NewsLine Column: Are Giant Banners Worth Their Weight?

The popularity of giant banner advertising has risen steadily over the last few years and with a growing number of advertisers jumping on the band wagon, Ian Bohn, sales and marketing director of Megaposter UK, looks at whether the increasing confidence in the medium is justified.

The giant banner sector in the UK has grown significantly over the past couple of years and is estimated to reach £10 million in 2002, from £350,000 in 1998. Growth is based on new advertisers to the sector and new sites being created in response to increased demand, but are clients right?

For the first time, research has been done to find out whether this confidence in the medium is justified.

Megaposter commissioned surveys through Vivid Research in January and April 2002, which show the public’s belief in the giant banner sector in terms of both increased awareness and perceived effectiveness and I’d like to share some of those results with you.

Our initial research in January from 379 on street interviews in Westminster concluded that 71% of respondents would like to see more commercial banners and an overwhelming 59% of people found giant banners to be more effective than traditional media. This perception of effectiveness polarised in the young age groups with 70% of 16-24’s and 62% of 25-34 year olds finding giant banners more effective.

These findings are fine in isolation, but carry little weight, so in April we commissioned Vivid to conduct 2 awareness studies for giant banner sites versus other outdoor formats and a second effectiveness survey.

Awareness studies took place in Camden and Islington, where we had month long bookings for Nike and Ellesse respectively. Both studies took in more than 300 respondents, who were questioned about their awareness of brands featured on a range of outdoor formats in the area, including our banner clients.

In both instances banners scored highest. In Camden, Nike scored 56% with second place going to a bus side campaign for the new Queen musical, which received heavy publicity across London. In Islington, the Ellesse banner reached 49% and the next highest was 28% for a heavyweight six sheet campaign for the fragrance Allure.

Amongst 18–24s scores increased to 64% and 68% respectively, re-enforcing earlier results. Repetition seems to work better for banners than other outdoor formats.

Our second effectiveness study aimed to expand on the first by asking respondents about the effectiveness of banner advertising versus a specific traditional media – press, taxis, radio, cinema, bus, 6 sheets, 48 and 96 sheets. The results found TV was perceived as the most effective medium with giant banners a close second. Press was found to be the least effective medium, with 77% of the public finding giant banners more effective. Of other outdoor formats, the giant banner again proved its worth, beating off all competition – taxis scored the worst with 61% finding giant banners more effective. Giant banners again consistently appealed to the 18-34 market.

This research has found giant banners to be more effective than has yet to be discovered. Maybe it’s the sheer size, maybe it’s their location and unique impact but at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter, the point’s been proven.

These results, whilst a snapshot, re-enforce for the first time the value of giant banners in raising the impact of a media campaign, particularly targeting younger demographics, giving weight to what has been, until now, an emotive buy.

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