Captivate Gives SMBs Love Through Free Business Spotlights On Its 11,000 Screen Network

May 6, 2021 by Dave Haynes

Office tower media network Captivate, which has screens in elevator cabs and building lobbies in big cities across the U.S. and Canada, is running a nice advertorial promotion this month aimed at helping small businesses.

Captivate’s Small Business Spotlight series allows small business owners to submit their story and ad to be featured on Captivate’s network of 11,000 elevator and large format screens, in both office and residential buildings.

The hit taken by many to most small businesses in the past 15 months has been well documented, so anything that gives these operations a little love is a good thing.

The spotlight series focuses on businesses with 50 or less employees. Owners can independently complete their submissions online at Captivate.com/smallbiz. Additionally, SMBs can select their market of choice to advertise their products and services to their local customer base. If ad creative is not available, owners can easily build their own in a Captivate-provided template.

“With 96% of the tenants in Captivate’s footprint being made up of small businesses, we felt compelled to contribute to this effort for a second year,” says Lorenzo Papa, Chief Revenue Officer at Captivate. “We see our venues as distinct communities with thousands of viewers per building. Our audience commands a tremendous amount of spending power and the local businesses in and around those buildings rely on their patronage to stay afloat. By offering free advertising space and/or an editorial feature, we are providing small business owners with an opportunity to influence consideration and purchasing decisions. As we move into a post pandemic world, it’s imperative that we utilize our platform to support this channel however we can.”

Captivate says the equivalent media value of the free ads for businesses could roll up to roughly $1 million. Pessimists could argue this is unsold inventory and these ads will help keep programming fresh and locally relevant. But Captivate will have to throw a LOT of time and resources to this, to proof or build, schedule and then distribute all of these spotlight ads.

Nice initiative!