goes, and they are highly effective at sending an important message within a very short time. In addition to this they are always there, which reinforces the presence of the brand that is being advertised. Repetition also works well when it comes to building brand familiarity, and for someone who passes the same billboard on their way to work or on their way home, it is virtually impossible not to become familiar with the brand!

But how does one measure the value of your billboard spend? How do you know that you are getting a return on your investment, or to what degree you are actually gaining sales as a result of your billboard advertising?

Firstly, one has to look at the specific objectives of billboard advertising. The main objective is to create brand awareness, and also to reinforce brand familiarity. The ultimate goal is to make the consumer so familiar with the brand that it becomes a household name and for the name of the brand to work itself into the everyday vocabulary of the consumers. Billboards still provide the highest degree of brand recognition of all advertising media.

Metrics and Measurement of ROI

A professional billboard advertiser will have a variety of measurement metrics at their disposal that they use to evaluate the effectiveness of a particular billboard. This includes the amount of traffic that passes the board, demographic information about particular locations, and also the effectiveness of the billboard design. The new generation of billboards surfacing on the market nowadays actually have built-in software and cameras that can help to generate data on the amount of vehicles that passes a particular location or billboard, and sometimes, in advanced cases, they can even measure how many people made eye contact with the board!

The official measurement unit is called DEC (Daily Effective Circulation), and this gives an indication of the number of vehicles or individuals passing the billboard. Professional billboard companies can translate this data into reports that effectively indicate the exposure and impact of the billboard. With print media, for instance, advertising effectiveness is measured by the number of copies that a particular magazine or newspaper sells and its circulation, but nobody can actually effectively tell how many people actually looked at particular advertisements. It is the same with television, although with modern technology this is also changing as televisions become more advanced.

At the end of the day, it is the amount of eyes on your advertisement that counts, and with a well-designed billboard placed in a highly visible location that is well targeted to your demographic, it still gets more attention than any other advertising media! You can therefore rest assured that, if you deal with a professional billboard agency such as Face First Media, your billboard advertising will certain provide value for money!

6 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Using Billboards for Advertising

Billboards have been used for many years for advertising purposes, and it is one of the oldest forms of marketing that is still being used on a regular basis. There is good reason for this: They are highly effective at getting any message across to a large audience within a few seconds. They are also permanently visible, and not just a 30 second slot on a television, or a page of print that can be paged over. They are also usually placed at locations where people sit in traffic, feeling bored, and this gives them an opportunity to engage with the information on the board. Billboard design, however, cannot rely on more than a few seconds of attention, especially not when placed next to a busy highway where people need to focus on the road. There are some mistakes people tend to make with their billboard design that reduces the effectiveness of the board, and these should be avoided at all costs. Avoid doing the following:

  1. Bad use of colour: While the billboard has to be noticeable and eye-catching, it is a mistake of mixing gaudy coloured text with dark backgrounds. This can make it very difficult to read within a few seconds. Incorrect combination of very light shades only do not provide enough contrast for the message to come across. The secret is to use colours that provide the correct amount of contrast.
  2. Using fancy fonts: While certain fonts look good on paper or on a computer, they will not work for billboards. Curly, thin or complicated fonts are hard to read within a few seconds, and experts recommend that clean, simple and clear fonts are used.
  3. Text that is too small: Your billboard is worth nothing if nobody can read the message or the logo. Use fonts that are big enough to be seen from far away, and keep equal distances between letters.
  4. Incorrect placement of the billboard: Here we are not only talking about the location, but also the physical angle and placement of the board. Choosing an incorrect location can lead to a waste of money, and it is best to consult billboard advertiser experts when it comes to choosing a location to advertise your particular brand. Some locations are richer in your specific demographic than others, and a well-located billboard can draw the attention of the right people. The billboard should also be angled in a way that increases its visibility, and therefore, again, experts should be consulted.
  5. Too much text: Nobody has time to read a paragraph while they drive, and even though you want to avoid large, unused spaces on the billboard, filling these up with text is a grave mistake. The perfect length for a message on a billboard is around 7 words. A short, punchy phrase is a lot more effective than a longer message.
  6. Over-complicated: If there is too much happening in the design of the board it makes reading it complicated, and the message is lost. Keep design simple and clean, and use impactful statements.

If you need expert advice and professional billboard design, contact Face First Media today!

