Van Wagner Aerial Blog

Live events are back! Outside of major sporting events, mega music festivals have grown into the largest gatherings in the US, attracting hundreds of thousands of attendees throughout the year.  With limited advertising space on the ground and the high costs to officially sponsor these events, marketers are looking for new, break-through branding opportunities to impress this influential audience. 

Super Bowl weekend just got a lot bigger. In addition to the hundreds of thousands of football fans expected to travel to Phoenix for Super Bowl LVII, another million golf fanatics will be in town for the WM Phoenix Open, one of the PGA’s most prestigious tournament events (February 6-12). That’s a lot of eyes and a huge opportunity for marketers looking to reach affluent consumers.

Memorial Day is a nationwide holiday, a time of reflection, for remembrance of our national heroes, and for many, a much-needed day off. We don’t know exactly how many people traveled for the unofficial start of summer, but AAA predicted that 39.2 Million people were expected to hit the roads – nearly 10% more than a year ago.

With coolers and towels in hand, millions of Americans made their way to beaches to cool off and beat the heat. With a captivated audience of that size, more and more advertisers understand that the clutter-free sky provides an unparalleled canvas for showcasing their message in one of the most unique ways possible. That’s where Van Wagner comes in!

This 4th of July there was plenty of reasons and opportunities to celebrate!  Please take a look at our latest flights that targeted many of the major markets across the nation.

This Memorial Day beach traffic rebounded and our advertisers were there to capitalize on the fun & sun enjoyed by all. It was a great start to the summer and Van Wagner Aerial looks forward to the rest of the year and future opportunities to bring your message to the masses.  Below are some highlights from the holiday weekend, and look for us in the skies as we are poised to break records this coming 4th of July!

This Labor Day saw many advertisers showing off their creativity to beach-goers across the country.  Though it is the mark of the end of the summer, Van Wagner Aerial has many more opportunities throughout the rest of the year to bring your message to the masses.  Here are some highlights from the holiday weekend.

This year marks the 50th Super Bowl Sunday in American history; the Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, California will host the event on February 7th. The Super Bowl is the largest sporting event watched in the United States. According to Forbes, in both 2014 and 2015 the Super Bowl made American television history in back to back years as the most watched broadcast on T.V. 2014 welcomed north of 108 million viewers, while the 2015 show topped out with a staggering 114 million viewers. Although the game generates astounding publicity, Forbes claims 50% of the audience is solely interested in the highly anticipated commercial advertisements. Super Bowl advertising history proves that these advertisements are accompanied by a jaw-dropping price tag. In 2014, the price of a 30 second commercial cost advertisers $4 million and nearly doubled for a minute of airtime. Due to the historic number of Super Bowl viewers in 2014, 2015 amped up the airtime prices to $5 million for 30 seconds and $9 million per minute. This year advertising prices continue to increase, rising roughly 11 percent compared to 2015. The question at hand, is the time and money worth the risk?

Music festivals have become increasingly popular over the past decade and have evolved into a major social event for the millenial demographic. Marketers have taken notice, but it's not as easy to advertise at music festivals as you might think. With limited advertising space on the ground and increasing competition to sponsor these events, advertisers are using creative tactics to appeal to the millenial market. 

Aerial advertising presents a less competitive, eye-popping way for brands to create a memorable marketing campaign that is bound to reach the millennial demographic at music festivals. Flying in a clutter-free space, aerial billboards own the sky, and are capable of being seen by thousands of festival-goers on the ground below. In fact, there’s a 70% rate-of-recall for the messaging on an aerial ad – that’s higher than any other form of traditional advertising!

Aerial advertising can be used in almost every market to build brand awareness and separate your message from everyone else’s. With high-flying banners, businesses can target specific events or locations, such as beaches, concerts and sporting events. There are no exclusivity issues with aerial marketing, so you don’t have to play by the rules of a venue or event sponsors. The FAA regulates flight-related issues, but as far as the message and brand goes, it won’t prevent businesses from targeting a concert or other event. Looking to rise above the monotony? Here are five steps to use aerial advertising to build brand awareness in specific markets.

1. Grab their attention:

If you ask people what the most graceful aircraft is, you’re bound to get votes for helicopters, stealth fighters and the like – but there’s just something special about blimps. These high-flying and buoyant crafts are sometimes viewed as a relic from the past, but savvy air hobbyists and professionals alike are helping to bring around a renaissance of sorts for the ships.

Van Wagner is proud to announce that our Airship group has been awarded AdWeek’s Media Plan Of The Year Award in the Best Use Of Alternative Media (spending $1M - $2M) category.

