|
For easiest navigation, the following questions about
EMCs are also links to their location
and answer on this page. An answer
may also contain a link to additional information on this
SBA signage site. After each answer, a link is provided to
bring you back to the top of this page.
1. What are EMCs?
Electronic variable message centers are computerized
programmable electronic visual communication devices.
They are capable of storing and displaying multiple
messages in dozens of formats and at varying intervals.
Similar to reader boards, they allow their owners to
change copy frequently, but without the cost of
replacing missing or broken letters, and without the
physical labor involved in changing copy.
Unlike the traditional reader boards, the message on
an EMC can easily be changed throughout the day or week
to suit the demographics of the people passing by. This
allows the business owner to advertise specials, display
public service information, or provide other items of
public interest in a manner quickly and easily read by
those passing by at any given time. Consequently, the
effectiveness of an electronic message center is not
limited by the space or surface area constraints that
hamper business communication on reader boards. For
additional information, review the
Features & Advantages of EMCs.
Back to
top of FAQs
2. How are message centers used?
Message centers are used by businesses that want the
flexibility to control their own graphics and message
unit and be able to change their communication to meet
their needs and the needs of their customers.
- Large Corporations -
have used such devices for years, in forums ranging
from sports stadiums to Times Square. They like the
ability to advertise their products in a dynamic
format in which they can change their messages
frequently and easily.
- State Highway Departments
have also realized the value of electronic message
centers, and are increasingly using them to inform
and direct traffic in large metropolitan areas,
thereby easing traffic congestion and increasing
traffic safety. Large-scale urban studies are
currently being done to expand message center use in
this area, with other "intelligent" components, to
create integrated intelligent transportation
systems. Under the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control
Devices (MUTCD), they are used for regulatory,
warning, and guidance purposes related to traffic
control.
- Local Banks have for
years used the familiar time and temperature units.
- Small Businesses are
quickly realizing the advertising power of these
dynamic visual communications devices as most people
in a community look at the signs frequently.
Although EMCs have been quite expensive in the past,
often costing around $30,000 or more for a small,
simple unit, recent technological breakthroughs have
drastically reduced production and operating costs,
bringing them within an affordable range.
- Entertainment establishments,
restaurants, casinos, and
theme parks use EMCs extensively to create a
district or zone effect.
Back to
top of FAQs
3. We have a sign; why does my
business need a message center?
Consider for a moment the speed at which traffic passes
by the average business. A motorist has only a few
seconds to see and comprehend any given sign. For
example, on a street with traffic passing at 45 miles
per hour, a car that is 500 feet in front of a given
sign will have only 7.6 seconds to read the sign before
it passes, under normal driving conditions. A business'
sign must be conspicuous if it is to catch the attention
of passing motorists within the limited amount of time
available.
Motorists often spot electronic message centers
quickly because the copy changes, the letters are
illuminated, and the signs have traditionally been used
as public service devices. Additionally, electronic
message centers may have greater visibility from further
distances, especially in poor lighting conditions,
giving the motorist additional time to read the message
displayed while safely maneuvering his or her vehicle.
Message Centers act as a consolidating type of
advertising. In other words, they offer businesses a way
of posting a variety of information in one place rather
than relying on numerous signs and banners displayed in
windows, for example. This can be a real advantage for a
business located in a district with strict rules about
temporary signs.
Most importantly, the electronic message center
almost always increases a business's share of revenue.
This is a result of the "branding" of the site through
the use of specific logos, reinforcement of other
advertising messages, allowing for public service
notices, generating exact impulse stops, and helping to
change customers' buying habits once they have stopped.
Back to
top of FAQs
4. How will an electronic
message display work best for my business?
The growth in number of media options in recent years is
good news for businesses because of the variety
available to meet individual business communication
needs. However, each new advertising option draws its
audience away from other existing audiences. This is not
true with EMCs. The display's audience is determined by
the sign's message, its location, and the number of
vehicles that pass it each day, and its audience
continually grows.
The electronic message display rapidly becomes a
landmark in a business's local community, because it
offers a valuable public service to the entire community
by displaying:
- Public service information
- Civic events
- Personal and holiday greetings
- Current time and temperature
- Specific advertising messages
Passing viewers often look forward to reading clever
new messages, and may even come to rely upon the message
service in some settings. But most importantly to the
business owner, the passing viewers will remember:
- What the business is, and
- Where the business is located.
Back to
top of FAQs
5. Is an electronic message center
a cost-effective advertising medium?
Yes. Businesses often select their advertising medium,
and messages, based upon the cost per thousand exposures
of their message to the public. ON this basis, no other
form of advertising comes close to matching the
efficiency and cost-effectiveness, dollar for dollar, of
an electronic message display. Compare the figures
below:
- Newspaper advertising
- the cost on average is about $7.39 for 1000
exposures within a 10-mile radius of the business
location.
- Television advertising
- The cost on average is approximately $6.26 per
1000 exposures.
- Radio advertising -
The cost is about $5.47 per 1000 exposures.
- New LED electronic message
center display - The cost is less than $0.15
per 1000 exposures. How? Assume, for example, that
you spend $30,000.00 on this type of system, and
that its useful life is about ten years. The
amortized daily cost of the message center would
equal about $2.74. Add to this the daily cost of
electricity for this new LED unit (approximately
$0.20), thus giving your business a daily message
center expense total of $8.82. With a daily traffic
count of 20,000 vehicles passing your business, you
would have a cost of less than $0.45 per thousand
exposures (counting drivers only)!
