client: Zoom Media
Bars and Restaurants Remain One of the Few Ways Advertisers Can Effectively Reach 21-34 Year-Olds
NEW YORK, AUGUST 5, 2008— Zoom Media & Marketing, the dominant player in the targeted Out-of-Home nightlife category, today announced that it has expanded its digital footprint to over 500 installed billboards in nearly as many venues throughout the nation’s top 1O DMA markets including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Dallas. Zoom also projects that its digital network will grow to over 1,000 venues by the spring of 2009. Coming on the heels of the company’s recent acquisition of Alloy’s nightlife media business, this growth further cements Zoom’s leadership in the exciting bar and restaurant media industry amid continued shifts in consumer behavior and ad avoidance by the highly valued 21-34 year-old demographic.
Featuring a mix of paid advertising messages and promotional content that Zoom’s venues use to highlight their menus, events, and specials, the digital billboards are 37” to 50” LCD panel displays that are networked by a broadband internet connection to Zoom’s central advertising server. The digital billboards offer a very flexible, targeted advertising solution, allowing advertisers to place ads by venue or day part as well as change ads quickly and customize creative by venue. Billboards show full motion video in high definition and are capable of displaying everything from movie trailers and commercials to animated content that’s typically only available via the web.
“One of the elements that make Zoom’s Social Network uniquely valuable to marketers is the dwell time,” said Dennis Roche, President & Chief Operating Officer of Zoom US. “Patrons are generally at these establishments for up to 2 hours, which allows for longer form communications, multiple messages, and more creative forms of ads than can be accommodated in an environment with lower dwell times.”
Roche added that in addition to having the largest digital nightlife network in the country,
Zoom is by far the largest company in nightlife media with a network of 4,000 bars and16,000 static billboards that can be paired with the digital medium. “Zoom’s venues are some of the hottest and highest traffic venues in the nightlife industry,” said Roche. “People are having a great time at these places, and the media allows brands to make an emotional connection in the environment.”
Bars Remain Popular Destinations as Media Habits Shift
A recent study by Arbitron revealed that one-third of the 21-34 year-old demographic watched TV using digital video recorders and three-quarters used software to block advertising online. The study also showed that one-third of American adults 21 or older are bar patrons, with 43 percent of 21-34 year-old males saying they’d visited a bar in the past week.
“This group is comprised of influencers and first movers especially when it comes to trying new products,” commented Lee Levitz, Vice President of Marketing at Zoom Media & Marketing. “However, they use technology to avoid ads and it’s hard to reach them with traditional media.
The good news is that nightlife media has the ability to get their attention, as well as create an opportunity to make a connection that they’re likely to respond to.”
About Zoom Media & Marketing
Zoom Media & Marketing operates an indoor network of over 8,000 venues including fitness centers, indoor soccer facilities, bowling centers, family entertainment centers, restaurants and nightclubs that reach active consumers. Zoom also has an in-house event marketing and promotion department that constructs custom media placements and marketing programs. With over 60,000 billboard locations throughout North America, Zoom is owned by the de Gaspé Beaubien family. For more information, visit www.zoommedia.com.
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