Designing an ad for an airplane banner

Designing an ad for an airplane banner isn’t the same as designing a print or radio ad. There are different things to consider and different criteria for getting a message cross.

First, airplane banners should be simple and to the point. Too much verbiage and the ad will be ineffective. Why? Quite simply, your customer doesn’t have time to examine the ad, read the fine print and consider the effectiveness of the graphics. A flying banner might remain overhead for several minutes, which is plenty of time for a potential customer to get the message, but not enough time to examine the banner as you might a newspaper ad.

If a banner is busy and hard to read, the potential customer (who, let’s face it, might also have better things to do while on the beach or at a car race) will lose interest and move back into whatever activity brought him to the beach or the race. But if the ad is striking, simple to read and bold, the customer will be drawn toward it and will not only pay attention to the ad but also seriously consider the product, which is exactly what you want.

Second, an airplane sign should be clear in its message. It might be advertising a gym, or a new diet pill. It could be trying to extol the virtues of the latest best-selling biography. Whatever it is, the message should be fairly clear. It’s OK to suggest that people visit the new gym in town, but without a clear message (“results!” or “affordable”) the message might not be as clear as it should be for effective airplane advertising.

The message can be conveyed not just with words, but with strong images and even strong colors. Unlike a newspaper ad which might just be black and white, an aerial banner can be presented in any number of bold colors, from red to purple to green.

But the third lesson here is about color – not too many. Too much bold color might overshadow the message you are trying to send. Let’s face it – the message is several hundred or more feet above your audience. Make it too hard to read or see and you’ve lost that rapt gathering. Instead, keep the color (or colors) bold but simple. A bright red background with black letting is an example of good use of color.

Another advantage that many businesses see in airplane advertising is the value for the dollar. While advertisers might pay each time an ad is run on the radio or in the newspaper, with aerial advertising, the advertiser pays only once for the graphic art and the development of the banner. Each time the banner is flown, the company pays for the flight time, but not for each ad individually.

Finally, think about your potential customer and how you are reaching them. That is, aerial banners are mostly flown over beaches and sporting events. What kind of message will really resonate with the beachgoer or sports fan? How can you present that message in a way that will get a response? At the end of a long beach day, your customer might be more than willing to head to the pub and order a few beers. Ply them with news of your inexpensive happy hour or large choice of beers.

As with any advertising medium, using aerial advertising well requires a real attention to detail – what the customer will want and how you can bring them what they want.

To be advertising not so easy job. Arnold Aerial Advertising is one of the many companies that provide such services.