ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 17, 1996 TAG: 9601170022
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Marketplace
SOURCE: MEGAN SCHNABEL
If your idea of restroom advertising is graffiti urging, "For a good time, call ... ," then you should make a point of touring some of the public bathrooms around the Roanoke Valley.
Glossy, professionally produced ads for limo services, real estate agencies and formal-wear boutiques now fill the wall space above urinals, inside stall doors and next to mirrors in a dozen or so local restaurants. Most ads feature full-color photos, and they're quick reads, with just enough type to keep readers busy for a moment or two.
The man responsible for Roanoke's newest bathroom reading is Vince Miller, a professional photographer and owner of ADvision. He started the bathroom business about two years ago, as a sideline to his photography studio. It was a tough sell at first, he says, trying to convince prospective clients that it's OK to advertise in a room that many people still refuse to talk about. Many restaurant owners turned him down flat when he asked for space to display his billboards.
"They really did feel that people would have a negative reaction to it," he says. ``A lot of my clients still ask me, `Well, do [the ads] have to go in the bathroom?'''
But now, two years into the venture, his bathroom ads can be found all over the Roanoke area, in eateries including Mac and Bob's, Corned Beef & Co. and Western Sizzlin'. About 85 percent of his clients renew their contracts, he says.
"Once they've gotten over the initial shock of where it's going to be," he says, "they usually warm up to it pretty well."
He says the approach makes sense. The ads hit customers when and where they least expect it, so they're less likely to tune out the message immediately. And they can't change the channel or turn the page.
"The prospects are literally captive for one to two minutes," Miller says. "And they're relaxed and in a positive frame of mind."
It's easy for restroom advertisers to target their audiences, too. They can pitch cocktail dresses in the women's bathroom and hair replacement programs in the men's, and they won't waste money trying to sell the wrong products to the wrong consumers.
And restroom ads are relatively cheap in the first place, which makes them an attractive medium for small, locally owned businesses, Miller says. He works with about 20 clients, ranging from taxi services to hair-replacement salons. The base rate is about $50 a month for a full-color ad. The restaurants that allow Miller to hang the ads in their restrooms get a portion of the profits.
"It was affordable," says Bill Roberts, general manager of Roanoke Airport Limousine and Yellow Cab. "Probably the least money for the amount of advertising."
The limo and taxi service pays $90 a month for ads in eight or so restaurants, a special deal because they agreed to a yearlong contract.
Most of us don't go around talking about our bathroom reading habits - unless the graffiti are really, really juicy - so Miller doesn't know how many local people read his bathroom ads, or how many of those readers respond to the ads. But he quotes studies by Rice University and Arizona State University that report favorable consumer attitudes toward restroom advertising. According to these studies, 85 percent of study participants said restroom ads are no less believable than those in magazines or newspapers.
Roberts says his company hasn't collected any hard statistics on consumer response to the ads. And there are certain things that customers just don't discuss with their limo drivers.
"Nobody has come in and said, `Well, guess where I saw your ad,''' he says with a laugh. "I think it's just an awareness. They see the ad and put it in the back of their mind. At some point in time, maybe we should ask people."
If the national bathroom scene is any indication, then public restrooms are becoming the advertising medium of choice for small businesses across the nation, in places from Key West to Chicago. Some upscale companies, including Absolut vodka and DKNY women's apparel, have even installed racks of advertising postcards on restroom walls.
"People read more than you think they do in there," says Rita Poulos, one of the owners of DJ's Brasserie Restaurant in Roanoke. The restaurant has displayed Miller's ads for more than a year.
"If it's there in front of them, people will read it," Miller says.
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: color.by CNB