In today’s day and age, marketers have a plethora of unique advertising media at their fingertips. With the advent of digital signage and rise of experiential marketing, marketers are approaching advertising in a whole new way. When it comes to out-of-home (OOH) media, billboards aren’t just creative imagery and five to seven words anymore. The effective ones, are eye-catching, compelling, social, and have the ability to stick in a consumer’s mind long after the passing glance.

Looking to write an unforgettable message in the sky above a specific event or region? Skywriting is one of the most impactful forms of aerial advertising available today, capable of captivating hundreds of thousands of people in one performance. Have you ever stopped in your tracks to watch a plane writing in the sky? Did it grab your attention for more than a few seconds? Advertisers use skywriting to spark curiosity. Often, consumers will stop, wait and watch until the message is fully spelled out. This level of interest far surpasses a passing glance at a billboard or television ad. This is one of the chief reasons marketers today choose skywriting—it gets noticed.

Beyond Commercials: A Summer Marketing Guide

Aerial advertising is a unique and creative marketing tool used by small, medium, and large brands looking to create word-of-mouth marketing over a specific event or region.

This past weekend, Comedy Central flew a massive, eye-catching aerial banner over New York and Los Angeles beaches that read, "Where's Your Plane, Peasants?" to advertise their newest comedy, Another Period. 

Looking to Sponsor Summer Fun with a beach banner in your target market? Not sure if beach banner advertising is a good investment? We are here to answer some of the common questions surrounding aerial banner advertising and provide insight into its key benefits. If you have further questions about aerial advertising or would like a free quote, please click the button at the bottom of the page.

1. Know Your Market/ Know Your Goals

Prior to launching any type of advertising campaign, you should have a firm understanding of what demographics comprise your best customer group. By knowing your market, you will have a clearer idea of what areas to fly and which types of events are a good fit for your brand.

1. How Long Has The DIRECTV Blimp Been Flying?

Whether we like it or not, social media has become an important part of our global culture, changing the way we communicate with each other. Hashtags, once only used as a categorization tool on Twitter, have now become a cross-media phenomenon taking over Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Google+, and other social platforms.

As the temperatures begin to heat up across the country, people begin getting excited for vacation days spent beachside with family and friends. Consumers of all ages, demographics, and income levels flock to beaches and lakes in markets from coast to coast in hopes of soaking up the sun and getting some much needed rest and relaxation.

1. It’s Memorable

Aerial banner advertising is a prime choice for marketers looking to make a big statement at large outdoor events. Both minor and major brands choose banner advertising over MLB, NFL, NCAA games, as well as, music festivals, spring break destinations, and state fairs.

Van Wagner Airship Group has an exciting, and important, temporary position available for a trustworthy and responsible individual interested in traveling, learning new skills, and participating with our Airship Ground Crew and Operations Team. The temporary position will be for 3 to 4 months.

Airships are premier marketing and advertising vehicles that command the attention of consumers on the ground below. Throughout history, some of the biggest brands in the United States and overseas have chosen blimp advertising as their primary marketing medium.

April 7th is unoffically recognized as National Beer Day by beer enthusiasts across the country. Why April 7th? According to a variety of unconfirmed sources, April 7th was selected because it marked President Franklin D. Roosevelt's first steps to end prohibition in 1933. 

Brand managers and marketers looking to reach college students certainly have their work cut out for them. This vast demographic has a lot of disposable income making them a valuable media target, but the space is also very competitive.

MetLife and Van Wagner Aerial Media LLC partnered with Make-A-Wish® Foundation Northern And Central Florida to give one lucky winner a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity - a ride in the MetLife blimp! 

Photo courtesy of Appliances Online.

If you are in Australia, you may have seen the Appliances Online Legend Blimp cruising overhead. This eye-catching airship is commonly seen over Melbourne and Sydney and is currently the only blimp flying in the southern hemisphere.

Advertising Blimps

Airships are large, iconic advertising vehicles that create a sense of size, power and quality around a brand. People equate blimp advertising with influential brands looking to elevate and cement their status. Over our 25 years of experience in the airship production and advertising business, we have seen brands like DIRECTV, Hood, and MetLife achieve impressive brand awareness through their blimp campaigns. Unlike any other advertising platform, blimps can reach the target audience in a variety of ways. Want more information on advertising blimps? Make sure to read our Top 5 Reasons To Choose Airship Advertising.

1. Spring Break

It might still be a bit chilly outside, but this is actually the perfect time to start thinking about Spring Break advertising. If you are looking to target millennials or college students, there is no better place to reach this valuable demographic.

Marathons and outdoor endurance competitions like Tough Mudder are gaining popularity on a national level. These types of events attract tens of thousands of participants and fans from all over the U.S., and are becoming increasingly more social, with pre-parties and after-parties taking place on-site.