People and businesses around the world are slowly becoming more aware of the environment, and as a result many new, innovative products are being manufactured and used. The world of billboards has also tapped into new strategies, materials and technology that can make billboards not just more environmentally friendly to manufacture, but also more eco-friendly overall. Companies are now taking advantage of eco-friendly products in order to capture the attention of a new generation of consumers that are more environmentally aware, and billboard manufacturers now give a lot more thought about the placement of these boards, and how to transform these structures into eye-catching objects with the use of solar displays, wind power, and technology.

Modern billboard technology has come a long way. From the tedious old static boards that required a lot of plastic, paper or vinyl, to modern electronic billboards that can display moving images, and can display a variety of clients’ brands intermittently. The frequency and movement of the images can be adjusted, and as a result one billboard can be used for a number of clients. The images can even be set to appear at certain times of day to hit a particular target market, for instance, target school children on their way home from school by displaying a brand aimed at that specific demographic!

One of the companies that are now makings strides in the implementation of environmentally friendly billboards company is Face First Media. We continuously strive to remain as eco-friendly as possible, and we employ many different technologies to ensure that we are able to design and create billboards from materials and processes that are environmentally friendly and biodegradable. Our aim is to reduce our carbon footprint with the use of solar panels for our LED billboards, and this allows us to use less electricity. We constantly pay attention to the market and are highly focused on new developments in the industry that allow us to employ even more eco-friendly methods at all times, such as new power generation technology.

If you are someone who is conscious of environmental issues and are looking for billboard solutions that leave a small carbon footprint, Face First Media are the people to contact. We are committed to finding highly visible and functional, yet environmentally friendly options for our displays and billboards, and we constantly explore new avenues for new, bio-friendly options! We look forward to helping you to promote your brand with our high-tech billboards!

Want To Make Extra Cash As A Billboard Landlord? Here’s How…

Something not many people are aware of is that they can make a lot of money by renting out some space to billboard advertisers such as Face First Media. The location of a billboard is of utmost importance, and well-paced vacant land is not easy to come by, especially in cities. This is why billboard companies tend to invest in the rental of space that is highly visible and well positioned, such as land next to a highway, a road crossing, or anywhere else where there is a lot of traffic and visibility! The income that private land owners can earn from renting out their properties can be substantial, and the amount of rent will largely depend on the desirability and visibility of the location. Continue reading “Want To Make Extra Cash As A Billboard Landlord? Here’s How…”

6 Important Factors That Impact The Effectiveness Of Your Billboard Advertising

We all know that billboards have formed a major part of advertising for more than a century now. But how do you maximise the impact of your outdoor advertising company and prevent your potential customers of becoming bored? There are some important factors that influence how effective you billboard advertising is, and if you follow certain guidelines, you can vastly improve the take-up of your advertising by people who see it.

  1. Billboard characteristics: Height, width and positioning make a huge difference. It has been proven that if the board is too high or set too low, the view of the contents of the board is poor. This is especially true in high traffic areas where there are many other advertisements competing for attention. Large boards placed too close to the traffic area cannot be taken in entirely as it takes the eye away from the road too long, and the message becomes diluted. Smaller boards also have to be positioned carefully in order to stand out over other boards in the area so that potential customers can perceive them effectively. The width of the board is also important – this has to be calibrated according to the placement and the surroundings for optimal visibility.
  2. Setback: The distance of the billboard is called the setback, and this should be maximised according to the amount of traffic that uses that particular route. Studies show that the typical driver only possesses a 20 degree horizontal view range while driving, and therefore the setback should be further from the road in order to let people notice it from further away.
  3. Angle: This is not always calculated as a factor but it can make a huge difference to the visibility of the billboard. The board has to be positioned at a specific angle in relation to the traffic. Billboards that are placed horizontally to the road are less likely to be noticed, but those placed at an angle or directly facing oncoming traffic are more visible overall.
  4. Lighting: While it may cost extra, it is well worth investing in great lighting to illuminate the board during the night and also during dark or rainy days to increase visibility.
  5. Text: There are many factors that involve the type of fonts used, the size of the characters and the number of words used on a billboard. Experts reckon that no more than seven words should be used in addition to the logo, but this can vary according to design. The size of the letters is important because the bigger the letter, the better the legibility distance. This means your customers can read the text from further away.
  6. Word lengths: Less is more. Keep words short and don’t use complicated language. Your message should come in quickly and clearly!

There are many other factors that may affect your display power when using outdoor advertising. Give our team at Face First Media a call to find out more about how we can help you to boost your outdoor display power with clever design and modern billboards!

