American Journal of Business: Article Information
American Journal of Business: Article Information
American Journal of Business: Article Information
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Abstract
This paper explores the reasons for the increase in “outdoor advertising” (OA) ex-
penditures worldwide and the impact of billboards on our cities. Since 2006, a por-
table device that measures billboard exposure became widely available, thus setting
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Introduction media, i.e. television and print; bill- More than ever before, outdoor ad-
The role of the media industry is boards, the oldest form of advertising, vertising has demonstrated the ability to
multi-faceted, but certainly one of the has experienced a steady and signifi- define our urban and rural landscapes.
most indispensable roles is to deliver cant rate of growth worldwide. The cities where we live and work have
advertising through a variety of me- Outdoor advertising growth re- undergone a metamorphosis that is a
dia vehicles to reach the target audi- sults from technological advances seen manifestation of outdoor advertising.
ence with a high enough frequency primarily on two fronts. First a rating The personality and identity of our cit-
that those exposed to the advertising measurement system for outdoor ad- ies is defined by a variety of outdoor
process the messaging. For decades vertising, launched in 2004, is widely advertising mediums, the most popular
advertisers have gained access to our available and provides reach and fre- and most prominent being billboards.
homes via radio, television, cable, print quency estimates. As a result, outdoor This is a global phenomenon that is as
media and the internet, in an effort to advertising is deemed much more ef- significant in Harlem as it is in Hong
expose us to messaging that ideally will fective, in terms of cost-per-thousand, Kong. In Hong Kong, all forms of out-
motivate us to purchase the advertiser’s than the other media. Secondly, im- door advertising are utilized heavily by
product or service and generate incre- provements in digital print and high advertisers and outdoor advertising is
mental revenue for the advertiser. As definition monitors have drastically the fastest growing form of media in
consumers become progressively more increased the quality, variety and flex- China. Figure 1 (Bassell 2006) illus-
difficult to reach through traditional ibility of outdoor advertising. trates the significant transformational
Authors’ note: We thank the Center for Twentieth Century Studies, University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee for financing the seminal re-
search with a fellowship for author Lopez-Pumarejo; journalist Kirk C. Nielsen for his editorial assistance and feedback about the case
of Miami; the Vidal Partnership and the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies for training author Lopez-Pumarejo in outdoor
advertising; photographer Dr. Charles Martin from Queens College, City University of New York, for his photography of billboards in
Harlem, and Dr. Charles E. Oliver, from the New School University, New York for his editorial comments.
Table 1 Figure 1
Expenditures on Outdoor Advertising in the United States Outdoor Advertising Defines
Hong Kong Street
Year 1990 to 2005 1995 to 2005 2000 to 2005
Expenditure ($ billions) 2.6 to 6.3 3.5 to 6.3 5.2 to 6.3
Change ($ billions) +3.7 +2.8 +1.1
Change (%) +142.0 +80.0 +21.0
Average Annual Change +9.46 +8.0 +4.2
*Average Annual Inflation +2.90 +2.50 +2.55
Figure 3
per year from 1995 to 2005 (OAAA The Transformational
2006). Due to digital imaging, bill-
Billboards in Hong Kong, China
boards and other outdoor media can Impact
now be mounted practically anywhere Tel Aviv
and have grown to unprecedented The film Paradise Now hinges on
size. As a result, their power to reach the landmark billboards of Tel Aviv,
consumers and to tower over and Israel (Abu-Hassad 2005). Its final se-
dominate the landscape has increased quence opens with a wide-angle shot,
dramatically (Yin 2002). Alarmed which features a billboard advertising
municipalities have tried to control cellular telephones. It then zooms to a
the explosive deployment of billboard medium shot of the billboard’s model,
Photography: Myles Bassell, Brooklyn images, but the industry is known for a clean-cut, fair-haired young man us-
College, City University of New York agilely circumventing most regulation ing his wireless unit, thus calling atten-
(Kosofky Glassberg 2005; Nielsen tion to the influence of the American
over the past several years. Low qual- 2000 to 2004). and European cultures.
ity images painted or printed on vinyl As Paradise Now underscores, the
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sheets that are glued onto traditional A Global Phenomenon new breed of laser-printed, high-reso-
billboard structures are a thing of the The increasing scale and ubiquity lution billboards have taken on impor-
past. Currently a billboard poster 48 of outdoor advertising is not restricted tant symbolism. In this case, we would
feet wide and 14 feet high has the same to the United States. Even in Russia, argue, they perform a kind of assault on
high quality resolution that once only outdoor advertising has made signifi- the landscapes over which they preside.
