Signage for the stinkin' rich

April 10, 2007 by Dave Haynes

There was a press release out today about SeeSaw Networks starting to sell the ad space for a network of screens installed in corporate aviation centres – essentially small airports for private and corporate jets.

This is an intriguing niche to go after.

The plan: park LCD screens in the lounges at dozens of these places and sell ads based on the notion of reaching an affluent, very hard to reach audience.

JetSet Media says it has 57 locations installed and reaches 1.5 million people a month – which sounds like a lot, but is actually less than 900 people a day at each of these places (on average). That’s because most of these planes take a handful of people, not scores of them.

Having never flown by private jet (damn my penny-pinching bosses!!!), I have no idea about the dynamics of these places. I would have thought you pretty much roll up in a limo, check with somebody or other, hop on the plane and get out of Dodge.

And if you do have to sit and wait, I have this image of people in power suits with their noses buried deep in Blackberries, documents or the Wall Street Journal until they get up and head for the plane.

So do they watch the screens? Dunno. The screens are REALLY busy, which will make SeeSaw’s job tougher.

Nonetheless, this is an interesting model and certainly an inventive way to get at people advertisers just aren’t going to reach through most types of mainstream media.

  1. Fastman says:

    I usually enjoy a relaxing massage followed by a Cognac if there is a wait period

  2. Barnaby Page says:

    A company called Luxus was doing this a while back – see http://www.aka.tv/articles/article.asp?articleid=813. Looks like it may be the same folk after a corporate name change?

  3. Jet Set Media is the real deal. These guys are a great conduit to reach the top 2% of affluent. We are the Premier IN FLIGHT MAGAZINE for these Private Jet Centers, and we always hear compliments from our FBO partners about Jet Set. Our Advertisers have used them, and found good results.

    David Bannister
    STRATOS Magazine
    334 386 3852

  4. I appreciate the post about Jetset Media, and especially your insight in our ability to reach the ultra-elite market that is impossible to reach through traditional media.

    Your comment about the screen being busy is an interesting discussion. Jetset has never heard this comment from anybody that has seen the displays in person. The screen was designed with input from corporate pilots, airport owners/employees, and private aviation customers. The end result is an information board instead of just a display with advertising. The non-advertising pieces are much more subtle than the advertising – the weather and the flight tracker are being updated without much movement. These pieces of content are draws to the screen, and the airport operators report a surprisingly high number of people walking up to the screen for the information (and of course being exposed to luxury marketing messages).

    I’m extremely sorry to hear about your penny-pinching bosses – private jets are definitely the way to go! Since you haven’t been to these facilities let me offer some description. Yes, there is usually a limo involved, but the customers so spend time in these airports. Many facilities are amazing buildings, and I know of facilities in the $6-10 million dollar range ( is an example facility that we recently installed). These high dollar buildings aren’t being built purely for the pilots, but also for the use of the customers flying in on these aircraft. Many of the customers in the airports use fractional time services like those offered by NetJets, and these customers do end up waiting for their planes. The general consensus from our partner airports is the people are usually in the facility for 15-30 minutes. Our ad loops are 8 minutes or less so that the marketing exposure is maximized.

    Brent Driggers
    Co-founder
    Jetset Media

  5. Dave Haynes says:

    Brent

    Thanks for your comments and best wishes with your company moving forward. Getting 15-30 minutes of dwell time at the facilities is great!

    My point on busy screens is that while they service the needs of the venue operator and audience, these content-heavy screens don’t tend to address the needs of a really critical stakeholder – the advertiser. My experience with media planners, when confronted by screens with a lot happening, is something like this: “Cool … but I want my ad full screen.”

    If you can get me a ride on NetJets I’d be happy to see your stuff in person ;-]

    dh

  6. Barnaby Page says:

    This is an interesting one. The concept of screens in departure lounges is superficially an attractive one (whether luxury or not, all these lounges are functionally the same kinds of places). Affluent viewers, wait-time measured in the tens of minutes at minimum, not much else to do, etc.

    What concerns me is: what does this audience do next? They get on the plane and probably start focussing on their destination, whether it’s home or another meeting. They may think about any experiences they had in the city they just left, but it’s very unlikely they think about the lounge.

    So: is it good for a buy-this-now message? No, unless it’s available in the lounge or on the plane. By the end of the flight, passengers are focused on what happens next, not what came before.

    Or is it good for a branding message? Just maybe, if the lounge and the flight are great…and the trip to the airport was great…and the destination is great.

    But I don’t meet many people in any class (first, business, economy, or private) who actually enjoy business flights much. So I wonder how long the positive brand associations from a message in a departure lounge will survive.

  7. Stephen says:

    With a wait time like that, combined with the target that is “impossible” to reach… it seems to me to do the unexpected. They are rich and bored.

    With everybody there clutching cell phones that shortly will be running the same weather and news tickers, do you really need the same crawls and tickers on every screen? Better to target the message to this rarefied audience from a brand perspective using the entire screen.

    Full screen short form, say 20 secsonds max luxury brand ads with compelling and immersive content updated twice weekly would be my humble suggestion. Much more attractive to major brands.

    Prada, Premium spirits, Coach, Mercedes, Top notch resorts destination… they have actual money to spend, but will expect measurement against the buy.

  8. amanda dyer says:

    The Luxus Network Markets to the Ultra-Luxury Consumer
    With Virtually No Waste

    As a state-of-the-art electronic and static advertising medium, the Luxus Network is at the forefront of marketing products and services to the hard-to-reach ultra-luxury market consumer. This advertising medium may be found solely in private airline terminals and exclusively provides digital advertising driven by 50- or 60-inch screens in combination with backlit static media (including interior and exterior backlit duratrans, banners, etc.).

    The Luxus Network integrates the messages of luxury market advertisers with specifically chosen content to engage consumers as they are waiting to board their planes.

    Private air travel ranks among the top growth industries in the world today. Passenger numbers have more than tripled in the past five years and are expected to prevail. Fractional jet share ownership has also increased, as has the number of corporate businesses utilizing private jets for transporting senior management. These executives, entrepreneurs, celebrities and high-net worth consumers now fly private for both business and pleasure to alleviate the stress of overcrowded planes, endless lines at security checkpoints and the general aggravation involved in flying commercial.

    Due to the upswing in private air travel, the FBOs (Fixed Base Operations/Terminals) have evolved to suit this pre-qualified audience and now offer a host of services, from concierge to gyms, meeting rooms and fine dining.
    The Luxus Network may currently be found over 75 of the most highly trafficked private terminals in the United States as well as in Paris, France, Vancouver and Toronto Canada, Nassau, Bahamas and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

    “This elite consumer doesn’t need a special occasion to shop. It’s truly Christmas every day,” says Luxus Network President and CEO, James Kerwin. In fact, these consumers boast a net worth of $10MM+ and have a portfolio with an average value of $6MM.

    The Luxus Network not only provides a highly-targeted advertising medium, it also presents an opportunity for a host of cross-marketing applications, such as in-terminal product displays, sampling programs and special event weekend showcase partnership programs.

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