Magic Media Chooses Watchfire Digital Outdoor for Tifton, Georgia’s First Digital Billboard

Advertising has sold out on the first digital billboard in Tifton, Ga., just months after it was installed by Magic Media of Valdosta, Ga. Magic Media installed a 19mm poster-size billboard manufactured by Watchfire Digital Outdoor in the commercial corridor in Tifton, off Interstate 75 along Highway 84. Nearly 25,000 vehicles pass this location each day.

This is Magic Media’s fifth digital billboard in the Southeast Region and the first digital billboard manufactured by Watchfire. Magic Media had an aggressive installation schedule to meet, since the board was scheduled for installation just before the important Thanksgiving shopping season.

“We were impressed with how smoothly the entire sales to installation process was with Watchfire,” said Magic Media’s division vice president David Hornkohl. “Once installation day arrived, our board was installed and we began displaying our customers’ messages immediately. That was important because it meant we were able to keep our promise to our clients and have their ads running on the busiest shopping day of the year - the day after Thanksgiving.”

Hornkohl notes that Watchfire’s use of high-speed wireless communications to transmit advertisements to the board was an important consideration because it allowed for faster installation of the digital billboard. “We’ve run into delays with the landline connection on competing digital billboards,” he said. In addition, Watchfire’s high-speed wireless communications improves reliability, which is especially important when demonstrating the digital billboard to prospective advertisers.

Since he’s based in Georgia, Hornkohl is impressed that his operating costs are lower than with competitive boards because his Watchfire digital billboard does not require air-conditioning. Eliminating the need for air conditioning improves overall energy efficiency, lowers the weight of the unit, and drives down the likelihood of service issues.

Magic Media’s advertisers include local banks, jewelers, investment companies, clothing retailers and restaurants. Digital billboards are appealing to outdoor advertisers because they can be updated simply and remotely in minutes, using software and a high-speed Internet connection. Digital billboards also allow multiple advertisements on the same board, and because the messages can be changed quickly, they work well for advertisers with time-sensitive messages or multiple product lines.