Poster Distribution on Poles

[matdwyer]

Hey guys, I'm looking for some advice if anyone has done this before ...

I'm considering doing mini-posters that go on light poles and such in the downtown core.

I'm looking for some one who may be more knowledgeable on this... heres my situation:

- I found a deal for very cheap printing, so thats good
- I'll pay someone $20/hour to put them up
- I have another associate who would be interested in having his up too (separate industry) which would help push costs down even more
- I'm trying to target a market (downtown office buildings), and I know these get ignored alot, but I'm thinking with the right testing that it could be fairly effective.

Anyway, onto my questions

- Is this illegal? They are everywhere, so I'm not sure, but it sounds like its a grey area?
- This might be a bit ridiculous, but are there like "street pimps"... guys that do this for a living that will be "upset" at my guy for putting mine up? I saw a poster today about dr. jamie or something... sounds like a scary guy!
- Any advice for them? They'll likely be back & white or colour on coloured paper, big headline and easy contact info (easy to remember website & phone number)

I realize that they only last for a day or two as well.

Anyway, just looking for anyones experience on this! Thanks!

[matdwyer]

Seeing as you are from Toronto, you might wish to read the Toronto by-law dealing with signs which will inform you as to what may and may not be placed and where. Read chapter 693 (http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/municode/1184_693.pdf).

Thanks for the link dealon! I didn't even think about searching out the bylaws.

Basically from reading that I'm gathering that its not legal... although there isn't specific bylaws stating anything about signs like this. I'm assuming its an unenforced thing, as almost every lightpole has this... Although that doesn't necessarily mean I'd do it... Anyone else have any experience with it?

[loxx]

The city spends considerable resources removing those posters. I've often seen workers out trying to scrap the damn things off. I hate them myself, and I would never deal with a company that used such advertising methods to pollute the public space.

As for the street pimps - yeah. That's sort of how it works. Poster people compete for space. They plaster over each others posters and fights break out. It's a full time business for some.

[cdnNick]

I'm in Ottawa and I have always wondered the same thing about those signs. Some of them in my area have been up for a LONG time like 8-12 months but I don't live downtown and poles aren't covered with signs.

Only problem I've found with them is I never remember the URL to check it out later on, so it really has to be something short and memorable.

[matdwyer]

The city spends considerable resources removing those posters. I've often seen workers out trying to scrap the damn things off. I hate them myself, and I would never deal with a company that used such advertising methods to pollute the public space.

As for the street pimps - yeah. That's sort of how it works. Poster people compete for space. They plaster over each others posters and fights break out. It's a full time business for some.

See, I figure some people would just disregard them... although I figured that since they are there, they obviously get some results. My plan would be to have them put up say once a week for a month, although I wouldn't want to do it if it was actually illegal (i.e. I wouldn't want to have my guy putting them up get a ticket, get fought, etc)

I'm assuming your thoughts on people passing out flyers would be the same?

I'm basically just thinking of my cheapest way to advertise to the bay street crowd - disposable income and looking for easy gifts

I'm in Ottawa and I have always wondered the same thing about those signs. Some of them in my area have been up for a LONG time like 8-12 months but I don't live downtown and poles aren't covered with signs.

Only problem I've found with them is I never remember the URL to check it out later on, so it really has to be something short and memorable.

Without advertising my company here, lets say the industry is window washing, my domain is windowwashing.ca - and I'm in the top three for a google search, so I figure I should get some recognition there.

Maybe just handing out flyers would be a better idea? Again not quite sure on the legalities there, and a pole will stay there even if its snow/raining/cold :lol:

[cdnNick]

See, I figure some people would just disregard them... although I figured that since they are there, they obviously get some results. My plan would be to have them put up say once a week for a month, although I wouldn't want to do it if it was actually illegal (i.e. I wouldn't want to have my guy putting them up get a ticket, get fought, etc)

I'm assuming your thoughts on people passing out flyers would be the same?

I'm basically just thinking of my cheapest way to advertise to the bay street crowd - disposable income and looking for easy gifts



Without advertising my company here, lets say the industry is window washing, my domain is windowwashing.ca - and I'm in the top three for a google search, so I figure I should get some recognition there.

