By Brent Baer.  Brent has 37 years experience in outdoor advertising and has seen the business from almost every point of view: sales rep, manager, owner, agency exec and vendor.  

We were preparing for a buy in a large top 10 competitive market, with a major vendor (one of the Big 3) for OOH bulletins. The vendor had a significant number of ‘open bulletins’ on the freeways/major arterials. It was mentioned to the sales rep in the initial discussions, we were aware of all of the ‘white space’ on the street. We suggested the abundance of open inventory should equate to a reduction in rate submitted.   The rep explains the dozen of units are in the middle of rotation.  I groaned loudly and proceeded with maneuvering for a generously favorable rate for our new client.  The rep was already at a disadvantage at the outset of our negotiations having to defend the poor judgment by his company in displaying ‘white space’.  Management needs to support the sales staff in deed as well as word.

Why would they have a dozen units in the middle of rotation?  1. Poor operations scheduling? 2. Must take down deadlines? 3. The classic excuse, late arriving production.

Why would Operations send out a crew to take-down the expired copy if you don’t have the new production to change out and save labor expense?  Why not leave the expired copy on as override scoring bonus good will with current advertisers? The explanation doesn’t add up.  No matter the rational, white space translates to unsold space.

White space equates to: weak OOH locations; high supply; low demand; poor management; occupancy issues.

If a vendor has open faces whether it’s a skeleton, uncovered sections or vinyl’s turned to the ‘blank side’, the message on the street is: ‘this space is not selling’.  Unsold space is viewed as weak demand which translates to discounted inventory in the selling negotiation process.  To the eye of an untrained advertiser or advertising buyer, white space means something may be wrong with the inventory or location. If you want to maximize your rates, vendors should never have white space or orange on the street. That includes space available messages.

Rent Me! Space Available Messages

Personally, I am not a proponent of displaying the literal copy ‘space available’ followed by phone number on the street. Space available messages can be perceived as weak demand.  If you elect to self promo (and why not? OOH is the most effective medium) be creative. Make sure the creative is strong and utilizes all the essential rules of great #OOH design.  Designing a great billboard promoting yourself, is essential to persuade you have the skills to do so for the advertiser AND you really are expert at what you do. (as it should be). Keep the number of self promo units limited to less than 3% of your inventory. Clever space available messages can be effective in driving ‘call ins’ for unqualified sales leads. There is a risk verses reward ratio to consider when balancing the interpretation by advertisers between displaying space available and unsold open space.  Do so sparingly and judiciously. Remember, you have an outstanding sales team.

Space available copy translates to: ‘We can’t sell this space.’

Don’t ever leave your better units without paid copy or the appearance of paid copy.  As a vendor, always keep giving the impression of sold and demanded inventory. You’ll reap greater rewards with extending a client campaign past the contract date as bonus time. As a buyer, know the market occupancy and demand. Top planning and placement OOH Agencies keep historical rate data.

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