It is not uncommon for most people to look up whenever they hear an airplane, and quite often they may see a small airplane, normally propeller driven, dragging along a banner advertising some product or the other. Aerial Beacon does this, it’s called aerial advertising, and is a technique that also uses balloons and blimps for this form of spatial advertising.
This form of advertising has led to many private limited companies, making use of the planes which they have and offering to display banners for a fixed fee, and for a pre-determined time, over a target area. These companies may use their airplanes for other things like charter flights, training and joy rides, but aerial advertising allows them to add an income stream to their aircraft, and reduce their idle time.
Most of this form of advertising is carried out by planes that hover at a height of 1000 feet over land and 500 feet over water, and the recall factor for such advertising is considered very high, thus leading it to be a very effective form of advertising. These campaigns are often carried out over crowded beaches and parks, where public attendance is guaranteed. Rock concerts and race tracks are also considered as good captive audience, which can be targeted.
Advertising using aircraft is a novelty, and one that people rarely miss. This leads to the advertised product remaining in the minds of its viewers, which can always lead to an increase in awareness of a product and its sale. People tend to look at airplanes till they disappear from view, and this increases the time for which they view the advertisement. This leads to better ad recall, a trait that most advertising companies, price highly. The ad also does not intrude on privacy, as it is always in public space, and gives the targeted audience the complete freedom of ignoring it.
Any product to be advertised through this form of advertising needs to be clear in its message and must convey the required information in just a few words or through expressive images or colors. Visibility is very important and must be taken into account, considering the heights that the aircraft will attain during a flight. At times, this may have certain restrictions imposed by air traffic controllers, and it is important that this be cleared in advance, so that the heights are known and banners re designed to ensure their visibility at that height.