Maybe just handing out flyers would be a better idea? Again not quite sure on the legalities there, and a pole will stay there even if its snow/raining/cold :lol:

I'd say give both of them a try, it might be annoying but setup two domain names 1 for the pole and 1 for the flyers so you can track the traffic and run both ads in the same area at the same time and see which one works best.

If people are interested in the flyer they will bring it to the office or home, plus you could throw a coupon code up on the flyer which might increase your conversions. It would be hard to remember a URL and coupon code from a sign on a pole.

[mart242]

Another vote for: I won't do business with a company that "pollutes" by advertising like this.

It doesn't answer your questions but you have to realize that it could hurt your business. Maybe paying the dude 20$ an hour to be a "sandwich man" would be more effective? it would definitely get noticed more.

[matdwyer]

Make sure you're targetting the right people.

If your business IS indeed window washing, then the average employee/professional on Bay would have zero interest or decision-making authority with regards to building maintenance decisions! You have to target the property owners (e.g. REITS, etc.) Most of the buildings in the Bay/King area are owned by large property corporations or real estate invesment trusts (REITS) and they have their own property management boards.

You COULD target coffee shops in the area since virtually all Bay streeters drink coffee or tea during the day. After all, I suspect very few would actually stop to read a poster on the street (remember, its an image conscious segment who are on the go!). So, you should get them when they have their guard down and are more relaxed (e.g. coffee shops or locations within the PATH near food courts!)

But more importantly, you should probably be targeting the maintenance and cleaning staff (e.g. the after business hours individuals) since property management supervisors are usually working AFTER the 9-5 staff goes home. Your decision influencers are therefore better likely to be working during THOSE times. They're the ones more likely to be able to make decisions or at least make recommendations to property managers as to who the Board/Management team ought to consider hiring for their maintenance needs!!!

You bring up very valid points, although I was using window washing as an example :lol: My business is Photo Scanning, and I've seen a lot of business come threw from the bay street type crowd - digitizing their whole albums, etc. I offer pickup/drop off at their offices for free, so I'm hoping that will translate into an "easy" christmas present for a wife, mother, etc.

My target market is generally either older people (45-60) for themselves, or younger people (25-35) for their parents.

I agree that many people don't even look at signs, therefore I'd assume that I'd have to write PHOTO SCANNING in big letters to get attention of some who walk by, who may have thought about it before. I'm not sure what response rates are, but even a 0.005% rate would bring in quite a few sales :cheesygri

I do like the idea of setting up new domains for tracking, although I'm not sure how that will translate with the brand recogition (my website is my company name)... specific coupon codes is a good idea though!

Thanks again for everyones help!

[matdwyer]

Another vote for: I won't do business with a company that "pollutes" by advertising like this.

It doesn't answer your questions but you have to realize that it could hurt your business. Maybe paying the dude 20$ an hour to be a "sandwich man" would be more effective? it would definitely get noticed more.

I actually have a 3x5 foot sandwhich board that was worn around events in Orillia... I don't know what the law is here, although I know it was against bylaws there (mobile signs, etc). I'm assuming here there would be more bylaw officers, but for 20 minutes at yonge & dundas and then getting out of there it might work!

[loxx]

There was an article I read some years ago in The Star, or Now, or somewhere... anyway, it addressed this very topic. The writer had interviewed the city on their position on the issue. Obviously, they were against postering. But I can't remember what tactics they were using to fight the posters. I THOUGHT I remembered that they would ticket the company that was advertising the product/service (but I really can't remember for sure). If you want to go this route (poster on light posts), you should find out from city hall what they are doing about it, and if they are issuing tickets. Then decide if the ticket is worth the price for advertising. There are many clubs that advertise their weekly DJ Guest using this method. But if they do get ticketed, it's probably worth the cost for them because that's the best method to reach their target market - most clubbers are probably not offended by such advertising, and the ticket costs a lot less than traditional means of advertising. Would this describe your target market, or is your market made up of people like me, that would disregard such adverts?

As for people passing out flyers, they don't bother me too much since I can simply refuse the flyer (which I do). I had a job back in college passing out flyers on the street. It was interesting to see who would accept them and who wouldn't. Some would take them right out of your hand, not even look at them, and throw them away. Why did they take them in the first place??

