Lamar Transit Advertising Ltd., which manages ad space on Lower Mainland transit and SkyTrain systems, said advertising has rebounded since the Olympics “acted as a monkey wrench in the schedules of many advertisers.”
Regional manager Byron Montgomery told BIV that, despite the decline in transit advertising during the Games, the exposure has helped the company attract new and larger clients and bigger sports brands.
“We’re having a great year,” said Montgomery. “We’re not where we were in 2007, 2008, but transit advertising remains a great option for advertisers in B.C.”
Among the company’s most active clients this year are Air Canada and sports retailers O’Neal and the North Face.
Running up to the Olympics, ad space in Vancouver was reserved for sponsors. But as the games neared, much of it had not been booked. VANOC subsequently opened it up to companies that were not Olympic sponsors.
However by that time it was too late, said Montgomery, as advertisers had already developed longer-term ad strategies that did not include an Olympic presence.
Montgomery calls Lamar's Olympic experience “the eclipse.”
“It’s the equivalent of starting and stopping your business,” he said. “This industry is not a racecar. It doesn’t turn on a dime. It’s more like an ocean liner. We need months of preparation to steer the course.”