magazine publications achieved. The cant inroads. Interestingly, billboards They seem to fulfill a function unlike
use of digital printing enables advertis- are welcome in Russia and viewed as an that of architectural monuments, such
ers to print high quality posters quickly indication of prosperity. Billboards in as the Egyptian pyramids, the Acropo-
and cheaply (OAAA 2006). Russia can be found that say “your ad- lis, and the European cathedrals, of ear-
However, electronic billboards have vertisement beautifies our city,” in bold lier eras. Through their titanic size and
become increasingly more popular black letters with a yellow background, minute pictorial detail these early mar-
as display technology becomes more inviting outdoor advertisers to celebrate vels proclaimed the omnipotence and
pervasive and technological advances Russia’s inclusion in the free market. immortality of their ruling orders. To-
enter the marketplace. While large Today the buildings in Russia’s cities can day’s outdoor advertising, it seems, has
LCD “billboard” screens have been barely be seen behind a sea of billboards a similar, yet opposite, task. It flanks,
effectively used, FED, Field Emission (Leher 2007). In England spending on frames and even wraps buildings in
Display, introduced by Sony and TCI outdoor advertising has grown from enormous, potent images (AHAAMU
in April 2007, promises greater resolu- £677 million in 2001 to £933 million 2001). It thus produces the same syner-
tion (Home Theater News 2007). in 2006. This represents a shift from gies between architecture and pictorial
Digital billboards allow an endless 7.5 percent to 9.7 percent of total Brit- discourse that its predecessors inscribed
number of images to be projected in a ish advertising expenditures (Outdoor in stone. But the “ruling order” it pro-
short period of time. The motion of the Advertising Association of Great Brit- motes is that of the trendy consumer
billboards helps draw attention to the ain 2007). Piccadilly Circus is an area culture, unlike the architectural monu-
images being displayed. Interactive bill- of London that has been impacted by ments of the past.
boards have been gaining momentum this increase in spending on outdoor
as they prove successful in not only get- advertising and has been transformed Harlem
ting attention, but engaging the viewer. by a plethora of billboards. In China, Wall murals and billboards vary in
Thus technology made the communi- the fastest growing form of media is their size and function as landmarks.
cative efficacy of billboards skyrocket outdoor advertising. Outdoor adver- Those at 55 West 125th Street in Har-
worldwide and hence their appeal to tising represents 5 percent of all adver- lem are approximately ten stories in
advertisers who, in the other media, are tising dollars in China (CTR Media height. The latest outdoor advertising
sometimes ignored by consumers. Intelligence 2006). Figure 3 (Bassell technology permits greater flexibility
“Outdoor” is one of the fastest 2006) shows the scale and prominence in the print size and resolution of print.
growing sectors in the U.S. advertis- of billboards in Hong Kong, China. This makes it possible to use buildings
ing market. In 2006 alone, spending This global phenomenon is worth not- to display a giant combination of static
on these communication mediums ing since billboards have a significant and moving high-resolution images
reached an astounding $6.8 billion. transformational impact on the iden- that has a dramatic visual impact and
This represents an 8 percent increase tity and personality of our cities. can set the tone for an entire urban
2003), Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and mographic is a group they do not want Digital Technology
London’s Piccadilly Circus. These to miss. They are, as a result, among the New digital technologies allow
sites achieve a kind of quilt-like vi- top targets of advertising (AHAAMU some gigantic landmark billboards
sual cohesion through the dissonance 2001; Yin 2002). (print and/or electronic) to be relatively
of diverse billboards and signs. But in Marketers describe outdoor adver- permanent, like those at Times Square
other areas, like the part of Tel Aviv in tising as the “catalyst” between mobil- (Ciezadlo, 2004). Digital technology
Paradise Now, where gargantuan bill- ity and sales. Hard-eyed Wall Street has also created a new breed of giant
boards have no significant visual rivals, analysts, on the other hand, define this screen “kinetic” billboards. Still others
or in New York City’s ethnic enclaves, important market less abstractly. For are tri-dimensional. In addition to ra-
such as Flushing (Asian), Washing- them “outdoor” is every media that dio broadcasting, outdoor advertising
ton Heights (Dominicans) and Har- reaches consumers out of the home, is deployed on airport light boxes, bus
lem (Black) where they are part of a including radio. This type of advertis- benches, street furniture, kiosks, train
monothematic ensemble, outdoor ad- ing is increasingly convenient because stations, ferries, postcards that are giv-
vertising has an even more powerful of its relatively lower media cost per en for free at bars, restaurants, and ho-
effect on the locations where they are thousand (cpm), and its reinforcement tels. It also features wrappings around
displayed. Their uncontested promi- of other media. Utilizing GPS tech- buses and taxis, around construction
nence and single theme magnify out- nology, Nielsen Outdoor uses their site scaffoldings and on revamped
door advertising’s ability to perform a Npod tracking system to provide GRP, historic buildings. Digital technology
symbolic domination of the surround- reach, and frequency information. The renders unprecedented levels of print
ing environment. The increase and the ability to calculate the “opportunity to resolution on vinyl, which translates
rapid invention of new “outdoor” plat- see” a particular billboard and use this not only in the ability to wrap public
forms to reach consumers was not an information in media planning puts transportation vehicles but to make
accident. It was a response to changes billboards on a level playing field with mural billboards significantly more
in the American way of life. other media forms that enjoyed mea- flexible in size and permanence (PSA
surement-rating systems for decades Research 2005).
