Marketing Idea for Local Government Authorities – Sell Advertising Space on Parking Discs
Local Government Authorities are by no means immune from budget cuts but one way to make the budget stretch further would be to sell advertising space on parking discs.
Many local government authorities in the UK run a parking disc scheme of one kind or another but very few of them make use of the opportunity that this scheme can bring. The British Standards Institute (BSI) specification for parking discs states that the lower portions of the front and back of parking discs may be used for advertising road safety or similar advice. That must definitely cover taxi companies (don’t drink and drive), garages (MOTs, windscreen repair, vehicle maintenance), auto insurance companies, tyre companies and petrol stations.
But what about other businesses who are not directly linked to the auto industry who might want to take advantage of the opportunity to buy some in-car advertising? Well, the BSI specification dates back to 1997 and times have changed. Budgets have been tightened and a bit of leeway must surely be allowed. However, a stickler for the rules could suggest a road safety slogan to a potential advertiser. Let’s say that the company manufactures products for children, so how about – “ABC Co says “Drive Slowly Near Schools”. The advertiser may be a restaurant – “The Royal Hotel says come and enjoy a meal – but don’t drink and drive.”
To convince potential advertisers of the validity of the opportunity presented by parking discs, the authority’s designated officer could quote details from a recent survey. Featured in the May 2008 edition of Promotions Buyer magazine, the results of a survey undertaken by P&MM Source-e showed the value of in-car advertising and marketing opportunities. Over 60% of motorists had recall of branding on in-car promotional goods and nearly half had made purchases from the branded companies. Nearly 95% of respondents said that they believed that branded promotional merchandise increases a company’s brand awareness. These findings offer quite conclusive evidence that in-car marketing and advertising is an area worth exploring.
Every day millions of motorists will take a parking disc from his car door pocket, set the time of arrival and display the raking disc on his dashboard. When the motorist returns to the car, the parking disc is handled again and put back into the door pocket. So the motorist actually handles the product twice and this happens every time that the motorist parks the car. That is many more than a sponsored map, a pen, a sun shield, a sponsored tax disc holder or an ice scraper or any other type of in-car advertising and marketing. In the mean time, of course, scores of people walk past the car where the parking disc – and the advert- are in plain view on his dashboard. That’s an awful lot of potential sightings.
Of course, the local authority might not want to try to sell ad space to an “outsider” but there is absolutely nothing wrong with advertising the authorities own amenities on the parking disc. Sport and leisure facilities could be featured; tourism could be encouraged by promoting local sights, the local museum, for example or places of natural beauty. Local services could be promoted such as alternative forms of public transport or specific campaigns such as energy saving initiatives. Either way, it is an opportunity which should not be passed over.
Parking discs are manufactured and supplied to many local authorities in the UK by Whitney Woods and we can offer help and advice with a scheme such as this. We print several parking discs on one sheet which will allow the local authority to have a few advertising clients.