Best of all, with an electronic message center, a
business does not have to worry about missing its target
audience, becoming "yesterday's news," or facing
expensive production costs for changing its message, as
happens frequently with the other forms of advertising
mentioned.
With an electronic variable message display:
- The business owns the form of advertising
- The advertising works for the business 24 hours
a day, 365 days a year
- The sign acts as the "salesman on the street"
attracting customers into the business
- The advertising speaks directly to the potential
customers as they drive past the business location,
and the EMC makes the business a landmark in its
community.
Finally, many message center manufacturers
provide leasing programs, which include service and
maintenance, thereby providing another option for
covering the cost of usage.
Back to
top of FAQs
6. What level of return on
investment can I expect?
For businesses that choose to enhance their signage with
an electronic message display, the owners typically see
an increase in business of 15% to 150%. Using the
smaller number, consider the following example.
A small business generating $1,000.00 a day in
revenue adds an electronic message center. The business
soon increases by 15%, adding another $150 per day in
total revenue. That translates into an additional
$1,050.00 a week in revenue, or $54,600.00 per year.
It has been said that in retailing, "the last dollars
are the best dollars," meaning that each additional
customer adds a greater marginal percentage to the
business's bottom line profit. In the foregoing example,
we can only speculate upon the actual impact upon
profit, but assuming that the business was at or above
its "break-even" point before adding the electronic
message center, the addition of $54,600.00 per year in
revenue would clearly add to the business's profit.
Keep in mind that with this example, the investment
in the electronic message center unit would likely be
about one-third of the additional revenue generated in
the first year of its operation alone.
Back to
top of FAQs
7. How much can I expect to
spend on an electronic message center?
Before you wonder how much a business will spend on an
electronic message center, first determine how much will
be spent overall on marketing and advertising. It is not
uncommon for a business that is already using a variety
of media advertising without an electronic message
center to divert some of those advertising dollars to an
investment in one of these displays, greatly increasing
exposure, business volume and customer acquisition - all
without spending any additional revenue.
Technological breakthroughs have reduced the costs of
producing these communications devices and have
considerably reduced the previous level of expense for
operating message centers. New technology is available
that allows message centers to:
- operate 24 hours a day continuously for many
years with minimal bulb or LED replacement; and
- consume electricity at a daily cost of as little
as $0.20 for a small LED display, or approximately
$74.00 per year.
Best of all, these new message centers can be
purchased for much less than their predecessors. Even
small and medium-sized companies are finding an
investment in a changeable electronic sign is
worthwhile. Technological advancements are occurring so
rapidly that a greater variety of these signs is within
financial reach, offering the small business a
tremendous on-site advertising tool that ties the
advertised product directly to the location where it can
be purchased.
Back to
top of FAQs
8. What about safety? Aren't
EMCs a distraction for drivers?
Over the last few decades, discussion pertaining to
signage has centered on four fronts:
- maintaining the economic
vitality of commercial districts through
signage
- the First Amendment (see this SBA site's "Legal
Considerations" and the "Legal
Resources" in the Glossary/Resources tab for
in-depth detail about legal rights, protections and
more)
- community aesthetics;
and
- traffic safety.
Some might argue that signs cause traffic accidents
by distracting the driver of a vehicle. However, this
has never been proven to be the case with a
well-designed sign. A well-designed sign has a brief,
easy-to-read message, in lettering large enough to be
easily seen and read by a driver. Further, the sign is
illuminated to assist in its visibility and legibility.
The sign is of a sufficient size and height that it is
easily seen, as well as placed in a location where a
driver would naturally look.
If anything, well-designed and placed signage can
increase safety. As quoted in the article, "Traffic
and On-Premise Sign Regulation"* which speaks to
this issue of safety in detail, "To facilitate safe
movement and meet information needs, roadside signs,
both commercial and noncommercial, must provide drivers
with clear messages that are visible under all
environmental conditions." The article continues with,
"Signs that do not optimally communicate … can create
driver frustration or disorientation." And finally,
"These driver behaviors many times cause accidents -
accidents which might have been avoided had the
pertinent sign been visible and readable in sufficient
time for the viewer/driver to process its message and
safely respond."
Electronic message centers - like other types of
signage - when properly designed, placed, maintained,
and illuminated can actually promote
greater traffic safety.
* "Signline", a publication
of the International Sign Association, has given us
permission to reproduce the 2001 article, "Traffic and
On-Premise Sign Regulation". This article also outlines
the standards outlined by the Federal Highway
Administration (FHWA) in their "Manual on Uniform
Traffic Control Devices" (MUTCD).
Click here to view the article (in pdf format).
Back to
top of FAQs
9. What about face changes? Can
I change the face or copy of my sign?
The subject of
copy and
face changes on signs, and exactly how much control
regulators should have over it, is riddled with
complexities. The federal courts have been clear in
restricting sign codes to content-neutral regulations of
time, place and manner of display, but what about copy
and face changes? Several
cases have bearing on the issue.
Back to
top of FAQs
Continue to:
|
