Wide-Format Imaging

It’s interesting—especially in light of our focus on the billboard market in our January issue—about what’s been happening on the West Coast. How many of you have been following the happenings out in LA over the past several weeks?

I’ve been Twittering (http://twitter.com/wfi) things as they happen, but for those of you who haven’t been, let me give you a brief summary. Back in December, the Los Angeles City Council approved a three-month moratorium on billboards and supergraphics wrapped around buildings which took effect the day after Christmas. This temporary ban was supposed to give the City time to replace its restrictions on outdoor advertising. But this moratorium was in addition to the ban that had already been in place for the past seven years.

But come January, new billboards and supergraphics were still going up in and around the LA area—much to the dismay of the public. A few sites including the LA Times, LAist, Curbed LA, LA Weekly, and KABC all covered the escalating fight of the city verses the billboard industry.

One of my biggest concerns after reading through all of the coverage is that they seem to be lumping all outdoor advertising together. Billboards are very different from building wraps (or supergraphics as they call them). Transit graphics are very different than the other two. And then digital billboards are something else altogether.

I can see where they’re coming from. Some billboard or supergraphics are huge and a little out of place in areas which are primarily residential. And from an aesthetic perspective, honestly, some of them are downright unappealing. But, the outdoor advertising market accounts for a large percentage of revenue for a lot of companies. And with every company re-evaluating their marketing budgets and plans in light of the current economic situation, what does that mean for advertising? Some companies are pulling back from television because of the lack of response. Cable TV has cut into the viewership of network television and DVRs enable viewers to skip commercials entirely. Some companies have started to turn to other media—billboards, supergraphics, vehicle graphics—to promote their products.

If they do indeed ban all outdoor advertising in LA (or in California as the one assemblyman wants to do), how do you think it will affect the wide-format market? Do you think it will have an impact down the line in other areas, in other cities? I know that Times Square and NYC would look very different with no outdoor advertising.

But as you go through the news reports, more and more cities are re-evaluating the laws and regulations regarding outdoor signage. This isn’t an isolated incident and one that might make a big dent in some companies’ revenues.

Is there a middle ground that might be more appealing to both sides? Or does it have to be all or nothing? Thoughts?

This entry was posted on Friday, January 16th, 2009 at 1:26 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.