Advertising on the bedroom wall
The ambient media family is growing with Placards for free
The ambient media family is growing with Placards for freeBruno AmstutzAfter Cards for free, advertising marketer Masani's is launching a new medium: Placards for free. The free takeaway posters are to find their way from bars, clubs and cinemas to private bedroom walls.
Masani's new below-the-line advertising medium, which is marketed under the label Ambient Media, is a world first. Ambient because the advertising message aims to pick up recipients in their private environment and relies on voluntary reception.
Specifically, since September 2001 there have been vending machines in bars, clubs, restaurants and cinemas in the largest German-speaking cities in Switzerland where interested parties can pick up A1 format advertising posters.
Masani's expects Placards for free to have the same advantages as the established free postcards: 18 to 35-year-olds will voluntarily take them with them in their free time. Compared to postcards, however, free posters have the additional potential to end up on the wall of an apartment for a longer period of time. In this way, they conquer the private living space with their advertising message and create new qualitative contacts with visitors there.
Both the marketer and the first customers, Rialto Film AG and Nike, are aware that not just any motif will do. "The subject must have a certain collector's value," says Christine Rhomberg, Head Of Marketing at Rialto, with conviction. The film distributor wants to anchor the potential blockbuster of the coming winter, "The Lord Of The Rings", in people's minds right now with placards for free. Rhomberg is counting on the advantage that free posters catch people's eye in places where they think about leisure and going out, thus creating high-quality contacts.
Posters from the music and film sector have a chance
According to Stefan Heinrich, Head of Marketing and Sales at Masani's, in principle any product can be advertised with free posters. However, attractive subjects are important to him. "People pay attention to free posters for longer," says Heinrich, "so advertising agencies have to place more emphasis on the motif than on conveying information in the shortest possible time." Heinrich believes that film or music posters and motifs from the fashion or luxury goods sectors have particularly good chances.
Thanks to the principle of free will, Masani's and its customers also have a reliable measure of success: only posters that really appeal are packed. Sales allow conclusions to be drawn about the popularity of the product and the appeal of the subject matter.
Twenty poster dispensers are currently in use in Zurich, Bern, Basel and Lucerne, which can be booked for periods of two weeks each. Next year, Masani's plans to expand to around one hundred locations and also cover French-speaking Switzerland.
In addition to the commercial posters, Masani's also intends to distribute art prints without advertising messages in the poster machines at regular intervals, thus further emphasizing the preference for aesthetic qualities over aggressive advertising.
Masani's new below-the-line advertising medium, which is marketed under the label Ambient Media, is a world first. Ambient because the advertising message aims to pick up recipients in their private environment and relies on voluntary reception.
Specifically, since September 2001 there have been vending machines in bars, clubs, restaurants and cinemas in the largest German-speaking cities in Switzerland where interested parties can pick up A1 format advertising posters.
Masani's expects Placards for free to have the same advantages as the established free postcards: 18 to 35-year-olds will voluntarily take them with them in their free time. Compared to postcards, however, free posters have the additional potential to end up on the wall of an apartment for a longer period of time. In this way, they conquer the private living space with their advertising message and create new qualitative contacts with visitors there.
Both the marketer and the first customers, Rialto Film AG and Nike, are aware that not just any motif will do. "The subject must have a certain collector's value," says Christine Rhomberg, Head Of Marketing at Rialto, with conviction. The film distributor wants to anchor the potential blockbuster of the coming winter, "The Lord Of The Rings", in people's minds right now with placards for free. Rhomberg is counting on the advantage that free posters catch people's eye in places where they think about leisure and going out, thus creating high-quality contacts.
Posters from the music and film sector have a chance
According to Stefan Heinrich, Head of Marketing and Sales at Masani's, in principle any product can be advertised with free posters. However, attractive subjects are important to him. "People pay attention to free posters for longer," says Heinrich, "so advertising agencies have to place more emphasis on the motif than on conveying information in the shortest possible time." Heinrich believes that film or music posters and motifs from the fashion or luxury goods sectors have particularly good chances.
Thanks to the principle of free will, Masani's and its customers also have a reliable measure of success: only posters that really appeal are packed. Sales allow conclusions to be drawn about the popularity of the product and the appeal of the subject matter.
Twenty poster dispensers are currently in use in Zurich, Bern, Basel and Lucerne, which can be booked for periods of two weeks each. Next year, Masani's plans to expand to around one hundred locations and also cover French-speaking Switzerland.
In addition to the commercial posters, Masani's also intends to distribute art prints without advertising messages in the poster machines at regular intervals, thus further emphasizing the preference for aesthetic qualities over aggressive advertising.
