Phantom Billstickers owner Jim Wilson has penned an amusing response to the appearance in the market of a new competitor in the street poster market – Shout Media.
“When I read of these new jokers getting in on the game I want to turn Coldplay up (vinyl only of course!) and thrust a hairy knuckle in the air and exclaim: “Yea Baby! Bring it on! Yea Baby!” And all those other cliches rife in the advertising world.
“I am doing the Watusi as I write.
“I am now saying: ‘Ay caramba!’ to myself. And I mean it, man!
“I have always been aware at Phantom that someone could have many fewer jewels than us and yet make it seem like they owned the whole wide world. That’s the shuck and jive of the outdoor advertising business.
“I also understand that a new player can only get into the game by hurling mud of one kind of another.
“I once knew a guy in the outdoor advertising business who could make it seem like a wretched billboard on Gasson St in Christchurch was seen by 5.4 million people a day. ‘Visuals’ he called it as he wandered off to another Anthony Robbins conference.
“In ‘outdoor advertising’ it is always a case of ‘buyer beware’ and you might actually want your campaign to work and so I counsel you to be very careful with what you are buying.
“Phantom Billstickers has met with street poster companies and billboard companies from all over the world. I cannot tell you how many posters I have seen hurled away and how much deceit and devastation mine eyes have seen. It’s a trip man!
“The ethos of Phantom Billstickers has always been to sell a good product at a fair price, negotiate tirelessly with city councils, improve our systems, be honest, innovate, train our staff well (50 or 60 of them right now) and to pay our electricity bill in our main offices/warehouses in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. There are a wee few ‘satellites’ as well.
“And pull some dosh out of our arse pockets to support the arts and voice of New Zealand.
“It’s Flora for the Concrete Jungle is what it is.
“May the devil take the hindmost.”
M+AD ed David Gapes comments: To be fair, we’re not aware of Shout ‘hurling mud’ – their release was a straightforward announcement of their intentions (read it below). Having said that, Wilson and Phantom are formidable legends on the local scene – both in the ad business and the arts. They will not take this competition lying down!
- The Shout Media announcement: mad-daily.com/shout-expands-into-street-posters
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