CC Outdoor Expands Digital Sign Network in LA Area
Gail Chiasson, North American Editor
Despite the fact that the City of Los Angeles ordered 100 of the digital billboards owned by Clear Channel Outdoor and CBS Outdoor torn down last spring, CC Outdoor is continuing to expand in the Great LA area, recently adding 14 new digital billboards that cover from San Fernando Valley to the Inland Empire to benefit businesses and strengthen local communities across region.
Its aim is to meet advertiser and community demands to reach Los Angeles residents via digital out-of-home advertising.
The company now has a digital network of 33 signs in the market.
We talked to David Grabert, CC Outdoors’ senior vice-president of marketing and communications (while he was snowed in at JFK Monday) who told us that the company still has a few digital boards within LA that weren’t part of the 100 affected boards, but that the 77 digital boards owned by CC Outdoor that were part of the 100 ruling have been turned off – but not torn down.
Considering the considerable investment that was put into the boards, that’s not surprising, since the companies involved are still advocating for a new ordinance that would allow digital billboards in the city limits.
“We still believe that there’s a way to have them with minimal impact on neighbourhoods,” says Grabert.
“After all, they not only help small businesses as well as national advertisers, but they are of great value to non-profit organizations, and to the FBI, among others.
“You know, there are 450 municipalities across the U.S. that are progressive and allow the digital signage in their markets, and yet Los Angeles, the second largest DMA in the country, does not. And that’s despite the fact that it’s the entertainment capital of the world.”
In those 450 municipalities (and elsewhere) digital signs are recognized as providing a platform for enhanced creativity and promotional flexibility with commercial messages, while also equipping local communities with a valuable real-time messaging service for public safety, emergency response, law enforcement and community building.
Across greater Los Angeles, Clear Channel Outdoor offers a powerful portfolio of both traditional and digital signs in a wide array of formats, giving advertisers mass-market reach or specific targeting based on audience demographics or geography.
“Los Angeles is a modern city and the entertainment capital of the world, and Los Angeles County is the largest retail and manufacturing county in the nation,” says Greg McGrath, president, Clear Channel Outdoor – Southern California.
“To build their businesses, our local and national advertisers demand state-of-the-art communications to reach their customers – our residents. Our new digital signs within greater Los Angeles strengthen our ability to reach many of the same audiences we were delivering to advertisers with digital signs in the city itself. While we continue to advocate for the fair and reasonable use of digital signs within the city, we are pleased to work with communities in the larger Los Angeles marketplace to serve the needs of our advertising clients and to strengthen those communities with the benefits tied to digital signs.”
Clear Channel Outdoor’s digital technology enables instantaneous creative updates and advertiser capability to respond in real-time to current events and market conditions, enhancing the effectiveness of campaigns. Not just for national advertisers, but DOOH advertising is one of the most effective and affordable marketing tools available to local small businesses.
“Outdoor advertising near our restaurant has been critical to our growth and success in the Los Angeles community,” says Richard Pink, co-owner of famed Pink’s Hot Dogs. “For many years, billboards have been an economic driver for small businesses like Pink’s because they provide tremendous exposure to the residents of Los Angeles and the millions of visitors we receive each year at a reasonable cost.”
In addition, CC Outdoor’s digital signs are also regularly used to relay critical public safety information during emergency circumstances; this includes AMBER alerts for child abductions, FBI Most Wanted notices, and messaging from local police and fire departments.
Clear Channel Outdoor’s digital network was a significant tool in the 2013 manhunt for police-killer Christopher Dorner, and the digital network was most recently used for safety messaging in conjunction with the Glendora Colby Fire.
We tried to get an update on CBS Outdoor and whether it, too, had turned off their boards in LA or had torn them down, but were unable to reach anyone who could give us information because of the snowstorm in New York.
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