تبلیغات در فضای باز برای بازارهای کسب و کار

A review of the history and current prevalence of outdoor advertising suggests that although the medium is very effective it is not widely used in business-to-business markets. A case for using outdoor advertising is deductively made based on the unique characteristics of business markets such as: geographic concentration of buyers, need to target buying center members, advantages of having integrated communication, possibility of creating derived demand, and targeting trade shows. This paper offers recommendations on when and how to use outdoor advertising based on unique business market characteristics, industrial promotional objectives and business product classification. Research propositions and directions for future research are offered.

It is now generally agreed that industrial advertising objectives must be set within promotional objectives, which are understood in the context of marketing and corporate objectives (Blythe & Zimmerman, 2005, Hutt & Speh, 2004, Lichtenthal & Ducoffe, 1994 and Patti et al., 1991. While the primary communication vehicle in business-to-business (BTB) marketing remains the salesperson, non-personal methods of communication including advertising, catalogs, the Internet, trade shows and other forms of promotions have a unique role in the communication process. Effective advertising can make personal selling more productive (Blythe & Zimmerman, 2005, Hutt & Speh, 2004 and Dwyer & Tanner, 1998). Morril (1970) concluded that dollar sales per salesperson call were significantly higher when customers had been exposed to advertising2. Evidence shows that advertising can open doors for an industrial salesperson (Ray, 1982) and several studies (Korgaonkar et al., 1986 and Parasuramanan, 1981) found that advertising generates awareness and favorable attitudes thereby supporting sales rather than directly causing them. One study (Lichtenthal & Eliaz, 2003) identified the attributes of each promotional medium that make it best suited for a particular communications task (see Table 1). Others (Dwyer & Tanner, 1998, Hutt & Speh, 2004 and Messner, 1991) have similarly identified different options available to business marketers.

As mentioned, measurement of outdoor advertising has received much attention, and various technology-driven solutions are being implemented to acquire data that will put outdoor advertising at par with the other media. Media ratings companies including Nielsen and Arbitron are utilizing technologies like GPS to acquire data that will soon provide audience demographics, geographic definitions, audience estimates such as reach, frequency and Gross Rating Points (Business Wire, 2002a and Business Wire, 2002b). Such information will allow business marketers to specifically target the highly segmented market of business products. Operational efficiency is being improved using bar code technology that allows outdoor companies to immediately inform advertisers when the message is installed. This technology, similar to what is used at checkout counters in supermarkets, records exactly when each message is installed on every outdoor location (Outdoor Advertising Association of America, 2003).