Travel Media

A major media company recently released an update to its 2003 national in-car study. Whether you’re selling billboards, street furniture, transit or placed-based media, this report contains useful information covering all segments of alternative advertising. If anything, the report can provide some insight as to how the tides in the world of alternative advertising are shifting for media sellers.

Many of the results in this survey reinforce the research findings from the 2003 report. For instance, “mega-milers” (those individuals who drive 150+ miles per week) are still in the higher income bracket. This can dramatically influence the market for buying billboards and other out-of-home assets.

Despite more of the U.S. population working from home and using public transportation, travelers are still spending 2 hours and 52 minutes in their cars every week. This is an astounding thirty-one percent increase in the amount of time people are spending in-car. That’s thirty-one percent more time for potential exposure to alternative media.  

The study also reports where consumers stop to shop on their way home from work. It found that Americans stop at a variety of venues, giving advertisers a chance to reach them in grocery stores, restaurants and other retail outlets.

Some of the notable findings in this update are as follows:

- Seventy-one percent (71%) of travelers report that they notice billboards.

- Thirty-seven percent (37%) of travelers report looking at a billboard each or most of the time they pass one.

- More than half of travelers (55%) have noticed a digital billboard in the past month, and almost one-third (32%) have noticed a digital billboard in the past week.

- Thirty-nine percent (39%) of travelers aged 18+ have noticed an advertising message on a bus.

- Almost half (47%) of travelers have noticed an advertising message at a bus stop (including street furniture such as bench ads).

- Thirty-eight percent of travelers aged 18+ have noted seeing taxicab advertisements.

- Nearly three-quarters of billboard viewers shop on their way home from work, and more than two-thirds make a shopping decision while in the car.

- Nearly one-quarter of billboard viewers report they were motivated to visit a particular store that day because of an outdoor advertising message.

- Half of the billboard viewers reported getting directional information from a billboard, and one-quarter said they immediately visited a business because of an outdoor media message.

- New digital video platforms are definitely changing at-home television consumption. Thirty-five percent (35%) of billboard viewers own a digital recorder.

- Americans are still spending a lot of time in their cars. Adults 18+ spend about 18 hours and 31 minutes in their car, driving 224 miles per week.

- Mega-milers are those who travel more than 150 miles per week. Thirty-nine percent (39%) of these drivers have a household income of $75,000+, compared to only 27% of the average American population.

Many of the findings in this survey reinforce what was found in the 2003 survey. However, some of the new information in the survey shows that digital billboards are making progress on a national level and time spent on the road is increasing.

MySpace is a great source to connect people across the globe. Once you have set up your own page, anyone can find you by simply going to the MySpace search page. This is a great way to meet others with similar interests to your own, and to develop relationships – whether you restrict those relationships to the virtual realm or otherwise. You can also use MySpace to keep in touch with current friends through email, blogs and bulletins.

The fact that this information is available for the world to see makes it easy for people to find out things about you that you might prefer they didn’t. For example, you might belong to particular MySpace groups that you would not want your boss or family members to know about. There is also a security risk in opening up so much up your personal life to the Internet community at large. This is where knowing how to hide groups on MySpace might be a useful function. In addition to hiding your groups, you can also hide your contact table and your comments to ensure that some things in cyberspace remain private.

Hiding Groups

Learning how to hide groups on MySpace groups is not hard. The first step is to log into your account and click on the “Settings” link. When you get to that page, there will be a “Miscellaneous” selection located on the far right side of the menu. Click on that link, and then find the “Display Groups in Profile” option. Unselect the option, and then click “Save all Changes”. Once you have completed this very simple process, people that go to your MySpace profile will no longer be able to view the groups that you are a part of.

Hiding the Contact Table

There is also good reason to hide the contact table on your MySpace page. When this contact table is out of sight, you can still contact others but they cannot contact you. This can prevent you from getting overridden with spam messages on your MySpace account. To find the code, simply Google for “how to hide a MySpace contact table”. You will find numerous sites that provide a code to copy and paste anywhere onto your MySpace page.

Hiding Comments

Sometimes someone might send a very private comment to your MySpace page. You want to be able to view the comment yourself, but you certainly don’t want the rest of cyberspace viewing these personal words along with you! The answer lies in hiding your comments so that you are the only one who can see them. You can also find the codes to hide your comments by googling for this information. Copy and paste the code in your “Who I’d like to meet” at the bottom of your screen and your comments are hidden.

MySpace is a great way to stay in touch with old friends and meet new ones. However, privacy can be an issue in this medium. The good news is that you learn to hide groups on MySpace, as well as other information, to preserve your confidentiality and still keep in contact with the rest of the world.

Home Interior Decoration – The process of decorating a home in order to make it look good becomes easier to use and gels well with the architecture. Home interior decoration provides a certain “feel” to the home; it includes applying wallpaper, painting the walls, choosing of furniture and fittings such as light fixtures, and adding decorations such as paintings.

Home interior decoration is professionally done by interior designers/ decorators and also by a few architects. There is a distinctive difference between home interior decoration and interior design.

Home interior decoration is focused on finishing, such as wallpaper, window covering, furnishings and paint. Interior design is more integrated with the architecture, and in addition to home interior decoration involves cabinet making, room layout etc and host of other design parameters that go into making a home.

Although the concept of home interior decoration evolved in Paris and London in the late 18th century, modern home interior decoration began with Jeanselme in Paris, Lenygon and Morant in London and Ogden Codman from New York. This concept of home interior decoration has gone through many trends and discussions. The current trends of this industry is to discover innovative ways to decorate on a budget mostly shoe string.

The whole objective of home interior decoration is to functionally improve the home and make it reflect your tastes and personality at the same time rendering it unique. A big challenge, nevertheless, undertaken by artistic scientists.

Homeowners spent approximately $175 billion in the year 2003 to improve their homes. About 65% of this can be attributed to home interior decoration. The new trends indicate most spending on expanding kitchens and livening up bathrooms with new fittings. Current trends also indicate that emphasis is being given to creating specialty rooms and areas for individual members of the family. Growing in popularity are massage suites, spa areas, media space, craft rooms, wine cellars and home library areas. Even though luxury is a synonym for space, most small home owners are eagerly using home interior decoration to create definition areas for each individual.

Colors are also undergoing a new preference towards earthly, natural and warm brown tones from the vibrant and loud colors of the past. Blue and gray hues are preferred today over dull reds and dark blues of the past.

Innovative home interior decoration ideas, which cost less but at the same time giving the impression of an ornate design scheme are in vogue for new career professionals and newly married couples.

The new trend of Life-styling has given home interior decoration industry a boost. This has given rise to eclectic decorating styles which include High Tech and Shabby Chic replacing the good old Victorian or Early American.

Focus has changed to harmony and function compared to uniqueness and good looking. Rightly so, since uniqueness can never be 100% and neatness has always been good looking, which can be brought about by good functionality.

Home interior decoration has changed more drastically over the past 15 years or so than in its long history. Keeping track of new trends is almost as essential as for a computer professional keeping track of new software or hardware.