Q&A Outdoor Advertising, Displays and Collateral Materials UNIT 2

What is outdoor advertising?

Outdoor Advertising is a term that includes a property’s sign, billboards and other methods used outdoor to put the hotel property’s name and image before the public.

What are types of outdoor Advertising?

The most common outdoor boards are:

Property Signs: It refers to the signboards on and around the hotel property. It is a welcome sight to an undecided tourist in an unfamiliar area. These can advertise the property’s restaurants, lounges, banqueting facilities and other revenue centers.

                                                                    

Points to be considered while developing a property signboard are:

Property Sign’s/Hotel name must be bigger in size

The Signboard must compliment the hotel’s design and image.

The placement of the signboard must be such so as to reach the maximum potential guest.

Reader Boards: Some property signboard features a reader board – an area on the sign set aside for temporary messages. Reader boards are used to promote –

A special rates packages of the hotel

Special facilities or services, saunas, spas, continental breakfasts etc

Bill Boards: Billboards advertising is placed away from the property at a strategic location on the mounted pillars or on the highway from where one can gain maximum advantage of advertising. Some billboards are in the form of posters and painted displays also.

Posters are sheets printed with the advertising message and then pasted like wall paper on the display boards by local outdoor advertising companies who own the boards.

Factors to be considered while purchasing or renting the billboards include:

·         Location – Highways, cross-sections and traffic light stops at 2 to 10 kms from the hotel property are what one should look for while opting for the location.

·         Size – The size of the billboard should be such so as to gain maximum attention. Like, for example – 14” X 48” feet size, which will be visible from a distance.

·         Design – It should be designed to be read quickly from left to right. The colour should be bright and contrasting to attract the prospective customers like, red in white or red in blue.

·         Message – It should have a message of not more than 5 - 10 words about the hotel. It should have list of amenities, services, eye-catching line of the property which can be referred as slogan and may contain the phone number and address of the property.

·         Maintenance – The billboard should be regularly subjected to check up for any technical faults of lighting or otherwise.

·         Contracts – The billboard should be taken on a contract or lease basis and all the terms and conditions including the price should be taken so that the hotel property can consistently get good advertising response from one location. This will also help the property to plan its future plans of billboard advertising.

Displays

It can be used for – transit advertising, trade shows and also, general advertising.

Transit Advertising – Advertising in or on buses, metros, railway stations, subways, radio cabs etc are classified as Transit Advertising. Some of the many advantages of transit advertising are:

·         Low cost: The advertiser pays for the production of the advertising card (design, type setting, printing etc) and for the rental of the transit space.

·         High Readership: Readership and the views are high. For example – many passengers or the persons in transit read these displays to relieve boredom. It is an effective medium with which to reach consumers of various kind like, middle to lower income groups and tourists.

·         Frequency: People who take same routes day after day are exposed to transit displays message on a regular basis. They become excellent word-to-mouth advertisers.

Trade shows

These are other avenues for displays. Trade shows are held for variety of sector like education, job fairs, auto expo, travel and tourism fair including travel oriented sectors. These invite lot of business, corporate, travel agents, tour operators and people who would like to stay in business and luxury class segments.

A hotel may wish to advertise at a trade show that caters to the target market segment such as business class people, doctors, IT professionals, bankers, families, women business class travelers. Display posters are used to attract delegates to a property’s stall and may picture hotel’s amenities in detail.

General Displays

It usually includes colour posters of hotel property and its features or posters describing special property promotions. The size of the poster may vary depending on the location and use of the display.

What are Collateral Materials ?

Collateral materials include printed items (fliers, tent cards and brochures) and specialty items (match boxes, key chains and other souvenirs and giveaways). Collateral materials are usually given away either by sales people or through other means like in-house promotions, leaving the items in guestrooms, handing the items to the departing guests etc.

They serve two purposes:

They get the property‟s name in front of great number of people.

They can serve as „silent sales people‟ – it helps to supplement the message of the property’s sales staff.

