BIG emotion [outdoor]

Print Action, Feb 2005 by Robinson, Jon

"Ten years ago, because of digital printing, you probably thought that lithography was going to be all over very soon. We have actually seen a growth in that area."

- Laurie Kelly, director production, Viacom Outdoor

THE THOUGHT OF SPENDING 10 hours to run 1,200 sheets of print should seem like complete nonsense to an average lithographic printer, particularly the ones using seconds to count make-ready between jobs. Viacom Outdoor's (VO) decades-old, 77-inch Harris press, however, can actually be pushed for days on a project of this size, as its operators try to match colour sheet after sheet: 10 huge sheets per billboard, patched, together in perfect register. Looking back at VO's 100-year history - tallied through acquisitions - of billboard making, it sure beats painting by hand.

"The technology of outdoor did not change for a long time. From 1904 to maybe 1988, billboards were still hand painted," says Laurie Kelly, director of VO's production group, remembering what she calls a sad day in 1992, when executives were forced to acknowledge the growth in digital printing and fire all of its painters across North America, save a few for retouching.

Today, at VO's headquarters in Toronto, the space previously used to hold 12 full-time painters is filled with three digital large-format printers. "Ten years ago, because of digital printing, you probably thought that lithography was going to be all over very soon," suggests Kelly. "We have actually seen a growth in that area." VO has seen significant growth in national billboard campaigns since the days when Tobacco companies hand painted smoking cowboys across the country. Today's national outdoor campaign can require a print run of 1,500, and usually averages from 250 to 500. Any run greater than 50 or 60 sheets must go litho to be cost effective.

Growth in national billboard campaigns comes from a greater number of outdoor-specific advertising companies and more display faces. VO itself now owns more than 110,000 display faces across Canada, which also includes thousands of pieces of street furniture like garbage bins and transit shelters. Four years ago, VO secured Canada's most important transit display contract by purchasing a U.S.-based company called TDI. The company was supplying shelters and display faces for Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), a vital 7-year contract that VO recently renewed.

The majority of VO's revenue generated from display faces is split between the 10 × 20-foot billboards and transit posters. The company only produces billboards at its production facility as most transit work is done elsewhere. In fact, clients can work with any printing company except when it comes to technically challenging bacldit billboards. "We purchased the backlit plant from Urban Outdoor about four or five years ago," says Kelly, explaining how VO then perfected that company's zipper system that is used to stretch a piece of backlit vinyl across a structure so that it can be tightened up like a zip-lock bag.

The VO media buying team has a distinct advantage because outdoor display advertising is bought on a contractual basis as it is for television or radio. "Our entire reason for being is to support Viacom Outdoor," says Kelly of the printing division's marriage with operations. Around 70 per cent of VO's print is directed by VO's media-buying team, which naturally finds outdoor space for a number of media assets controlled by Viacom Inc., such as CBS, Infinity, Country Music Television, MTV, VHl, Paramount Pictures, Showtime and Blockbuster.