You can't change the channel or the station or turn the page. That's why billboards remain unique and effective as an advertising medium. For more than a century, American outdoor ads have peddled countless consumer products, including soap flakes, automobiles, elixirs, gasoline and tobacco. They've provided direction to travelers in search of lodging and diners looking for restaurants. They've also served as humongous wanted posters and political placards.

Although there are some who decry their existence on aesthetic grounds, billboard advertising is a thriving industry, locally and nationally.

Across the country, billboard revenues increased by 7.9 percent, or $4.7 billion, in the first nine months in 2005 over the same period last year, and by 10 percent, or $1.5 billion, in the third quarter, reports the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA). In 2002, Florida annual revenues from outdoor advertising were reported at $298 million, creating 10,000 jobs and generating $14.3 million in local and state taxes. That was the last year the Florida Outdoor Advertising Association conducted a survey, but a spokesman estimates that annual revenue figures now top $300 million.

The solid yet evolving medium has kept Aliesa Gilstrap in the

business for 20 years. "The [industry] has changed a lot since we went

around showing crayon and marker drawings," says Gilstrap, president of Clear Channel's Tampa outdoor advertising division. "Now the art is all computer-generated and applied to stretch vinyl via computer. In many cases, the vinyl is stretched across the board."

The latest versions of the product, which made its United States debut in 1835, might have moving panels and lighting technology, but the cost of the medium remains attractive, Gilstrap says. Although the price of space varies with location and most billboard advertisers sign yearly contracts, billboard advertising is still a good value, especially for small businesses, because clients can book for a week or a month or enjoy the contract rates of longer commitments, she says. Clear Channel is the oldest outdoor advertising company. It opened in 1901 under the name of Foster & Kleiser Outdoor Advertising, according to its Web site. With 800,000 displays, including billboards and other signage, it's also the largest, the company says. Clear Channel Outdoor-a division of Clear Channel Worldwide, which includes the vast radio station operation-has about 1,800 billboards active in the Tampa area.

A Popular Medium

Although there is an assumption that people frown on billboards as eyesores, the reality is otherwise. A statewide study conducted in 2000 by an independent research firm revealed that more than 80 percent of the 1,165 Floridians surveyed thought billboard information was useful, assisted tourists and provided jobs.

That's a sentiment echoed by John Fleming, a spokesperson for the Florida Outdoor Advertising Association. "Florida's biggest industry is tourism," he says, "and billboards direct tourists to the resorts and the attractions they seek. There are currently 14,800 billboards on the major roads within the domain of the Florida Department of Transportation and in its database, but the total number is likely higher."

Stephen Freitas, president of the OAAA, confirms that research validates investment in outdoor advertising. McDonald's, he states, has done studies that indicate the fast-food buyer makes a choice within five minutes of purchasing food. Not so coincidentally, McDonald's is the largest user of billboard advertising, he adds.

Fort Myers attorney Carmen Dellutri says he knows this form of advertising works. He had a month-long billboard program on bankruptcy legal service that gave his practice multiple exposures around Lee County and a noticeable boost in business.

"I was a conservative advertiser in the past, relying mainly on the Yellow Pages," he says. "But we found that the billboards reinforced the Yellow Pages advertising, and that we were getting cell phone calls from people stuck in traffic or waiting at traffic lights who were viewing my billboard at that moment."

He says three things helped his cause: his message was brief; his phone number is easy to remember; and his service meets an urgent need. "People might see a message for legal assistance with an accident, but they're not necessarily in the market at the moment," he explains. "People with financial problems are thinking about them all the time and can relate immediately."

Collier County has a billboard moratorium in effect, with only about 47 grandfathered sites in the region-and they are not renewable if destroyed by a storm. Citing aesthetic concerns, officials targeted billboards and other signs in a 1999 regulation, which was strictly enforced in 2003, says Collier commissioner Tom Henning.

Terri Legris, president of Legris & Associates in Naples, holds leases on two of those grandfathered billboards on U.S. 41 in Collier. Although she's put many clients on them since she's had control since the late 1990s, Signature Communities of Naples has been the major user recently.

Signature's Glenn Griffin says he thinks billboards are an effective means of advertising. He doesn't mind at all that there are so few in Collier County. "That means better exposure and more impact for those that are here," he explains.

Although real estate clients are big users in South Florida, billboard space has been used effectively by many kinds of business, from airboat operators in the Everglades to flea markets, financial institutions and phone companies touting their products and services.

Added Value

The billboard must be seen as part of the total advertising program, according to Robyn Bonaquist, a co-owner of B-Squared Advertising in Naples and a 20-year veteran of the advertising business. "In most cases it's an instrument of recall, so that when consumers see the client's print ad or television ad, they'll remember the name," she says.

Bonaquist loves billboard advertising for the clients she serves in Collier, Lee and Charlotte counties, and new technology allows her company to design the completed image for the billboard and supply it on disk to a billboard company that installs it.

She says brevity and humor are among the best ways to produce an effective billboard message. "Some clients make the mistake of trying to use their whole advertising message on a billboard, and that's not wise," she observes. Six or seven words might be the maximum for the best effect. To prove her point, she mentions the Truly Nolen pest control campaign of several years ago that has become a legend in the industry. "All he used was what is said to be the most legible color combination-yellow and black-his logo, and some short, funny phrases relating to critter demise."

The advent of the Internet has also made billboards a handy link to a client's more detailed information, Bonaquist adds. "It's easier to remember. Let's say, 'Greathomes.com,' as you're driving by, then a telephone number."

The Old-Fashioned Way

Not all billboard users have embraced the new technology, however. For example, David and Dawn Piper, owners of the Everglades Wonder Gardens on Old 41 Road in Bonita Springs, own 22 signs, design them and arrange for the applications themselves.

"A gallery artist paints our four big boards," says David. "The two right by our attraction have won prizes in international artist competitions. After the artist finishes painting the metal panels, a contractor coats them with a weather-resistant finish."

The Pipers' smaller, Burma-Shave-style series of two, three or five message boards on the road between Naples and Everglades City are painted and maintained by the Wonder Gardens staff (who are now far behind, due to storm damage).

Such serial signs from the past might yet be judged the essence of the medium. The jingly Burma-Shave signs that dotted highways from the 1930s to the 1960s captured the imagination of a nation.

They are now enshrined in the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan and Washington's Smithsonian Institution.gb