(Nielsen Outdoor 2007). Outdoor
Market Dynamics advertising, in other words, increases Activism and Regulation
Consumers on the Go the number of targets reached and eas- The growth of these new technolo-
One hundred and twenty five mil- ily mixes in with other media (Taylor gies and the increasingly aggressive
lion Americans now commute to work and Franke 2003). It thus generates means of reaching the consumers have
daily. In the last twenty years, the num- a continuous hum in the marketplace naturally created opposition to these
ber of miles they travel in a week has and has a synergistic effect. The new ubiquitous behemoths. American out-
doubled, and drivers are spending more millennium begins as the “brand cen- door advertising, however, has been
time stopped in traffic. The nature of tury”. Billboards and other outdoor particularly crafty in evading attempts
what outdoor advertisers call the “trip advertising remind people that a brand to be controlled. It thrives, despite
chain” has also changed, as the number or service is a good choice, stimulates public antipathy and the complex reg-
of working mothers who commute has long-term product recognition, and ulation that aims at limiting its growth.
increased. The typical trip to work now broadens market-wide media distribu- Naturally, there are federal statutes that
stringency of these regulations varies at revitalization at the Upper Manhattan just one day before the Colorado High
the state, county, district and municipal Empowerment Zone (UMEZ 2006). School killings, Perkins headed an-
levels, and in the amount of force with The billboards in Harlem create a other battle against billboards in Har-
which local authorities can challenge theme park effect in what many regard lem. The billboard depicted a young
the billboard owner’s power (Taylor as the capital of African Americans. basketball player holding a gun, and
2006; Nielsen 2000 to 2004). All the billboard models are black, and it went up on Malcolm X Boulevard,
The heat that anti-billboard activ- mostly young, hip, males, that portray between 124th and 125th Streets,
ism has generated attracts both media an image considered by some to be across the street from a high school
and academic attention. For example, economic prosperity. These iconic im- for boys. The advertisement was for a
Miami New Times journalist Kirk ages have come to symbolize Harlem’s new album from Can’Ron, a rap per-
Nielsen covered his city’s billboard residents to themselves, to African former (Siegal 1999). Seven years later,
saga for four years, illustrating the in- Americans as a whole, and to the larg- broadcast and music industry profes-
dustry’s growing invincibility (Niels- er world community. The definition of sionals created “Industry Ears” a think
en 2000 to 2004). Business scholars African American youth they present, tank to clean up what, according to its
Charles Taylor and George Franke, however, is controversial. Neighbor- president, Lisa Fager, is “irresponsible
on the other hand, conducted a study hood activists have been quick to chal- activity” in the media with emphasis
involving billboard users and nonus- lenge these images when they push too on the detrimental effects of hip-hop,
ers to bring an “academic” angle to this far. In 1990, for example, the Reverend particularly, to induce violence against
debate. It warns policy makers about Calvin Butts and a group of parish- women. They seek Federal Commu-
the sales decline that may result from ioners stormed the streets of Harlem nication Commission enforcement of
banning billboards for small businesses with paint and rollers and white- existing regulations regarding content.
and heavy users such as travel-related washed billboards for alcohol and to- “Some defend hip-hop,” said Fager, “as
businesses. This study, however, does bacco, shortly after the “Uptown” ciga- the expression of an ethnic culture on
not distinguish between commercial rette scandal. Many consider Butts to the grounds of free speech and artistic
and societal interests, nor does it deem be Harlem’s most powerful man, and freedom… but if these illiterates with
it its business to do so, as it is linked to “Uptown” was a short-lived R. J. Reyn- gold and diamond in their teeth found
the Outdoor Advertising Association olds brand aimed directly at blacks that reading the Ten Commandments
of America (Taylor and Franke 2003). (Ciezadlo 2004). over hip-hop beats made money, they
Four states currently ban billboards: A year earlier, Manhattan Borough would search the Bible for fresh ‘lyr-
Hawaii, Alaska, Maine, and Vermont President C. Virginia Fields had writ- ics’” (Crouch 2006).
