| Frequently
Asked Questions about EMC's
For easiest navigation, the following questions about EMC's are also
links to their location and answer
on this page. An answer may also contain a link to additional information
on the SBA
signage site. After each answer, a link is provided to bring you
back to the top of this page.
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 EMC's.
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How are message centers
used? |
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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
EMC's 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 EMC's
extensively to create a district or zone effect.
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We have a sign; why does my
business need a message center? |
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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.
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How will an electronic
message display work best for my business? |
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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 EMC's.
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.
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Is an electronic message center
a cost-effective advertising medium? |
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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.
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What level of return on
investment can I expect? |
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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.
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How much can I expect
to spend on an electronic message center? |
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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.
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What about safety? Aren't
EMC's a distraction for drivers? |
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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).
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What about face changes?
Can I change the face or copy of my sign? |
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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.
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