Aerial advertising
Encyclopedia
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
that incorporates the use of aircraft, ballons or airships to create, transport, or display, advertising media. The media can be static, such as a banner, logo, lighted sign or sponsorship branding. It can also be dynamic, such as animated lighted signage, skywriting
Skywriting
Skywriting is the process of using a small aircraft, able to expel special smoke during flight, to fly in certain patterns to create writing readable by someone on the ground...
or audio .
Aerial advertising is effective if a large target audience is gathered near the source of advertising. Ballons, skywriting, and banner towing are usually strategically located. Long-range vehicles such as blimps can reach a broader audience along their flight route. Secondary distrubution such as news media coverage, word of mouth and photos of aerial advertising can reach an extended audience. Due to safety, privacy, and asthetic reasons the abilitiy to perform aerial advertising is regulated by local and federal entities throughout the world.
Advertisements employing fixed-wing aircraft
Because of the high speed and limited loiter capability of turbojet, turbineTurbine
A turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work.The simplest turbines have one moving part, a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades, or the blades react to the flow, so that they move and...
, and jet engine
Jet engine
A jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet to generate thrust by jet propulsion and in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets...
s, these types of fixed-wing aircraft
Fixed-wing aircraft
A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...
are not commonly used for aerial advertising. Their minimum airspeed is too high and they consume too much fuel for the task of aerial advertising. The most common type of fixed-wing aircraft that are used for mobile billboards and aerial advertising are propeller, or 'prop' airplanes, such as a converted crop dusters
Agricultural aircraft
An agricultural aircraft is an aircraft that has been built or converted for agricultural use - usually aerial application of pesticides or fertilizer ; in these roles they are referred to as "crop dusters" or "top dressers"...
. While on the ground, operators attach a grapple
Grapple (tool)
A grapple is a hook or claw used to catch or hold something. A ship's anchor is a type of grapple, especially the "grapnel" anchor.A throwing grapple is a multi-pronged hook that is tied to a rope and thrown to catch a grip, as on a parapet or branch of a tree...
hook and a towline to the rear of the aircraft. Once in flight, the operator comes back and links the grapple hook to the banner
Banner
A banner is a flag or other piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or other message. Banner-making is an ancient craft.The word derives from late Latin bandum, a cloth out of which a flag is made...
, billboard
Billboard
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
, or streamer while in flight. The wind resistance
Drag (physics)
In fluid dynamics, drag refers to forces which act on a solid object in the direction of the relative fluid flow velocity...
created during the natural course of flight causes the banner to stream out behind the aircraft, allowing it to be easily seen by those nearby.
Because of the relatively low speed and altitude
Altitude
Altitude or height is defined based on the context in which it is used . As a general definition, altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The reference datum also often varies according to the context...
ceiling of propeller
Propeller (aircraft)
Aircraft propellers or airscrews convert rotary motion from piston engines or turboprops to provide propulsive force. They may be fixed or variable pitch. Early aircraft propellers were carved by hand from solid or laminated wood with later propellers being constructed from metal...
aircraft, this type is generally favored for the deployment of mobile billboards when fixed-wing aircraft are used. All metropolitan areas in the U.S. can be serviced except New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
which have restricted airspace
Airspace
Airspace means the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere....
. Many companies have signed the "Aerial Media Code of Conduct" which specifies minimum safety and community standards. Additionally, civilian fixed-wing aircraft have heavily restricted airspace privileges in or around most major U.S. metropolitan airports, hence professional Aerial Advertising companies have "letters of agreement" with ATC
ATC
- Military :* Air Training Command, the predecessor to Air Education and Training Command in the United States Air Force* New Zealand Air Training Corps* Air Training Corps, United Kingdom...
facilities specifying routes and procedures to be used in these areas. Civilian
Civilian
A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...
aircraft also cannot be flown within 15 miles of downtown Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
These Federal-level restrictions have been in place since the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Advertisements employing blimps
BlimpBlimp
A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is a floating airship without an internal supporting framework or keel. A non-rigid airship differs from a semi-rigid airship and a rigid airship in that it does not have any rigid structure, neither a complete framework nor a partial keel, to help the airbag...
s are particularly effective carriers of mobile billboards due to their slow speed, extremely long loiter time (Loiter (flight)) and inexpensive fuel
Fuel
Fuel is any material that stores energy that can later be extracted to perform mechanical work in a controlled manner. Most fuels used by humans undergo combustion, a redox reaction in which a combustible substance releases energy after it ignites and reacts with the oxygen in the air...
costs. Additionally, blimps can often be used in areas where airspace
Airspace
Airspace means the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere....
is restricted for fixed-wing aircraft. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company was founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling. Goodyear manufactures tires for automobiles, commercial trucks, light trucks, SUVs, race cars, airplanes, farm equipment and heavy earth-mover machinery....
was the first to use aerial advertising in 1925, when the company created its first in-house blimp
Blimp
A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is a floating airship without an internal supporting framework or keel. A non-rigid airship differs from a semi-rigid airship and a rigid airship in that it does not have any rigid structure, neither a complete framework nor a partial keel, to help the airbag...
series, the Goodyear Type AD
Goodyear Type AD
-References:NotesBibliography*...
. Current models of blimps which display aerial advertisements often have sophisticated LED
Light-emitting diode
A light-emitting diode is a semiconductor light source. LEDs are used as indicator lamps in many devices and are increasingly used for other lighting...
billboards for enhanced visibility and exposure.
