Deals On Wheels For Drivers Who Take Billboards For A Spin

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday February 17, 2001

Andrew Hornery, Marketing Writer

Marketing executives call it ambient advertising. To the rest of us, it just means more ads but in unusual and unlikely places .

Sydney motorists can now earn up to $500 a month if they are willing to have their cars plastered in ads.

Convoys of trucks five or more each carrying huge billboards compete for space on Sydney's already jammed streets for the sole purpose of promoting brand names.

Look up on a sunny weekend and you're more than likely to see the handiwork of skywriters spelling out brands. Going to the toilet at the local watering hole has also become a marketing opportunity, with alcohol companies like Strongbow now advertising on restroom walls.

You're not even safe taking the garbage out. Sydney company Binads has started selling ads on 120,000 bins serviced by Rockdale and Fairfield councils, at $4 a bin.

Wizard home loans is the first company to test the concept. Binads founder Mr Clive Wiseman said he planned to sell ads on the 2.5 million bins across Sydney, with each council receiving more than 25 per cent of the revenue generated. ``If a resident doesn't want the ad on their bin, we will take it off," Mr Wiseman said.

Similarly, the company behind the billboard convoys, Captive Media, says it does not want to be a public nuisance.

``We don't want to hog the roads," says Mr Craig Cohen, co-founder of Captive Media.

Nestle, News Ltd, Mars Confectionery and Lion Nathan have each paid between $30,000 and $500,000 to have their billboards on the trucks. ``I don't think we are adding to the clutter," Mr Cohen said. ``Advertisers like it because it makes an impact. When you see a 30-square-metre billboard coming at you at 60km/h you take notice."

Ambient advertising has also caught the attention of legislators. The Department of Urban Affairs and Planning is drafting an environmental planning policy on outdoor advertising.

A department spokesman declined to reveal any details about the draft or when it would be completed.

Meanwhile, ambient advertising continues to grow. Brisbane-based MV Wraps is recruiting motorists in Sydney willing to have their cars transformed into mobile ads.

Marketing manager Mr Paul Harris said there were already 700 motorists on his database, ranging from luxury cars to the suburban ``bomb".

Motorists stand to earn up to $500 a month for carrying the advertisements on their cars, as long as they guarantee to drive 1,200 kilometres during the month and on routes the advertiser desires.

``I agree that it's adding to the advertising already out there but the way it's done it looks fun and appealing," Mr Harris said.