By: Wendy Mills at http://rochester.ynn.com/

Outdoor billboards are going digital. Lamar Outdoor Advertising is converting some traditional billboards to computerized screens. 

Lamar says companies now have options when it comes to advertising. Lamar still has vinyl billboards, but now has two, 14-foot by 48-foot computerized display billboards that are new to the Rochester market. 

There is one on Interstate 390 near Rochester International Airport and on Interstate 490 near Mt. Read Boulevard. 

The billboards rotate images every eight seconds. There are six advertisers on one billboard and the messages can change every day, even every minute if needed.

“If you are having a promotion you can use a promotion,” said Jim Newton, GM of Lamar Outdoor Advertising in Rochester. “Traditionally we sold in 30-day increments and with the digital billboards we are selling 30-day, week and even three-day increments.” 

These billboards are also a tool for law enforcement. The FBI and police can use them for Amber Alerts to locate abducted children. 

Lamar was founded in 1902 in Baton Rouge. Louisiana. Locally, the company employs 18 and operates 650 billboards.

I found the article below from David Spark at www.socialmedia.biz to be pretty right on.. Enjoy!

I was thinking about how my media consumption has changed recently. Much has been written about the subject, and I’ve definitely changed my media consumption over the years. Here’s what has drastically changed:

Podcasts, not radio: I am a heavy podcast consumer. I rarely listen to the radio, even though I appear on it sometimes.

All news online and via mobile: My main news channels are RSS feeds via Google Reader. Ads rarely get through and when I go to a blog, I mentally block out all ads. I can’t recall a single banner ad I’ve ever seen. I’ve never consciously clicked on an online ad. I can’t remember the last time I purchased a print newspaper.

TiVo is my friend: I never watch TV live. I always watch pre-recorded shows and zip through commercials. The only live TV I watch is sports, but that’s starting to time shift as I’m watching the Colts and Jets play right now but I’m about 20 minutes behind so I can zip through most of the commercials.

I’m sure most of you reading this blog have similar stories of shifts in media consumption. And it got me to start thinking, if a company does want to reach me and people like me through traditional media, where can they go? What is the one area of traditional advertising that hasn’t been affected by the Internet and social media? The only answer I could come up with is outdoor.

Unlike other forms of interstitial advertising, there’s no way to avoid outdoor ads

As I’m waiting for the bus, driving my car, or sit ting on public transit, I can’t not look at the advertising. It’s actually something to do. I can’t look at the people. You know what happens if you make direct eye con tact with any one on the bus? They’ll think you’re coming on to them or you’re a psychotic killer. Isn’t that everyone who rides the bus?

Cryp tic Zynga bill board from RyanSpoon.com

Zynga, the online and mobile app developers, have purchased a whole series of billboards up and down 101 from San Francisco to San Jose. Initially to pro mote their applications, but now they’re being used bill boards as a hiring tool, promoting the web addresszynga.com/jobs on the giant billboards.

There is a seemingly endless inventory with all other forms of advertising: print, radio, TV, and online. Conversely, there are a limited number of roads. And more to that point, we have the High way Beautification Act which pre vents high ways from being over loaded with bill boards. It’s an important law that pre vents our roads looking like a NASCAR event or the end of the movie “Brazil.” There’s a reason there’s only one Times Square and only one Las Vegas. We don’t want to be swimming in ads.

What traditional advertising options are left for brands?

Effective easy to buy traditional advertising options are starting to get slimmer and slimmer. What’s left?

• Beyond out door, are there any other avenues?
  
• How can advertisers make the most of outdoor? Is it implementing web addresses, social net working addresses, or QR codes (2D bar codes) into outdoor ads?
  
• What are effective means to initiate a relationship throughout door and then continue it online? Outdoor and online both have their pluses and minuses. How can their strengths and weak nesses play together?
  

Ultimately, I see outdoor’s place as being the only unaffected traditional media out let that can effectively launch social media conversations.