ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Seattle-based firm Total Outdoor’s new billboard on the Lynnway.
BY THOR JOURGENSEN
LYNN — With a flash of pink and the sudden appearance of giant letters, the Lynnway’s newest digital billboard burst into life Wednesday at 12:19 p.m., signaling what city and sign company officials hope will be an ongoing relationship.
Total Outdoor’s 63-foot-tall sign, located opposite Dunkin’ Donuts, is capable of cycling up to eight electronic advertisements, but it is the Seattle-based firm’s new relationship with the city that may help catch passing drivers’ attention.
Total Outdoor representative Drew Hoffman said the company will allow the city to advertise upcoming Veterans Memorial Auditorium concerts on the sign.
“We’ll let the auditorium use it at their disposal,” Hoffman said.
Hoffman estimated 85,000 people will drive by the sign every week. Total Outdoor leases the sign’s site from a real estate trust. Workers removed the billboard’s giant support pole last November to refurbish it before reinstalling it and mounting the 14-foot by 48-foot billboard last month.
Total Outdoor has 200 signs in the United States. The Lynnway billboard is only the sixth digital sign the company has unveiled in Massachusetts. Each advertisement appears on the sign for 10 seconds before cycling onto a new ad or public service announcement.
Hoffman said advertisers pay $6,000 to run an advertisement for four weeks and the money is well spent.
“Lynn, demographically, is great for commuter traffic and the Lynnway is a great roadway for local and national advertisers,” he said.
Unlike traditional vinyl billboards, digital signs can be updated throughout a day to aid advertisers. For instance, a restaurant can post lunch or dinner specials on the sign and a bank can quickly post a favorable interest rate. The signs are also valuable for Amber Alert child abduction postings and providing a way to quickly involve the driving public in the hunt for an abductor.
“One great thing about digital billboards is they look so clean,” said Lynn Area Chamber of Commerce President Leslie Gould.
Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy said the Total Outdoor sign will greatly amplify the city’s ability to advertise auditorium concerts. Community Development Department Director James Marsh recalled how the city initially advertised concerts using wooden signs set up on main city routes. He said the first concert to be advertised on the digital sign will probably be Disney in Concert, scheduled for the auditorium on Feb. 26.
Thor Jourgensen can be reached at [email protected].