ASOG MAY22.qxp_GAB Master LEFT 06/04/2022 16:21 Page 3
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Some of the popular types of LTAs used today are: • LighterThanAir — Tailor-made hot air balloons • MicroFlight Inc. — eBlimp • Egan Airships Inc. — Plimp Airships Drones Drones are the apprentices of the Aerial Advertising sector. Even though this technology has been around for almost a decade, it is still not used at the same level as manned advertising aircraft because of regulatory and public-perception issues. However, the commercial drone community continues to explore and innovate with unique ways of applying the methods of aerial advertisement to the current capabilities of a drone. The drone Aerial Advertising sector mainly utilises quadcopters and octocopters for banner towing and mobile billboards. Like LTAs, they’re used in special dynamic advertisements, e.g., air-dropping branded products or freebies, plus conducting highperformance choreography swarm light shows – very similar to skywriting but without the oily smoke. Depending on the type of advertising, the leading drone platforms used for such unique dynamic services are: • UVify Inc. — IFO – S • DJI — s1000 Octocopter • CAT UAV — EXO C2-L The Future of Aerial Advertising Like many other Aerial Work aviation sectors, the future looks very good. With the ever-increasing demand by companies to draw more and more attention to their products and services in an innovative and ‘eye-catching’ way, the need for unique and innovative delivery methods like aerial advertising will continue to be in demand. With new types of technology proliferating every day, the aerial advertising
community will for sure improve on traditional methods and introduce new concepts, i.e., more dynamic vs. static marketing. Therefore, it is not ‘out-of-the-realm-ofpossibilities’ that Aerial Advertisement will become part of a virtual ‘real-time’ marketing network vs. just a stand-alone static flying billboard.
The Last Ad
As you can see, the answer to the previous questions shows that Aerial Advertising is more than a classic Piper PA-18 Super Cub towing an advertisement banner through the sky. The Aerial Advertising sector of Aerial Work aviation has the power to grab, cost-effectively and through various methods and aircraft, the attention of large and concentrated masses of people in a short period. While Aerial Advertising is not the daily invading of mailboxes with loads of paper advertisements, many advertisers adore it for its potential to ‘Shock & Awe’ people at the right time and place. From small businesses to large corporations, they appreciate the unique approach Aerial Advertisement provides, and love the feedback it draws to their services or products. So, the next time you’re at a sporting event or sun-tanning on a sunny beach and an aircraft slowly flies across your view with a banner, remember that the pilots and aircraft that are advertising are part of a very focused and important part of the global economy and of Aerial Work Aviation. ■
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