Lasting anywhere from five to ten hours, these athletic events are actually a great opportunity to target athletes with aerial advertising. Unlike other professional sporting events, marathons have no flight restrictions, making them an ideal time to fly your aerial messaging in the sky above.

1. Promote Your Brand

Local, regional, and national brands commonly use aerial advertising to broadcast their messaging to a particular region or demographic. It doesn’t matter if your brand is a beach bar, a clothing store, a car dealership, or a national insurance company – aerial advertising delivers excellent exposure and results when executed correctly.

This past weekend, our fleet of banner towing airplanes made the trip to Phoenix to participate in one of the largest crowd-drawing attractions of the year – Super Bowl week. Our MetLife and DIRECTV blimps were also in the area covering the Waste Management Phoenix Open, DIRECTV’s Super Fan Festival, and of course, the big game.

Hundreds of thousands of people ventured to Phoenix to participate in this exciting week-long tailgate. With its sunny, arid climate and abundance of outdoor activities, Phoenix is an ideal location for aerial advertisers looking to fly above the crowds. Unlike many other aerial advertising opportunities, the Super Bowl attracts local, regional, and national advertisers, making it one of the largest and most competitive advertising events of the year. By choosing aerial advertising during Super Bowl week our clients generated sponsorship exposure at a fraction of the price. 

1. Large Metro Areas

Aerial advertising works best in areas where large groups of people gather outdoors. Big cities like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, and Chicago are common locations for advertisers looking to make a big impact with sky advertising. Imagine your airplane banner floating over New York City with thousands (even millions!) of eyes on it. Take into account people sharing your ad on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter and impressions increase exponentially! There’s no better way to make a statement. Check out our Where We Fly page to learn more about top markets.

The single biggest night for advertising is right around the corner. Super Bowl XLIX kicks of Sunday, February 1st at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Each year, the Super Bowl breaks its own viewership record as the most-watched television program in history. It is also one of the only television events where many viewers actually tune in just for the over-the-top commercials.

Kids and parents are one of the largest and most desirable marketing groups out there. Each year, companies spend billions of dollars trying to attract the attention of this vast, captive audience. But what kinds of ads are really getting kids’ attention? What types of creative tactics are marketers using to produce ROI? In recent years, savvy advertisers have used aerial advertising to appeal to children and parents. In this article, we’re going to give out some of our tips for advertisers looking to market to children through aerial media, but first let’s take a step back and evaluate the broader landscape of children and marketing.

How Many Marketing Dollars Are Spent By Companies Targeting Kids?

About $17 billion annually, a drastic increase from the $100 million spent in 1983. [1]

One of the greatest advantages of aerial advertising is its ability to cut through the clutter and deliver a message that’s bound to get noticed. In today’s busy world, it’s often difficult to really capture the attention of consumers. But with aerial banners, sky writing, and blimp advertising you aren’t just flying an ad, you are creating a visual spectacle that captures people’s imaginations.

Another benefit aerial has over traditional media, is the potential to create a viral response on social media. An effective aerial campaign can result in thousands of pictures and videos captured on consumers’ smartphones, and one of the greatest recipients of these photos is the increasingly popular photo-sharing app, Instagram.

In 1852, Henri Giggard built the first gas-filled propeller powered airship. In 1890, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin invented the first rigid airship. And in 1925, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company began building airships of the blimp design - the ones we are familiar with today. In the early years, the Goodyear blimps were used primarily for advertising and military purposes. Following 1962, blimps were no longer utilized in military operations and became the advertising powerhouses we see today.

Some of the world’s biggest advertisers have chosen airship advertising as their primary marketing vehicle. But why did they choose blimp advertising? How did they decide blimp advertising was right for them? These are common questions we aim to answer here.

The adorable minions from the Despicable Me movies are coming back to theaters in their very own full-length animated film, "Minions." A new sneak peek trailer shows the origins of the little yellow henchmen, and follows them on an adventure to New York city in 1968. Will the minions find a new master to serve? You will have to watch the movie to find out! Check out the "Minions Take Manhattan" trailer below to learn more.

Affluent consumers are a valuable target as they have a large amount of disposable income. When advertising to them, you have to think creatively. This demographic is used to the daily bombardment of advertisements via direct mail, TV/cable, telemarketing, etc. Due to ad saturation across these traditional channels, aerial advertising makes a great platform for reaching affluent consumers and grasping their attention. It helps brands break out from the mainstream and deliver a clear, succinct message.

Certain locations and events tend to attract high net worth individuals more than others. It’s your job as a marketer to identify where affluent consumers live and where they go to have a good time. Fortunately, many of the areas where affluent consumers chose to live or party tend to be in beachfront properties – perfect for aerial advertising. This is where we can help!

