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"TruckSide Advertising has Research on its Side"

OAAA and Media Life
April, 2000

TruckSide advertising, is pointing to the results of a new independent study as evidence of the effectiveness of the medium.

The benchmark study, conducted by National Family Opinion for the market research firm known as The Singer Group, reveals that TruckSide advertising campaign implemented for computer marketer PeoplePC created a 30% increase in awareness within the test market.

The research study, involving more than 50 adults, compared the opinions of people in Minneapolis who were exposed to the PeoplePC campaign via print, broadcast, traditional outdoor and TruckSide advertising vs. those of people from Detroit who received all of the same messages except for the TruckSide ads.

Perhaps the most significant statistic yielded by the study is that 52% of people in the target demographic reported increased awareness of the campaign as a result of seeing the TruckSide ads. The research also showed a 54% increase in the number of people who considered PeoplePC when buying their next computer-precisely the type of response advertisers seek.

Because of the unique venue in which TruckSide ads reach consumers, in shopping centers, on streets and in their neighborhoods, TruckSide ads are able to heighten awareness for advertisers in ways that TV, radio, newspaper and magazine, and even billboard ads can't.

That widely held belief has now evolved from common sense optimism into measurable fact with the results of the PeoplePC study. Mark Barden, president of marketing for PeoplePC, cited this distinction as the impetus for conducting the study: "we had anecdotal evidence of the campaign's success, but wanted to quantify the impact of TruckSide advertising in very measurable terms."

This new study provides not only quantifiable results, buy key qualitative information as well. According to the numbers, 56% of respondents said that when they see an ad on the side of a truck, they perceive the company to be a successful one. Another 67% said they believe the advertised product is bought and used by their neighbors.

"For the past few years, TruckSide advertising has been promoted based on cost effectiveness and ability to enter markets where conventional out -of-home advertising methods are limited or unavailable, "Stephen Freitas, chief marketing officer of the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) said, "Now there's conclusive proof of TruckSide's value as a powerful marketing tool that impacts awareness, attitudes and opinions."

With this type of had data validating the gut feeling that TruckSide advertising is a viable method of making impressions on sought-after consumers, the medium stands to become an even hotter commodity than it already is. And carriers are seeing their bottom lines expand with every number that is crunched.

Source: OAAA and Media Life "Delivering Brand by the Truck Loads"