Cable television and the Internet apparently haven’t killed billboard advertising in Arkansas, despite the wreckage the newer technologies may have inflicted on other industries.
Arkansas highways have about 3,500 billboards along them, and that number "has remained fairly consistent with no significant changes" in recent years, according to spokesman Glenn Bolick with the Arkansas State Highway & Transportation Department, which is the entity that issues permits to owners of outdoor signage along interstate and state highways.
Brian Kratkiewicz, media director for Little Rock advertising agency Cranford Johnson Robinson Woods, said he believed the demand for billboard ads had stayed steady.
National outdoor ad spending is at about $6.8 billion and is predicted to grow, he said. He did not have data specific to Arkansas.
"It’s always been very important. It is one of the most, if not the most, cost-efficient media out there," Kratkiewicz said last week. "People are exposed to it more than anything [else], probably. … To us, it has never decreased in importance or value to our marketing plans. I wouldn’t say that there’s a reason to use it any more than we ever have, [but] just as an important part of our overall media mix."
On the other hand, Ken Wingate, owner of Wingate Outdoor Advertising in Berryville, said he believed billboard use actually had grown in the past five years. He’s worked in the industry since 1987 and currently owns 215 billboards.
"In the industry, we believe it is because of what is called the fracturing of the market," Wingate said. Internet and TV users have seemingly endless channel and website options, meaning "the audience just got fractured into a million pieces," he said.
Billboards’ audiences, however, don’t have as many choices, and advertisers have to think more about location than how to approach the medium.
Billboard demand "has increased because the number of cars on the road has increased," Wingate said. His sales have grown about 30 percent since 2009, he said, and he’s been able to raise rental prices by about 25 percent due to strong demand.
Paige Howard, who manages Carter Outdoor Advertising in Bryant, expressed sentiments similar to Wingate’s on billboard demand. Carter Outdoor keeps about 400 outdoor sign faces, including a few that are electronic, in central Arkansas.
Viewers of exterior advertising "can’t turn it off. They can’t throw it away like a piece of direct mail," she said.
Recession’s Hits
However, the owner of Medley Sign & Outdoor Advertising in Mountain Home said billboard companies in his market had suffered from the recession. Mark Medley owns 70 outdoor billboard faces. Since 2009 he’s been able to keep only about two-thirds of them rented at a time, and it’s been tougher to find advertisers willing to commit to multiyear contracts.
"One of the problems for me is that I’m in such a small geographic area," Medley said.
Representatives from larger national companies with notable outdoor sign presences in Arkansas, such as Lamar Advertising Co. of Baton Rouge, La., and Clear Channel Outdoor of San Antonio, Texas, declined to comment.