New York Communities

(Appliances Online Legend Blimp Maiden Flight Over Sydney - Photos courtesy of ApplianceRetailer.com)

Van Wagner Airship Group LLC's newest blimp, the Legend Blimp, is getting the attention of the media and local community over in Australia!

Yesterday, friends and supporters of Appliances Online, a major online retailer of home goods and appliances headquartered in Sydney, Australia, met at The Island, a bar floating off the Sydney Harbor, to toast the official launch of the Appliances Online blimp. The aptly named Legend Blimp (#LegendBlimp), is a 127-foot-long, larger-than-life dirigible that compliments the company’s overall promise of “Legendary Service.” 

What is the cost of a helicopter banner?

Helicopter banner costs are determined by a few different factors:

Size of the aerial banner:

Helicopter banners range in size. Pricing out types of materials used to create the banner and determining the square footage will play into overall heli banner costs.

Duration of flight/ gas:

This is a main factor when determining aerial advertising cost. When it comes to fuel, a 2 hour flight will be less costly than a 4 hour flight. We can help you determine the exact market that is best for your ad, the perfect event to fly over, and from there, determine the most effective flight schedule.

What Is Regional Marketing?

Regional marketing is all about location, location, location! In general, regional marketing is a targeted allocation of resources to a certain geographic area, market, or district, ultimately with the main goal of receiving a return-on-investment.

There are a variety of regional marketing tactics ranging from digital paid advertising to more traditional media placements on billboards, radio, direct mail, etc. Before you decide on tactics for your regional marketing campaign, you should first layout your campaign goals.

1. They’re Unique

There are only 25 airships in the entire world, and there are only 7 operating in the United States. Goodyear currently has 3 operating in the U.S., MetLife has 2, and then there is the DIRECTV and Hood blimps which are often seen in the northeastern states. 

2. Powerful Impressions

Impressions generated with an airship are more powerful than other mediums. “The more extraordinary the experience or atypical the location or surface, the larger the impression on the target.” – Robyn Blakeman - Associate Professor, School of Advertising & Public Relations - University of Tennessee. 

Social media has exploded in the past decade, changing the way we communicate with our friends and family, and the way advertisers connect with the mass population. In meetings across the country, advertising and marketing professionals are asking each other, “What’s the best way to connect with our target audience using social media?” “How can we harness its selling power?” “How can we get people to talk about our brand on their networks?”

Smart advertisers have started incorporating hashtag call-to-actions (CTAs) in their advertisements hoping to create a buzz on social media. But they don’t always succeed. Consumers see over 5,000 advertisements a day, and are becoming numb to the constant bombardment of ads around them. If a person isn’t interested in whatever it is you’re trying to promote, your advertisement’s hashtag quickly becomes an after thought, easily forgotten.

Appliances Online, a major online retailer of home goods and appliances, launched its first major television advertising campaign earlier this year. Their highly comical and attention-grabbing advertisements promote “Legendary Service.” So, it would make sense that their outdoor advertising campaign would be legendary as well.

With this in mind, the Sydney-based company reached out to Van Wagner Airship Group to launch a blimp in the Australian market. The 127 foot long by 36 foot wide, internally lit dirigible, aptly named “Legend Blimp” recently made its maiden flight from Riddells Creek Airfield in Victoria -- making it the only blimp currently flying in the southern hemisphere.

In Case You Missed It - Fans Fly 'Fire John Idzik' Banner Over Jets' Stadium

Last week, a banner towing plane circled the Jets' stadium over a dozen times during their practice hour. The simple letter banner contained only three words, but they made a big statement -- “Fire John Idzik.” As planned, the fan-sponsored banner got the attention of the coaches and the team on the ground below. Following the flight, head coach Rex Ryan addressed the media,

“They've got a right [to express themselves], but I just think that when you look at the big picture, this isn't about one man falling short," Ryan said. "That's not it. We're 1-8 collectively. Trust me, we don't like it. That's how I feel. I don't understand this part of it, I really don't." (ESPN)

If you’re looking to target NASCAR fans with your advertising campaign, and not break the bank, then you’ve come to the right place. NASCAR sponsorships can be expensive. Depending on the degree of the sponsorship, you could spend anywhere between $200,000 and $2 million dollars, or more. If your marketing budget doesn’t fall within that price range, we have the solution for you.

In honor of throwback Thursday (#TBT), we have rummaged through the archives and put together our top ten favorite vintage aerial banners! You may not know this, but Van Wagner Aerial Media has been in the aerial advertising space for over six decades. In fact, we are by far the oldest and most experienced aerial advertising company in the United States.