Des Moines Business Record
02-04-07
Digital signs: Attention getter or distraction?
By Sharon Baltes
sharonbaltes@dpcdm.com
As Des Moines' first digital billboard was introduced at 63rd Street and Grand
Avenue last month, three Minnesota cities put restrictions on these types of signs
out of concerns for traffic safety issues.Photo by Duane Tinkey
The unveiling of Des Moines' first digital billboard last month has people
talking,and they're noticing more than just the crisp images that rotate onto the
large screen every eight seconds.
Located at the northeast corner of Grand Avenue and 63rd Street, the 14- by48-foot sign resembling a large computer monitor is an example of a type of
technology sweeping the nation - and raising questions about the hazards it
might pose to drivers.
"You have the potential to create much more dynamic content, but the concern
is issues of liability," said Anthony Townsend, an associate professor of
management information systems at Iowa State University."If you get
images up there that are so hip and cool, or anything provocative, there's the
potential to be a distraction."
Every eight seconds, the billboard changes to display another advertisement. At
full capacity,the sign will feature eight advertisers, whose messages each run
1,250 times a day. Of course, the goal of any advertisement is to grab people's
attention, an increasingly complicated feat as many Americans use digital video
recorders and subscribe to satellite radio services to avoid commercials.
"People are changing the way they interact with media," Townsend said. "But
billboards can still have a lot of play in the right market."
Clear Channel Outdoor's Des Moines division owns the digital billboard and is
pleased with the attention the new sign is getting.
"The reason advertising works is because it's impactful," said Tim Jameson,
president of the division. "If you see people parked at the stoplight watching it,
you see their eyes waiting for it to change."
Jameson said he has heard positive things about the sign, which is currently
displaying messages from the Greater Des Moines Partnership's new marketing
campaign. He said his company has a filter in place to approve each
advertisement before it goes live and will not allow provocative images to run.
Though the digital billboard may be turning heads, Jameson said such signs are
still not as distracting to drivers as the things going on inside their automobiles,
such as conversations on cellular phones.
Although the billboard industry claims that the signs are not dangerous, other
people think it's too early to know. The New York Times recently reported that a
study commissioned by the Federal Highway Administration recommends
further research into whether the signs present risks to drivers. The federal
government has also allotted money for a future study of digital signs.
"The jury is still out," said Lance Stumbo, an advertising management agent for
the Iowa Department of Transportation.
Although digital billboards are new to Des Moines, they've been up in other U.S.
cities for about five years and in European markets for about a decade,
according to Jameson. Des Moines is not the first Iowa city to have this type of
billboard. Another outdoor media company, Lamar Advertising Co., has similar
signs in Cedar Rapids,Waterloo and Dubuque.
Critics of digital billboards worry that the new signs are too effective at getting
attention. In recent weeks, a few Minnesota cities have put a moratorium on
new digital signs or cut power to them. Minnetonka cut off power to two signs.
The Clear Channel Outdoor division there went to court in December to fight the
city's refusal to power the billboards. A judge ruled Jan. 23 that the city was
within its rights. Also last month, the cities of Eagan and St. Paul approved
moratoriums on new signs pending a six-month traffic safety study,
MediaBuyerPlanner.com reported.
So far, the city of Des Moines does not consider the new sign to be a safety
hazard. Larry Hulse, the city's community development director, said he has
received only one complaint so far about the sign being a distraction. Hulse said
the city plans to continue its research on the technology and rewrite its sign
code to include guidelines on digital billboards.
"We don't see any 'red flags' to suggest that these signs shouldn't be allowed,"
Hulse said. "They don't seem to be much different than the normal billboard
because the messages aren't animated or overly bright."
Clear Channel has donated the advertising space until now to the Partnership,
but Jameson said paid advertisements will begin to run later this month. He
would not comment on who had bought advertising space on the billboard, but
said the buyers are local companies. Six of the spots will be sold on an annual
basis, and the other two will have options for shorter time spans.
Jameson said the cost to advertise on the digital boards is "not even double"
the cost rates for a standard billboard because each sign generates money from
up to eight advertisers at a time. Being able to share the cost among several
clients helps Clear Channel offset the heavy price tag to put up the digital sign,
which Jameson says cost $500,000 each. A few years ago, the signs cost $1
million each.
"It will take us a period of years to get the money back, but in the long run, it's
an investment that we believe will constitute rewards," Jameson said.
The Outdoor Advertising Association of America estimates that revenues from
digital billboards are three to five times higher than from traditional billboards.
Jameson said one of the biggest selling points of the digital faces over the vinyl
sheets more commonly used to cover billboards is that clients can store
hundreds of different advertisements on the billboard and run them at different
times during the day.
Another advantage to digital billboards is fast production time for ads. Jameson
said ads are taken from digital files on a computer and added to a client's
rotation "with a click of a button." There is no extra charge for adding or
changing content. He said this is an attractive option to customers who have a
need to update their message frequently, such as banks, automobile dealers
and restaurants.
"The customer is demanding more flexibility, control and effectiveness,"
Jameson said."With this, you could have an ad during the morning drive time
talking about your breakfast specials, and change that to reflect lunch and
dinner specials later in the day."
Kelli Conger, media director for Flynn Wright, said her agency sees great
benefits to the technology, but also some challenges. She likes that the color
and clarity of the image is "more impactful" than vinyl, there is quick turnaround
on production and no production costs, and that the new technology makes it
"eye catching."
But she worries that someone could lose "ownership of the space" by sharing
the billboard with other advertisers, in particular, with competing companies.
She also thinks the cost is still out of range for many, and that there are
limitations to advertisements because the digital screen isn't designed to
accommodate extensions that are sometimes added to standard boards.
"It's exciting technology, but we haven't recommended the digital board yet for
our clients," Conger said."We are still weighing the pros and cons."
Jameson is prepared to be patient while agencies and other advertisers learn
more about the digital signs. As interest grows in the technology, he expects to
add more signs, which could be networked to show the same messages at the
same time.
"Any good business knows that they have to change with the times,"Jameson
said. "If we don't evolve and stay with only the static billboards, the market is
going to pass us by."