Putting an ad in the sky has become a very successful means of quickly getting a message across to a local group of people. You have probably seen a banner pulled behind a single engine plane over a beach or sporting event. The banner will tell of a product, a service, or a sporting event. Curiosity will cause people to investigate further.
Besides a long banner pulled behind a plane, others market their product by making a billboard and hiring a plane to pull that over the crowd. Some even pull an aerial banner behind a billboard. Another option is to use a helicopter to pull a banner. Though more expensive, helicopters can pull much larger banners and billboards than single engine planes can.
Helium balloons are also used to attract attention. When a giant balloon is seen attached to the ground by a banner, people will drive over to see where it leads. A newer form of aerial advertising is by hot air balloon, or blimp. It is possible to buy a blimp and have your company name put on the side. Goodyear has become famous doing this and their use of the blimp for others probably pays their expenses. However, this is very expensive and probably cost prohibitive to most companies.
Another variation of this is remote controlled balloons that either advertise on the side, or carry an advertisement below them. These balloons are not lighter than air vehicles since they have to come down. Being unmanned means they can be much smaller for the balloons don’t have to lift the weight of a pilot.
These large balloons are propelled by a pusher prop attached to the rear of the balloon. The remote control unit determines the angle of the propeller, whether up, down, or turning. It actually resembles a slow moving model plane. When such a balloon displays an ad and is flown over a crowd of people, it will work much like a banner ad. The balloon can then be returned to the operator to be used again.
The size of these balloons varies, some starting at six feet and going to nearly twenty feet long. Because they are not helium filled, preparing and launching them is easy and inexpensive. Of course, wind is always a factor for a light vehicle such as this and if it is too strong, scheduled flying may need to be postponed.
How much would this type of advertising cost? A probably typical estimate for six foot balloons displaying a company sign or logo is about 1500 dollars. Larger sizes go from 4000 dollars for a thirteen foot, to 7000 dollars for a seventeen foot. Since a pilot is not needed for this type of ad, the owner can fly it any time he wants, that is, when the weather permits.
If you want to target your message effectively, it is time to get in touch with a banner towing company and get it printed and into the air. It won’t take long before your well planned message will be read by thousands and the result in sales will follow.