Out-of-home media or outdoor media is an advertising media which is used by marketers since a very long time. This media was primarily used at the time when the reach of other media was not possible or negligible in places like rural and semi-urban areas. In today’s world, an advertising campaign will not be successful until and unless it has the support of outdoor media. It is referred to as the media through which the advertisement reaches the target audience when they are out of home. This medium is used against internet, broadcast, and print advertising. Today, outdoor advertising has taken different shapes and forms as:
Billboard: A large structure used alongside busy roads to advertise is called billboard. Usually they are located in high traffic areas. These may be:
Bulletins: These are standard sized billboards usually located alongside the highways or expressways. A high level Of exposure is attained through such bulletins.
Posters: These are the large posters usually located in commercial or industrial areas. These are very frequently used by the marketers.
Railway Stations: The posters in the railway stations work as out-of-home media. The marketer needs to keep this thing in mind that in suburban stations, the passengers are always in a rush 10 arrive and depart. While in case Of long distance stations, passengers come at station and wait for the train to come. Their relatives and friends also accompany them to the station. Thus, readers waiting at railway station have enough time to view and go through the poster.
Vehicular Advertising: Vehicular advertising is a form of outdoor advertising which involves putting placards or posters outside or inside of the vehicles like trams, railway carriages, delivery vans, Omni buses, etc. Company hires contractors for such tasks and through them, required orders are also placed. One of the advantages of this type of advertising is that the posters are of the size which can be easily read by the readers. On the other hand, the main disadvantage of this is that the space to place the posters is very small.
Field Signs: The big boards which are put along the path of trains and can be easily seen from the trains’ windows are called field signs. These signs should be legible enough to be read, as the trains move at a very high speed. If the length of message is short, then the chances of it getting noticed and read increases. For grabbing the attention of audience, the advertiser should only use the name of the article and highlight it with colors like yellow or black. These painted signs or field signs usually include the name Of the brand and just act as reminders.
Electric Light Signs: Electric bulbs and tube lights are used to make signs, In most of the cities, such electric signs are used for advertising. It is very costly but effective. Bulbs of different colours are used sometimes to make it more attractive.
Neon Signs: Neon signs are electric signs which are illuminated through light emitting tubes of various colours. They either flash or remain still. They are more attractive and appealing than the signs created with the help of electric bulbs. In both the types of advertising, the placement of the signs is very important as they involve huge cost.
Sandwichmen: Different posters or clothes are put on the persons and they walk through the streets to promote a particular product. Mainly local advertisers use such medium to advertise about their offerings. They may use electronic devices like speakers to attract the public.
Transit Advertising: Transit advertising and billboard advertising are very similar to each other. The term outdoor media is mostly used to explain the combination of billboards and transit advertising. These transit advertisements can be in the form Of signs on station platform and terminals, or on mass postage delivery vehicles. Another form of outdoor advertising is in the form of taxi top electronic billboards which conveys personalised messages with the help of Internet.
Mobile Billboards: Vans, trucks, trailers, auto rickshaws, etc., are used by the advertisers to communicate about their offerings. Usually local advertisers use such media to target different geographical areas in a city.
In-Flight Advertising: This is one of the forms of outdoor advertising where the targets are the people who travel through aeroplanes. Advertisement in flight is done through various ways such as magazines, advertisement on seatback, tray tables, boarding passes, and overhead storage bins, sales pitches by flight attendants, etc. Different in-night ads include the following:
- In-Flight Magazines: In almost every flight, the magazines published by airlines are offered to passengers free of cost. For example, more than one million Hemisphere magazines are distributed by United Airlines every month.
- In-Flight Videos: In-flight videos are very common in flights. These were popular on international flights but are also now gaining recognition on domestic and local flights.
- In-Flight Radio: Advertisements through radios inside the flights is also a form of in-flight advertising. For example, in-flight radio of USA today is run by the people who run USA today’s newspaper.
- In-Flight Catalogues: Offering catalogues to passengers inside the night can also be a form of advertising. In India, most Of the domestic airlines offer in-flight catalogues to their passengers.