[matdwyer]

Would this describe your target market, or is your market made up of people like me, that would disregard such adverts?

As for people passing out flyers, they don't bother me too much since I can simply refuse the flyer (which I do). I had a job back in college passing out flyers on the street. It was interesting to see who would accept them and who wouldn't. Some would take them right out of your hand, not even look at them, and throw them away. Why did they take them in the first place??

Would likely be more people like you - If I had to give an average age for customers I would say 50. None younger than 30.

The flyers may be a better idea I guess, as you say. A flyer I could also put a coupon code on for tracking easily.

I'm assuming you can give these out pretty freely on the street and not worry about getting a by-law infraction (what I mean is it would be infrequent that the officer would see you?) I know there is many people that do this, (one guy at Shuter & Yonge does it every day in front of his store), so I would assume they don't mind that much. Perhaps I'll try some trials with a couple hundred flyers and see if there is spikes online.

Thanks for everyones thoughts (although I still welcome more!)

Another question, which I may or may not make another thread about - has anyone tried Church Advertising yet? I.e. ads in the church bullitien? I think this is likely a cheap(ish) way to advertise, and when people get antsy during church (I realize not everyone does this) they will look at the ad (and take it home to). Anyway if anyone has maybe they could give me a review on it.

Thanks!

[loxx]

I don't know about church bulletin boards, but I've noticed lately how much activity the bulletin boards at supermarkets get. I started paying attention a few months ago when I passed by one that had an advert for a Porsche Cayenne. They were asking $74k and many people had pulled off a tag at the bottom with the seller's phone #. I thought that might have been an old seller's trick to stoke interest, so I started paying more attention when I went to market - to see what kind of activity the bulletin boards got. Quite a bit! I'm living in a rural area right now, so the results in Toronto might be different. I had certainly never bothered to look at these boards when I was living in the city, but it is free. I'm sure that church boards would get even more activity since they are populated with people that are concerned with what is going on in their community. And at that price, defiantly worth a try!

[matdwyer]

I don't know about church bulletin boards, but I've noticed lately how much activity the bulletin boards at supermarkets get. I started paying attention a few months ago when I passed by one that had an advert for a Porsche Cayenne. They were asking $74k and many people had pulled off a tag at the bottom with the seller's phone #. I thought that might have been an old seller's trick to stoke interest, so I started paying more attention when I went to market - to see what kind of activity the bulletin boards got. Quite a bit! I'm living in a rural area right now, so the results in Toronto might be different. I had certainly never bothered to look at these boards when I was living in the city, but it is free. I'm sure that church boards would get even more activity since they are populated with people that are concerned with what is going on in their community. And at that price, defiantly worth a try!

Thanks again loxx for your advice!

When I say church bulletin, I mean like the thing they pass out to everyone... the back page is usually filled with ads. The church gets the brochure printed for free in exchange for advertisers on it. But you bring up a great point about grocery bulletins, as the product is very much an "artsy craft" type of thing... I will do some prints tomorrow and place them around, see if I get any results.

I just signed onto an "ink" contract, $19.99 a month for 12 months, with a free printer and "all I can use ink" (which they claim is about 4 refills a month, but more if I need it)... I plan to use it the best I can, with 400-500 promo prints a month, so trying to be creative with it.

[cdnNick]

I just signed onto an "ink" contract, $19.99 a month for 12 months, with a free printer and "all I can use ink" (which they claim is about 4 refills a month, but more if I need it)... I plan to use it the best I can, with 400-500 promo prints a month, so trying to be creative with it.

What is that all about?

What about handing out general business cards or small postcards, you can fit more info on them, 1 side with all your info and the other side with your website and a coupon or something about your pricing if you have standard packages. It would look better then a cheap flyer, although the flyers might be good for certain areas of town. Just look at the mail you get from places like shoppers drug mart for ideas of what I am talking about.

I have thought about the church bulletins but never looked into it, maybe I should. Maybe you could do a free promo for a church, some churchs have websites so you could get exposure if they place your scanned photos on the site.