A mobile billboard, also known as a "digital billboard truck", is a device used for advertising on the sides of a truck or trailer that is typically mobile. Mobile billboards are a form of

transit media Transit media is a form of out-of-home advertising that displays advertisements in or on the outside of vehicles, such as on the side of or above the seats of a bus or tram. Advertising medium Transit media used to consist of paper or paint, but ...

; static billboards, and mall/airport advertising fall into this same category. Using a mobile billboard for advertising is an advertising niche called mobile outdoor advertising.

Description

Most mobile

billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

s are dedicated, customized LED trucks with large bodies for displaying advertisements. Some of these dedicated units offer features such as external

sound systems In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

, illumination, LED panels and hot/cold boxes for product sampling, although they are illegal in many cities. Digital mobile billboard trucks have become popular, but the most capable in terms of gaining exposure are static mobile billboards. Static mobile billboards do not share advertising space. Some of the most cost effective mobile billboards are installed wraps on trucks and trailers that are in service delivering goods serving as multi-purpose vehicles achieving "green status" or "truck side advertising". Box-type trucks with panels enclosing the cargo space can be turned into a mobile 3D display case. Many companies use these trucks for

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

product launch In business and engineering, new product development (NPD) covers the complete process of bringing a new product to market, renewing an existing product or introducing a product in a new market. A central aspect of NPD is product design, along wi ...

es, furniture displays, and general rapid-awareness creation. Almost anything can be placed inside of the boxes for display. For micromarketing campaigns, small-engine scooters and human walking

s are used for experiential marketing and direct to consumer marketing. This form has become a very effective intercity advertising method for

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Installation

Advertisements on standard billboard trucks are installed by applying large vinyl sheets as

decal A decal (, , ) or transfer is a plastic, cloth, paper, or ceramic substrate that has printed on it a pattern or image that can be moved to another surface upon contact, usually with the aid of heat or water. The word is short for ''decalcom ...

s, or by fastening a large sheet of vinyl to the sides of the truck or trailer using specialized aluminum frames. With the new LED mobile digital billboard trucks require large expensive screens to be installed on trucks.

Effectiveness

Industry analysts, researchers and trade representatives have researched the effectiveness of mobile billboards. '' Outdoor Advertising Magazine'' said that outdoor mobile media billboards have a 97%

recall rate In medicine and statistics, sensitivity and specificity mathematically describe the accuracy of a test that reports the presence or absence of a medical condition. If individuals who have the condition are considered "positive" and those who do ...

, and 96% of survey respondents thought mobile advertising is more effective than traditional outdoor advertising. 3M and the American Trucking Association noted 91% of the target noticed the text and graphics on truck advertising, and the Traffic Audit Bureau noted that on local routes monthly impressions ranged from one to four million hits. Product Acceptance and Research said 94% of respondents recalled seeing the Mobile Billboard, with 80% recalling the specific advertisement; the billboards resulted in a sales increase of 107%.

Utilisation

Mobile Billboards are generally used due to the perceived benefits such as being able to deliver a message in places where traditional billboards are unavailable. They also offer a median that does not get cluttered by other advertisements and are not generally seen near competitors. Many also find it advantageous that the message is less likely to be tuned out by drivers than other advertising medians.

Legality

Some municipalities have strict laws against mobile advertisements. According to London Hackney Carriage Act 1853 and Section 9 of the

Metropolitan Streets Act 1867 The Metropolitan Streets Act 1867 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom applying to the City of London and all places and parishes then within the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Board of Works. Following public meetings and press c ...

it is not lawful for any person to carry any picture, placard, notice, or advertisement, on any carriage or on horseback or on foot in London except those which are approved of by the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis or the Commissioner of the

City of London Police The City of London Police is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the City of London, including the Middle and Inner Temples. The force responsible for law enforcement within the remainder of the London region, ou ...

. Adbikes and billboard bicycles can often be used as a substitute. Smaller cities code compliance often use a complaint driven model wherein the smaller lighter trucks seem to have fewer complaints and are often allowed. These mobile billboard trucks have been welcomed more by municipalities over the larger trucks. In the US, mobile advertising falls under the

First Amendment to the United States Constitution The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prevents the government from making laws that regulate an establishment of religion, or that prohibit the free exercise of religion, or abridge the freedom of speech, the ...

. The

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...

has issued rulings that protect "commercial speech" as well. Hence, it is difficult for any jurisdiction to limit such advertising beyond public safety issues. Since most complaints regarding mobile advertising relate to oversized trucks with loudspeakers, the bigger companies are more likely to have lawyers on retainer who can remind the authorities of US Constitutional protection of free speech and commerce. However, content-neutral regulations of speech with a legitimate government interest are subject to a more deferential standard of review. Ordinances banning mobile billboards on traffic and public safety grounds, regardless of message and without singling out commercial advertisement, have been largely upheld as legitimately and reasonably regulating the ''form'', and not ''content'', of speech. In

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, the use of wrap advertising on buses was prohibited by the road authorities. The reason behind the ban was that in an emergency, the windows might need to serve as an

emergency exit An emergency exit in a structure is a special exit for emergencies such as a fire: the combined use of regular and special exits allows for faster evacuation, while it also provides an alternative if the route to the regular exit is blocked. ...

and that the advertising would make the window harder to break with the

emergency hammer A glass breaker is a hand tool designed to break through a window glass in an emergency. It is a common safety device found in vehicles to aid in the emergency extrication of occupants from a vehicle, as well as in some buildings. Most glass brea ...

Gaia Trafikk Gaia Trafikk was the largest public transportation provider in Bergen and Os, Norway until it merged with HSD forming Tide. Gaia was formed by the 1998 merger of Pan Trafikk, the bus company serving northern and southern Bergen, and Bergen S ...

argued against the ban, pointing out that their tests showed that the thin wrap had no impact on the breakability of the window, but did remove the advertising which covered the windows.Livsfarlig reklame
("Life-threatening advertising")

Dagbladet ''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newsp ...

, July 5, 2001, retrieved April 17, 2007

Other forms

There are many other forms of outdoor mobile advertising, which are considered mobile billboards by some advertising professionals. One such form is called

wrap advertising Wrap advertising or a vehicle wrap is known as the marketing practice of completely or partially covering (wrapping) a vehicle in a vinyl material, which may be for a color change, advertising or custom delivery. The result of this process is e ...

, which differs from mobile billboards because wrap advertisements typically envelop an entire vehicle, typically a car or small truck, while mobile billboards are large flat surfaces like traditional billboards. Other mobile advertising formats include bicycles, airplane banner towing, blimps, and mobile billboards on water, towed by boats.

References

{{reflist Advertising by medium Advertising tools Billboards Public transport