Increase Your Brand Visibility with Highly Effective Billboard Design

Any marketing plan worth its salt will include advertising to increase the visibility of their brand, service or product. For more than a century, billboards have been used to do this – and very successfully too! Because there are now more motorists than ever and traffic is heavier than ever, billboard advertising is still one of the most popular advertising tools out there today.

But it is not just about sticking a picture of your brand up there. The design of your actual billboard has to draw the eye for all the right reasons, while still being able to transmit a certain perception of your brand to the potential consumer to stimulate interest. Billboard design is therefore very important. Here we provide you with some tips on great billboard design that will catch the eye of the right people and encourage them to remember your brand.

  • Tell a story: People tend to remember stories better than facts, and because billboards depend on the visual design it is necessary to translate the story through the design, which means that you have to have a design strategy about the story you want to tell with images (mostly) and text (less). An ironic or fun take on current situations that relate to your story can have a big impact, especially if they can generate some laughter or a catchy slogan that is easy to remember. Images are also important and, in fact, they should be the main focus, underlined by the text.
  • Less is more: Remember that people driving on highway billboards and roads only have a few seconds to view your billboard, and therefore maximum impact is needed. Focus on an idea that will tell the entire story in about 5 – 7 seconds. 7 Words of text should do the trick.
  • Get Noticed: Go big when it comes to images. Loud images with large, easy-to-read text will get the message across a lot easier. Fonts should be easy to read, large and bold. Don’t be afraid to create maximum impact!
  • Use colour wisely: While bright colours are noticeable, they have to be within the context of the message. Advertising an established law firm in vivid pink, for instance, may cause confusion about the seriousness of the organisation. Colour attracts, this is for sure, but care has to be taken in terms of the colours and colour combinations used to advertise a brand. Bold colours have to be in the forefront, and duller colours used as a background or setting. Dynamic, active images attract attention, so be sure about the message you want to convey with the colours you use!
  • Location, location, location! Not all billboards will carry the same weight. If you have the luxury of using a billboard at a busy crossing, you are able to impart a lot more information to the observer because they will have time to look at it while they sit in their vehicles waiting for the lights to change. Be cognisant of the type of advertising you use and where it is being used. Fly-by billboard advertising on very busy highways will be different to the type of billboard advertising you could choose if you have a lot of stationery vehicles.

If you are unsure about good billboard design and how to harness the power of great billboard design and location, our experts at Face First Media are only too happy to help!

New Billboard Technologies
That Will Blow Your Mind

When you hear the words “outdoor advertising” or “billboards” it conjures up images of static pictures or posters placed in strategic positions to attract the attention of passers-by. Those, however, are the old school type of billboards. New technologies have been developed that can specifically target certain groups of people, provide moving images, and even perform certain automated functions to specifically target particular groups of people. Here are some of the most modern examples of future billboard technology that can be used to effectively pick up on cues that will enable them to create custom made responses.

In Sweden, a particular pharmacy wanted to attract the attention of smokers to promote a smoke-cessation product. Outdoor advertising technology with smoke sensors was installed at bus stops, and if someone lit a cigarette at this location, the billboard will cough and play an image or a video about the product. This effectively targeted smokers, and lifted more than a few eyebrows!

Responsive billboards in Durban nowadays are becoming more sophisticated, and software is used to pick up on cues such as facial recognition. Some of these sensors can even roughly estimate the age and gender of a person, and play an advertisement specifically aimed at that particular target market. This means that one billboard can be used to advertise a range of products based on the characteristics that it picks up from the audience. Of course these technologies involve the danger of invasion of privacy, and as a result no recording of the audience is allowed. It is, however, possible to compile analysis of how many times a particular advertisement was screened, which provides previously unmeasurable statistics on the types of people that visit different locations.

The smart outdoor advertising of the future may even combine software working with a variety of sensors that may respond to different people, vehicle makes and even the weather. This could help to promote a whole range of products in a truly unique way. It could recognise a book reader and pick up on the book title, and make book suggestions similar to the one that is read. It could encourage someone to wear sunblock on a hot day, or sell umbrellas or rain coats when it rains. The possibilities are virtually endless.

Because there are so many different types of advertisement and billboards company that compete for the attention of potential consumers, having access to these smart technologies can provide a unique form of advertising that gets noticed by the right people, which makes it highly effective.

If you need to tap into some superb billboard design by true experts, our team at Face First Media are waiting to hear from you. Give our innovative team a call today!