ForumsAdvertising, Sales and Marketing

I missed the connection to billboards. If I am driving down the street and don't have a gps, like most Americans, it really doesn't matter where you are on the google search but that billboard or signage can get people thinking about your business. Let's not forget radio.

Interactive is a great and exciting medium but it is not the end all be all. A strong interactive effort should be part of a total marketing/advertising program that delivers a message to the most possible customers where ever they are.

iWrite - i think Chris was trying to say that most advertising mediums are moving onto newer technologies, GPS systems that update their listings based on google and all that fancy jazz. I do believe that more will be spent on large display billboards (LED / moving panel) instead of the traditional poster style, due to the effectiveness and visibility, as well as practicality. It's amazing if you can have an animated ad in the middle of downtown traffic during jam times, alot of wandering eyeballs would be caught, but as for cost friendliness, that's a whole other bag.

Billboards and other out-of-home are alive in well in the Atlanta market. In fact in Atlanta, most of the outdoor boards along the highways inside the beltway are sold out for the next 12 - 18 months.

When I have seen billboards in disrepair - it seems to be the older painted or paper ones and owned by a mom & pop outdoor company outside a major metro that may not be able to compete with the Lamars, Turners and CBSs of the world. And with so much outdoor being purchased by the larger media buying companies they don't know the market well enough to know the mom & pop billboard companies.

In regards to the digital boards - they do look great and can be cheaper than a lighted vinyl board, but you may have to share it with other companies.

Billboards are still a great reminder medium and with commute times increasing, I don't see them going away any time soon.