In the driver's seat

American Demographics, March, 1998 by Brad Edmondson

The trend toward more travel may even continue after boomers retire, because boomers will be a different breed of retiree. Educated Americans are more likely to participate in leisure travel, and they are more likely to refrain from smoking and otherwise preserve their health. So outdoor ads should continue to have larger and larger audiences, with more older eyes behind the wheel.

Outdoor ads may also have increasingly appreciative audiences. Drivers now under age 34 are most likely to be cellular-phone users who could make an immediate connection to a business after seeing a billboard. Second and more important is that younger drivers have a more positive opinion of the medium than older drivers do. Young adults grew up in advertising-saturated culture. Most of them accept billboards as part of the driving experience, some even enjoy them as art, and they are the group most likely to begin using outdoor ads as interactive purchasing tools.

The cellular-telephone boom is only the first in a series of high-tech opportunities for drivers and outdoor advertisers. In a few years, it may be common for billboards to establish electronic links with navigation systems and on-board video screens in cars. And if the era of "smart cars" comes true, drivers will be free to relax and daydream on the freeway while their cars drive themselves. Then outdoor messages could become more detailed, and the audience may become as attentive as they are now captive.

Although technology may bring the loneliness of the long-distance commuter to an end, the challenge to billboards will remain the same. Jack Jensen says that if his car could drive itself, "I would pay even less attention to billboards. I'd read or work on my laptop computer." Jack might break his rule for billboards that feature beautiful women or blues musicians, but every driver is different.

TAKING IT FURTHER

Results from the Nationwide Personal Transportation Surveys (NPTS) of 1990 and 1995 are available at Internet site http://www-cta.ornl.gov/npts, or by contacting transportation specialist Susan Liss at the Federal Highway Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590; telephone (202) 366-5060. Caution: due to methodological changes, most data from the 1995 survey cannot be compared with earlier versions. For more information on polling services offered by Maritz Marketing Research, contact marketing director Phil Wiseman, 1297 North Highway Drive, Fenton, MO 63099; telephone (800) 446-1690. Its Internet site, http://www.maritz.com/mmri, contains free samples of data and research reports. For more information on outdoor advertising, contact the Outdoor Advertising Association of America in Washington, DC; telephone (202) 833-5566, or go to Internet site http://www.oaaa.org. A comprehensive list of outdoor advertising companies, with rates and other information, is in the annual Out-Of-Home Advertising Source, $149 from SRDS, 1700 Higgins Road, Des Plaines, IL 60018-5605; telephone (847) 375-5000; Internet http://www.srds.com.