Gateway Outdoor Advertising Introduces GO Media C-store Advertising Network, Largest in U.S.
Hackettstown, N.J., May 11, 2005 – Gateway Outdoor Advertising, an out-of-home media company with billboards and transit advertising throughout the United States, has launched the GO Media Convenience Store Advertising Network. Using GO Media advertisers can reach consumers anywhere in the continental United States and Hawaii. Under the program, manufacturers of food, beverage and other products sold in convenience stores (c-stores), the media buyers who represent them, and advertisers trying to reach their target audience can advertise and promote on 46” x 30” framed one-sheet posters near, or at, the entrances of the 20,000+ independent c-stores nationwide that Gateway has under contract. According to the National Association of Convenience Stores, c-Stores nationwide posted a record $337 billion in revenues in 2003.
“Our c-store poster program creates a unique opportunity for a brand manager or media buyer to market to the c-store customer and reach their target audience in their neighborhoods,” says Craig P. Heard, Gateway Outdoor president and CEO. “GO Media grabs the customer’s attention at the door. It’s the last five seconds of marketing, engaging the consumer before he or she enters the store and converts an impulse or a shopping list item to a purchase. In addition you are reaching passersby and automobile passengers brought to the store by customers.”
And these days, there are more “shes” entering the c-store. GO Media research indicates that the c-store is no longer a working-class male mainstay. Women frequent c-stores as much as men, and also spend more money. Three-quarters of all teens shop in c-stores, with a decrease in customers 55+ (which makes a GO Media buy that much more efficient.) Thirty-five percent of all adult shoppers entering convenient stores have an income of more than $75,000.
A 2003 cost per thousand (CPM) comparison for men 18+ in the top 50 Designated Market Areas has full-color c-store posters at 60 cents per thousand compared to a 30-second local television spot at $30.60. A typical #50 GRP general market GO Media campaign in a market like Miami might display a poster ad at 235 c-store locations and cost as low as $15,000 including production of posters. A typical Hispanic #50 GRP Showing in Miami may cost as low as $10,000 a month. Per unit cost can be as low as $55.00 net a month based upon volume and months in service.
“GO Media is a fraction of the cost of traditional media,” says John Crockett, Gateway Outdoors’ national sales manager/ senior vice president. “It can be used alone or with other media for broader market coverage. C-Store exterior advertising also reaches neighborhood audiences where other forms of outdoor advertising are restricted or zoned out completely.”
Value-added Market Intelligence
GO Media also offers its customers the Gateway Mapping System (GMS), which pinpoints promotional activities in the c-store channel by working with agencies and brand managers to map the stores where a target audience profiles the buyer prospects. GMS then maps c-store one-sheet coverage providing targeted coverage to maximize reach and frequency, and cost effectiveness.
“If you want to boost sales of your new-age energy drink among 20-somethings in St. Louis, or introduce a Latin American diary/coffee/fruit fusion drink to non-Hispanics in New Jersey, Gateway Outdoor and GMS can pinpoint the most effective media buy,” Brad Heard, c-Store director. “Access to ethnographic data and first-hand information from c-store operators is an essential component to the success of our GO Media program. We know who frequents c-stores and how their demographic profile fits the advertiser’s needs.”
About Gateway Outdoor
The GO Media C-store Advertising Network is a program of Gateway Outdoor Advertising that promotes the use of premium display advertising posters at the entrances of 20,000+ independent convenience stores nationwide. Gateway Outdoor Advertising was founded in 1937 when its first billboards were erected in Pittsburgh. In 1990, New Jersey businessman Craig Heard acquired Gateway Outdoor. The company has sales and c-Store operations throughout the country to serve its clients in the United States and Canada. The company has been honored for its commitment to public service advertising campaigns that are posted on its products across the country.
For more information, contact Craig Heard, president and CEO, 908-684-8122, gomedia@gatewayoutdoor.com or visit the company’s Web site at www.gatewayoutdoor.com.
