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3 Marketing Strategies For Targeting Men Using Aerial Advertising

April 18, 2014


3 Marketing Strategies For Targeting Men Using Aerial Advertising featured image

Targeting men is simple with aerial advertising. This medium allows businesses to reach these consumers at the events they’re most interested in: major league baseball games, NASCAR, surfing competitions and marathons to name a few. 

Whether you want to use an airplane banner or a blimp this format delivers real impact and maximum impressions – especially when the event is televised.  By way of example, according to Forbes magazine NASCAR alone had 45,000,000 male spectators in 2011; add in television impressions and that number grows exponentially.

Thus, sporting events are a particularly effective advertising technique to reach a male audience. There are, however, other ways to hone your campaign so you’re targeting men in various demographics.

Here are three proven-in-practice marketing strategies.

BBC America - Aerial Billboard

1) Zero in on age: When marketing to men, it’s important to keep age in mind. Standard beach campaigns will cross demographics so you’re able to reach men of all ages. But if there’s a specific age you’re focusing on, research shows there are certain sports and events where you’ll be most effective.

For instance, if you want to reach 18- to 21-year-olds, it makes sense to go after a spring break audience. Obviously, if 35- to 45-year-olds are your bread and butter, spring break isn’t the best venue. NASCAR races, Daytona Bike Week and Speed Week would likely be of more interest to the latter group.

With that being said, if age isn’t a factor, it’s hard to go wrong with almost any type of sporting event, and what’s great about aerial advertising is that it crosses demographics and captures attention.

DirecTV Blimp Darlington NASCAR

2) Show me the money: There are specific events and festivals where the audience is more likely to be more affluent. The Art Basel international art show in Miami, the US Tennis Association Open and major golf tournaments are all a huge draw for that type of audience. In 2014 it is estimated that 350,000 will attend the U.S. Open golf tournament of whom 70% will be male.  Then, multiply the effect your aerial advertising would have given the length of the tournament.  Powerful?  Very.

You can also research by ZIP code to find affluent areas to focus on, such as the Hamptons, the east end of Long Island, or Santa Monica, for example.

Downtown city flights serve as a good way to reach businessmen as weekday flights during prime business hours will reach high-end professionals on their way to or from work. With a New York City flight route, you could cover the financial district, the Wall Street area and along the Hudson River plus get Long Island visibility.

Muscle Pharm Aerial Billboard trailing letters

3) By race: If race is a factor, focus on specific events whose audience skews more toward your target demographic. Major League Soccer, for example, tends to have a larger Hispanic audience than NHL games. Urban Beach Week in Miami, which usually falls on Memorial Day weekend, is one of the largest events for African-Americans with over 250,000 attendees.

There are also different multicultural events and parades to target. Just like with income, research ZIP codes to find neighborhoods with a higher percentage of a certain race or ethnicity.

By its very nature, this advertising medium is going to reach a wide audience. At a big enough event or over a large enough land mass, there aren’t many demographics you won’t hit. But it’s definitely possible to target events that are more likely to have a higher percentage of men. It’s just a matter of finding those events and taking your message there.

If you’d like assistance identifying the perfect place and/or demographic for your aerial advertising campaign — be it for aerial banner advertising or a blimp — Van Wagner is here to help.  We’re the largest and most experienced aerial advertising company in the world: we tow banners, we fly blimps and airships…you name it!

There’s no company more skilled at creating breakthrough advertising campaigns that get a response – click below to get our expert advertising guidance