Watchfire hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for its expanding manufacturing and office facilities on June 7, 2012. The company will add over 110,000 square feet of additional manufacturing space and 17,000 square feet of office space at its Maple Street location. The new facilities allow the company to consolidate its current three locations to one location, provide room for additional employees and will help Watchfire keep up with demand.
Over the past year I've talked with operators around the country who are actively developing digital billboards. Nationwide, a frequent topic of conversation revolves around setting rates. Those new to digital outdoor, whether they have experience with static billboard faces or not, seem to struggle with how to price their digital space.
After 57 years in the business, Key-Ads had plenty of experience supporting local businesses with traditional outdoor advertising. While attending a 2009 signage conference, Nick Keyes, Jr. noticed digital billboards on display. Though they were eye-catching, he wondered how advertisers would respond to them. "We were concerned about cannibalizing our traditional static billboards when we went digital," said Keyes, Jr.
Watchfire Digital Outdoor has created Billboardtoday.com, a website that will allow the public to buy short-term space for a premium rate on Watchfire digital billboards across the country. The site was developed to fill extra ad space for billboard operators. Advertisers buy ads for short periods of time, much like newspaper ads. It's a convenient way for people to purchase short-term messages for wedding proposals, birthday wishes, new baby announcements, "For Sale by Owner" properties and other one to three day needs. The new site debuted on April 30, 2012 at the 2012 TAB|OAAA Out of Home Media Conference and Marketing Expo in Miami Beach, Fla.
Selling advertising space is, in practice, selling an intangible. The deliverable is the benefit that comes from running the ad. Some prospects understand this on a basic level, but have a hard time moving forward on this concept alone. You have to paint them a picture. Lucky for you, your digital billboard can be your giant canvas.