News

Price is right

Some ISOs are shunning full-motion video and other pricey forms of ATM advertising to offer cost-conscious alternatives. They say there is interest in advertising on ATMs -- but only at the right price.

January 7, 2002

High tech ATM advertising with video, animation and couponing capabilities has a lot of eye appeal -- but these pricey advertising forms haven't convinced some retailers of their selling power.

Now, some ISOs are offering low-tech, low-cost, text-based alternatives in the hope of luring clients into the world of ATM advertising.

Multi Media Services ATM & Credit Card Processing Inc.'s ATM advertising division is introducing a revolving illuminated ATM topper that holds a dozen 8½-by-11-inch color advertisements. The ads can be replaced by hand.

Advertisers sign a 12-month contract and pay $60 per sign per month. Multi Media Services pays convenience store and gas station owners monthly fees of between $3 and $5 per ad. The merchants agree to place the toppers in stores for five years. 

"This kind of an approach is designed for the mom-and-pop advertiser who may have a location within six or seven miles of the ATM.  It is for the local guy who would rather pay $160 per month for topper ads than $600 a month for newspaper ads," said Ken McKeone, owner of Multi Media Services, based in Omaha, Neb.

In the first week of the launch, McKeone signed three advertisers, all local franchisees with multiple locations in Nebraska. 

"The ads could be for anything, but we have been targeting food and alcohol," McKeone said. 

He believes this type of advertising benefits all parties – ISOs already have sales staff or service techs in place making calls on store owners, while advertisers reach shoppers with a minimal investment. Store owners gain revenue for simply plugging in the topper, and may work with distributors to develop cross-promotional coupon programs.

"We sell franchises with full training and support," said McKeone, who said the ads can be created and updated on a standard computer, bypassing more expensive formats.

McKeone says the ads are effective, even with a dozen advertisers on each topper. 

"One account (can have) 16 c-store locations, with 750,000 in walk-in traffic each month, and 22,000 ATM transactions; and we know by national averages each customer will use each location four to six times a month. The sign moves so each customer will automatically have eye contact by automatic eye movement," McKeone said..

Cashflow ATM, based in San Diego, is taking another approach.

Cashflow just launched a five-month advertising pilot program with a San Diego-based national debt management company featuring plain text advertising that can appear on the welcome screen, authorization screen and the ATM receipt, depending on the capabilities of each ATM.
Alik Perakh, head of operations for Cashflow ATM, called the campaign a good example of niche marketing. 

"The service is debt management, and when people use ATMs they are already thinking about money," he explained.  "Forty percent of people using an outside ATM are taking a cash advance on their credit card.  They will spend money for convenience. Some of these people have a lot of money, and some are not as disciplined with their money and may need the services of a debt management company."

Perakh said the messages are being tested on fewer than 50 San Diego-area machines, but would not disclose other details of the pilot program. Participating ATM owners will get a small, fixed fee for each transaction.

Ads began running the week before Christmas.

He is not worried about the limited appeal of plain text messages. "The campaign is not image-based like selling Coke or clothes, so multimedia is not as important," he said.

The debt management company is tracking all responses it gets to the advertisements by asking consumers where they heard about the service.

"If the campaign is effective we will serve as a broker and resell it to other companies," Perakh said.