Ads Filling Up Empty Spaces

by erica ~ May 14, 2009

Just when you thought advertisers have run out of space to advertise, they are now targeting abandoned retail spaces in urban areas.

I’ve noticed these “ads” on storefronts but assumed that the company advertising will soon be taking over that particular space. To my surprise, these companies have just found a cheaper form of advertising. The New York Times reports that advertisers pay only 10 to 15 percent of what a retailer would pay in rent, utilities, taxes, etc. Advertisers are paying an average of $500 for three-month stints in prime locations as opposed to an outdoor billboard that would cost $50,000.

In some cases, landlords actually donate their space, because they either like the advertiser’s message and/or because it is more appealing to have something in their windows other than dust and grime.

For example, Conservation International’s ads did double duty. They were cheap, centrally located and perfectly matched his message, which compared destruction of the environment to the destruction of the economy. The windows carried messages like “Our shopping districts are starting to look as barren as our rain forests” and “Ignore climate change and a lot more than our shops will be going under.”

I guess it makes sense to fill up the empty spaces, especially when advertisers can reach more people with these ads being street- level rather than high billboards. We obviously cannot ignore these types of ads and these advertisers will only get more creative as time goes on!

Erica Berkovich is an Associate Account Executive at Mediashop PR.  She is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Corporate Communications at Baruch.