State Changeable Message Digital Chart with Criteria October 2007
Background
- Out of home advertising is a growing $6.8 billion industry; the OAAA anticipates sustained growth in 2007.
- A tiny fraction of billboards are digital (500-plus out of an estimated 450,000 total billboards in the United States).
- Over the next few years, it is anticipated that several hundred digital displays may be built each year.
- Copy changes on billboards; digital technology is a means for changing static copy.
- Digital billboards display static messages that resemble standard painted/printed billboards when viewed.
- Digital billboards do not feature animation, flashing lights, scrolling, or full-motion video. These standards are reflected in the OAAA Code of Industry Practices to ensure that commercial and noncommercial messages disseminated on standard-size digital billboards will be static messages and the content shall not include animated, flashing, scrolling, intermittent or full-motion video elements.
Advantages of Digital Billboards
- Authorities can deliver emergency and law-enforcement information:
- AMBER Alerts to find missing children
- Weather and disaster bulletins
- "Wanted" information to help police find fugitives
- Within 15 minutes of the bridge collapse in Minnesota, digital billboards in the Minneapolis market were displaying an emergency message, highlighting the nimble nature of this medium.
The following day, when officials converged on Minneapolis to inspect the damage, they noticed the billboards. Speaking on national TV on August 2, US Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) cited the emergency messaging on digital billboards as a positive community response:
"When Senator Coleman and I landed, we’re driving in . . . and there were already billboards at 9:00 in the morning -- actual billboards -- telling people where to go for alternative routes."
- Advertisers can deliver real-time information.
- Most advertisements on digital billboards promote local businesses, and most of those are considered "small businesses."
- Digital billboards can adapt quickly in fast-changing, competitive environments. Examples include:
- Changing interest rates or mortgage rates
- Lottery jackpots
- Sales specials
- There is the potential for advertisers to target and purchase by day part, location or geography.
- Advertisers no longer have printing and shipping costs.
- Multiple advertisers can share prime locations.
- Digital boards create demand for high-tech jobs.
Digital Billboard Regulations
- In 1996, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued a memo that said changeable-message billboards are acceptable if allowed by state-federal agreements. Most states allow changeable-message billboards.
- States determine “dwell time” (typically six or eight seconds) and spacing between billboards.
Message Points on South Carolina Study and VTTI and Tantala Traffic Safety Research
- A study from South Carolina shows that digital billboards are not associated with traffic accidents. The South Carolina Department of Transportation reviewed accident data for six months after installation of three digital billboards in 2006 compared to the same timeframe during the prior year.
"The study based on the period of review does not highlight a problem with the digital billboards. Also, as of August 28, 2007, the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) has not received any complaints in regard to the digital billboards," said Deputy State Highway Engineer Dipak M. Patel, on September 6, 2007.
- The Foundation for Outdoor Advertising Research & Education (FOARE)* sponsored these studies because of the need for an empirical assessment of digital billboards and traffic safety. The test market was Cleveland, OH. Award winning researchers with decades of experience working for government and private sector clients conducted this comprehensive research.
- The first study was conducted by one of the nation’s leading research institutes on transportation and driving performance: the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI).
- The VTTI study found that digital billboards were considered safety-neutral in design and operations from a human factors perspective.
- The driver’s mean glance in the direction of a digital billboard is less than one second.
- The VTTI study pointed to the need for analysis of accident data.
- To complement VTTI’s human factors research, FOARE commissioned Tantala Associates, consulting engineers based in Philadelphia. These engineers conducted both a temporal and spatial analysis of the traffic and accident data near seven digital billboards on Interstate routes in Cuyahoga County, OH, for the periods 18 months before and 18 months after these billboards were converted from conventional to digital.
- Digital billboards have no statistical relationship with the occurrence of accidents.
- Accidents occur with or without billboards.
* The Foundation for Outdoor Advertising Research and Education is a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation. FOARE supports research and provides an educational forum and structure to assess new and emerging issues related to the outdoor advertising industry. The foundation also provides academic scholarships for students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate-level studies based on economic need, academic standing and field of study.