Advertisements employing sky-writing
Sky-writing, which consists of letters drawnDrawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
parallel
Parallel (geometry)
Parallelism is a term in geometry and in everyday life that refers to a property in Euclidean space of two or more lines or planes, or a combination of these. The assumed existence and properties of parallel lines are the basis of Euclid's parallel postulate. Two lines in a plane that do not...
to the earth (not vertically) is often confused with aerial aerobatics. Flown by fixed-wing aircraft, combined with the use of a vapor projector, is a form of aerial advertising that remains popular with major advertisers, especially movies, TV, and insurance companies
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
. It is most effective in brand awareness with short, dramatic messages and occasionally for spectaculars such as marriage proposals. The practice of sky-writing is known to be one of the safest forms of flying as it is only done in clear skies with smooth air (winds can be strong but smooth) and usually in controlled airspace, where radar separation is provided between planes.
Effectiveness
Modern proponents of aerial advertising hold the position that it is an extremely cost-effective method to reach otherwise isolated pockets of consumers (such as people stuck in rush-hour traffic, or at the beach, where advertising tends to be limited). Numerous aerial advertisement companies assert that the CPMCPM
CPM may refer to:Advertising*cost per mille, the advert cost per thousand views*Cost per impression, the online advert cost per thousand views M=1000 in roman numerals so CPM = C=Cost P=Per M=1,000 as in banner advertising you pay for each 1,000 ad views your banner getsProject Management*Critical...
of their services is less than $6 US. Aerial advertisements, according to the service providers, give a company
Company
A company is a form of business organization. It is an association or collection of individual real persons and/or other companies, who each provide some form of capital. This group has a common purpose or focus and an aim of gaining profits. This collection, group or association of persons can be...
the opportunity to target specific customers based on their geographical location and demographics
Demographics
Demographics are the most recent statistical characteristics of a population. These types of data are used widely in sociology , public policy, and marketing. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, employment status, and even location...
. Because of the highly visible nature of most aerial advertisements, proponents also point out that potentially large numbers of people can view an advertisement at once.
Detractors of aerial advertising maintain it has a highly limited and ineffective scope in the age of the internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. In particular, they state that the use of aircraft near two major metropolitan regions(NYC and D.C.) tends to be tightly regulated and restricted, and that, at least in the U.S., the use of aerial advertisement over sporting events with 30,000 or more in attendance is prohibited. Aerial advertising planes do fly before the events over the masses of tailgaters. A 2003 article by the Associated Press reports that aerial advertisement companies had lost a preliminary injunction against new federal security regulations, and all data indicate that the use of civilian fixed-wing aircraft over sporting events in the U.S. is forbidden.
Studies by advertisers have shown that mobile billboards carried by aircraft have a limited local exposure but a high consumer recall and retention rate— in other words, customers who see the ad tend to recall the message or product being displayed at a higher rate than with most other forms of advertising, but the region where the advertisement is displayed is limited to the flight path of the aircraft. The reason for this higher retention rate is unclear, but it can be postulated that it is due to the relatively unusual method in which the advertisement is displayed; the novelty of seeing a message in an unfamiliar way helps consumers to remember the message. Viral marketing
Viral marketing
Viral marketing, viral advertising, or marketing buzz are buzzwords referring to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of viruses...
and stealth marketing
Undercover marketing
Undercover marketing is a subset of guerrilla marketing where consumers do not realize they are being marketed to. For example, a marketing company might pay an actor or socially adept person to use a certain product visibly and convincingly in locations where target consumers congregate...
are excellent examples of this idea put to work in the modern day.
Examples of use
During the 1994 Pennsylvania gubernatorial electionPennsylvania gubernatorial election, 1994
The Pennsylvania Gubernatorial election of 1994 was held on November 8, 1994. Incumbent Democratic Governor Bob Casey, Sr. was barred from seeking a third term by the state constitution. The Republican Party nominated Congressman Tom Ridge, while the Democrats nominated Mark Singel, Casey's...
, Tom Ridge
Tom Ridge
Thomas Joseph "Tom" Ridge is an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives , the 43rd Governor of Pennsylvania , Assistant to the President for Homeland Security , and the first United States Secretary of Homeland Security...
used aerial advertising along the Jersey Shore
Jersey Shore
The Jersey Shore is a term used to refer to both the Atlantic coast of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the adjacent resort and residential communities. . The New Jersey State Department of Tourism considers the Shore Region, Greater Atlantic City, and the Southern Shore to be distinct, each having...
, a vacation spot popular with Pennsylvanians.
Risks
There are some inherent dangers involved in the operation of low-altitude manned aircraft. Most of the fixed wing aerial advertisement accidents that have occurred in the U.S. have been determined by the United States Federal Aviation Administration to be the result of just a few basic causes:- Problems during the pickup/deployment of the banner
- Banner towlines that become tangled or snarled
- Loss of engine power
Some of the specific areas of danger include grapple hook deployment errors, and banner pickup errors. If the grapple hook is not released in a satisfactory manner, it can snarl on the tailwheel
Conventional landing gear
thumb|The [[Piper PA-18|Piper Super Cub]] is a popular taildragger aircraft.thumb|right|A [[Cessna 150]] converted to taildragger configuration by installation of an after-market modification kit....
or in the landing gear itself, fouling the landing and causing a improper landing or a crash event. Once the grapple hook is deployed, the aircraft must approach the banner pickup in a descent using the energy of the shallow dive, and then rotate with application of full power to pick up the banner. Professional banner companies have training programs which comply with the FAA guidelines for aerial banner operations.
Other terms
Other names for Aerial Advertising include:- Airplane advertising
- Plane banner
- Airplane banners
- Aerial banners
- Airplane messages
- Flying banners
- Airplane messages
- Aerial billboards
- Banner towing