Several years ago my family and I drove through Canada on business. I was immediately struck by the absence of billboards along the roads. At first it was pleasantly pristine. But after a while, I found I missed the information they gave as I traveled.
We all know what billboards are, huge signs supported by a structure mounted on some rented piece of property like a farmer’s field. The more traffic on the highway, the better. The billboard will hopefully grab the attention of passers by. But imagine this: the billboard flies off the stand and floats over a huge crowd of people who all look up and read it. That is not fanciful; it is the essence of advertising using an aerial billboard.
Aerial billboards are similar to roadside billboards but different in a number of ways as well. For example, the roadside billboard is fixed, being seen by moving people. Aerial billboards on the other hand, are moving while the people are stationary. Also, the roadside billboard is only noticed by those looking its way as they drive. The aerial billboard is read by virtually everyone who sees it because of the uniqueness of the display. The roadside billboard will be viewed by 100,000 people after a long time; the aerial billboard could be read by that many in a matter of minutes.
The aerial billboard is not a banner though a streaming banner is sometimes dragged behind the billboard to give an additional message. Most aerial billboards are made of nylon. Some are dyed with a sun inhibitor for protection while others are painted. Aerial billboards could be as large as 50 feet tall and 100 feet long! The message they display may be the name of a product, a photo, a logo, or just about any message you see on a roadside billboard.
This huge billboard is supported in the front by a lead pole and weighted on the bottom so it stays upright. A bridle is attached to the lead pole and that attached to a 250 feet rope. The pilot gets airborne, then circles around and tries to hook a loop of rope attached to two poles. This loop is fastened to the tow rope. The hook is attached to the bottom of the plane. As the pilot passes over the banner and catches it, he immediately banks upward, causing the billboard to be pulled upward, away from the ground.
Of course, billboard advertising like this is dependent on the weather. Heavy winds could make it impossible for a small plane to pull such a resistance. Sometimes the banner cannot be added to the back of the billboard because of the drag. When the flight is over, the pilot is able to fly low and drop the billboard safely to the ground where it will be retrieved and stored for future use.
What is the difference between aerial banners and aerial billboards? The only real difference is the size and shape of the message trailing behind the plane. Clients might include restaurants, products, special events, congratulatory messages, wedding proposals, directions, information like a web page to get further details, special sales events, businesses, movie ads, and so on. Billboards display just about any brief message someone wants to get to the public in a hurry.
The cost for billboard or aerial ads varies with companies and locations. Generally you should plan on $400 to $500 an hour for towing time and $2500 and up for the billboard or banner. If that seems like a lot of money, consider the revenue that the message will bring in as a result of thousands of people seeing your aerial advertising message in a single day.