Fliers – They are used to aid direct mail campaigns. They can also be effective fact sheets, especially when printed with photographs of the property. A flier should contain –

·         Headline – It should be an attention grabber.

·         Headings – Feature key point of the hotel property

·         Content – The sending message which should include the best price for a package deal.

·         Photographs – Photographs should be clear and sharp, and must be captioned.

·         Logo & Signature – The property’s logo lends credibility to the flier and provides information that a reader needs to contact the property.

Tent Cards

It can be printed in one or two colours. They may be brief and precise. Many hotel chains offer tent cards or a combination package of tent cards and posters through corporate advertising departments. Simple three fold cards that advertise restaurants specialties, dessert menus, happy hours, dish of the day, cocktails and mocktails or other products and services offered by the property.

Brochures

These are the most important collateral items and must be designed and written properly to be effective.

While developing a brochure, a property should:

1.       Set objective – What is the meant to accomplish? For example – Business traveler, leisure or banquet business etc.

2.       Target the Audience – A property cannot effectively reach a number of different audiences with one brochure, example – a brochure for business travelers is of little value to a family group or a brochure for business planners has little meaning for a retired couple looking for leisure vacation.

3.       List Benefits – Benefits should be listed for each target audience based on its needs. Each brochure must answer the question “WHY SHOULD I STAY AT THE HOTEL?” The amount of information and number of photographs or artwork will determine the final length of a brochure (4, 6 or 8 panels). No matter what type of brochure is printed or designed, the property should never loose focus on quality.

Design - While creating a brochure’s design, property managers or sales people should keep the following guidelines:

4.       Match the brochure to the properties personality and character – The brochure should reflect the personality of the property. It is the personality of the brochure that will distinguish it and the hotel property from the competition. Example – A luxury hotel may have a very good quality paper, distinctive typing style and special touches like embossing and folding.

5.       Use photos to heighten the property’s image and sell the property – They say ‘A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words.’ It is indeed true and one must have excellent quality photograph to claim the message and grab the attention of the reader. Photographs that are used must justify and enhance the property’s image. Photographs without people can appear cold and lifeless. They work best when it includes people enjoying property’s amenities. When preparing a brochure for a specific target market, it is important to show people, the photographs that readers can relate and desire to be part of. For example – it can be tempting food, swimming pool, golf course, tennis court, gymnasium, spa and any other special service provided by the hotel property.

Copy

The guidelines for writing or reviewing brochure copy are:

·         Positioning the Property – It should develop short positioning statements that can be used in all of its advertising.

·         Put the property’s name and location on the cover.

·         Using headings to highlight key facts – Headings can draw the readers to the properties key features.

·         Highlight the property’s most popular features and benefits.

·         Build credibility – by showing photographs where we have sent token gifts to previous guests.

·         Tell the whole story – Give as mush information as possible into each brochure.

·         Urge the reader to take action – It should include invitations throughout the brochure to visit, call or write to the hotel reservations. Further, the process must be made simpler by including a business reply card and a toll free number.

All these elements can be incorporated into any brochure, whether it is designed by an in-house staff or an ad agency by corporate advertising staff.

Specialty items

These are also called as ‘Premiums’ and are economical tools that can be remarkably effective. Since many specialty items are small, the hotel property should develop a message that is brief. In many cases, just the names of the hotel property, name and address and telephone number appear on items. Example: Coffee Cups, Ball pens, ashtrays, matchboxes, table calendars, diaries, caps, T-shirts, jackets, towels, key chains, playing cards.

To ensure getting the most from specialty items, a property may wish to consult an advertising agency.

Specialty items which are imprinted with Toll free reservations number are most effective.

For advertising of this type to be effective, it must be carefully designed and co-ordinated to reflect the hotel’s personality and make the property stand out in the market of competitors. Even in today’s world of hi-tech advertising, outdoor advertising, displays and collateral materials play a vital role in the successful marketing of the hotel property.