(Taylor and Franke 2003). It is possible ten a sharply worded letter to Rawcus The neighborhood opposition to the
that more states will join the list, as in Entertainment Inc, which placed a previously mentioned billboards and to
2006 the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of billboard at 210 West 125th Street. The outdoor advertising in general, however,
Appeals stipulated that total banning sign read, “Rawcus Says Get the F… is not without its ironies. The Harlem
is not a First Amendment violation Up.” This tasteless slogan was part of a Business Alliance (HBA) itself used the
(Lawlor 2006). The most influential brash campaign to announce the forth- very mode these groups attacked for its
anti-billboard organization is Scenic coming releases of recording artists UMEZ supported aim of attracting lo-
America (Scenic America 2006) but Mos Def and Pharoache. In deference cal residents to neighborhood shops.
fashion illustration. The bag had the col- AHAAMU. 2001. Association of Hispanic dict: Illegal! Retrieved December 16,
ors of the HBA (black, gold, and white) Advertising Agencies (AHAA) Media 2005, from http://www.miaminew-
and two handles, enabling it to accom- University, March 16 outdoor advertis- times.com/Issues/2004-13-30/news/
modate weighty gifts. Harlem’s billboard ing seminar at the Bravo Group, New metro2_print.html
environment indirectly reinforced this York City. b. 2003 ( July 31). Billboard industry
HBA campaign, for it displays a chang- Bassell, M. (Photographer). 2006. Hong “rapes” Miami and beats the rap: City
ing African-American fashion landscape Kong Billboards [Photo]. Hong Kong. capitulates and braces for a future
that links commerce, ethnicity, and prog- Boyd, H. 1999. Outrage grows over Harlem filled with big, ugly signs. Retrieved
ress as the ideals of UMEZ. Indeed, the billboard. New York Amsterdam News, December 9, 2005, from http://
Harlem business community established October 14. www.miaminewtimes.com/Is-
HBA in 1980 to combat neighborhood Chinyelu, M. 2003. Harlem business alli- sues/2003-07-31/news/metro_print.
deterioration and under UMEZ, it ance targets Harlem consumers. New html
shifted its focus to help Harlem’s entre- York Amsterdam News, December 18. c. 2002 (May 23). Insurgent billboards;
preneurs (Chinyelu 2003). Ciezadlo, A. 2004. A timeline for Manhat- Signage lobbyist Eston “Dusty”
tan outdoors. Retrieved May 24, 2005, Melton wages guerilla on his old
from http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/ employers. Retrieved December 9,
Conclusion admap/timeline.html 2005, from http://www.miaminew-
Outdoor advertising will continue to Crouch, S. 2006. Merchants of filth have times.com/Issues/2002-05-23/news/
grow and diversify over the next decades, worthy foe. New York Daily News, metro3_print.html
not only because of its cost-effectiveness, April 3. d. 2002 ( January 10). A billboard od-
but also because it seems to be the only CTR Market Research 2006. China adver- yssey: Last year much was learned
unavoidable realm from which to reach tising expenditure trends and outlook for about Miami’s illegal signs, including
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ideal anchor of integrated marketing 11, 2007, from http://www.ctrchina.cn/ still lucrative. Retrieved December 9,
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viously indicated, the U.S. Circuit Court Historical inflation data. 2007. Retrieved already! Miami city commissioners:
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i. 2000 ( July 20). A sign of victory: New Validating outdoor’s impact in the mar- The Entrepreneurship Experience Pro-
Times’ jihad to scrub the skyline rolls ketplace. Retrieved February. 23, 2006, gram (TEEP) and Students 4 Students
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IN THE GLOBAL WORKPLACE
http://www.oaaa.org/outdoor/sales/his- Submission deadline • Immigration and the globalization of the American
tory.asp June 1, 2010
economy
PSA Research. 2005. A resurgence in one • Immigration and workforce recruitment
of the oldest media presents new op- Send to:
• Immigration, gender, and the workplace
portunities. Retrieved May 24, 2005, Editor-in-Chief Ashok Gupta
• Illegal immigration and labor in the United States
from http://www.psaresearch.com/case- [email protected]
• Marketing to immigrants in the United States
foroutdoorpsa.html • Immigrants, redlining, and the banking community
Reynolds, M. 2003. Branding the great out- Complete submission guidelines
• Immigrants as cross-border consumers
doors. Multichannel News, June 9. available online:
• Immigration and trade flows
Scenic America. 2006. Billboards and sign • Immigration and remittances
control. Retrieved February 23, 2006, www.AJBonline.org • Comparative immigration flows (e.g., Mexican vs.
Indian in the United States)
from http://www.scenic.org/Default.
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