A while back I came across a story about a blimp being used to promote Medicare as part of the US Government's 30 million dollar advertising campaign to promote the federal program . A light went off in my head, The Dean Blimp. This may seem off the wall but when you look at the benefits blimp advertising would bring to our campaign it does not sound so strange.

Blimps have been used for all kinds of advertising. Sometimes the campaigns are just for a few days. In the case of the Goodyear blimp they go on for decades. Studies have shown that when a blimp flies over a city for one week almost 90 percent of the population can recall the message on the blimp. Only the most expensive TV commercials can match that kind of penetration. Dean is running a national campaign. One hurdle Dean for America is trying to get over is name recognition. Outside of the primary states most people still don't know who he is.

A blimp is the perfect compliment to the advertising already being done. Imagine a DEAN 2004 blimp flying above millions of people during commute times in a state at the same time other media spots are running on TV and radio. Advertising is about repetition and getting attention. Blimps work.

This will get their attention

A blimp like the one pictured here would cost $2.3 million for one year (not $500k) complete with a crew and support staff. That is about the price of doing a commercial that would run for a couple of weeks in medium rotation.

*UPDATE, I was way off on my earlier estimate. The media were reporting the Medicare blimp ($600k) campaign as lasting 12 months. The actual duration is 3 months. Based on the latest quotes I have received the actual cost is going to be 195,000 per month (Lightship Group) for 120 hours (6 hours a day, 5 days a week) of flight time.

$2.3 million, is the same price as 30 seconds of Super bowl commercial airtime. A blimp over a city the size of Chicago gets an estimated 1.6 million impressions a day. That is 32,000,000 impressions a month & 384,000,000 over 1 year. In one month of blimp advertising we reach as many people as one 30 second Super bowl commercial for under $200k as opposed to the over $2 million for the Super bowl.

The DEAN 2004 blimp would run all year all the way to victory next November.

Every time the Dean blimp comes to town the media are going to report on it. Some of the press will be good, some will make fun of it for sure. "The Dean Campaign is Full of Hot Air", will be the headline in more than one conservative's column . I argue that the positive press and media saturation we get from the blimp will far outweigh any jabs from reporters 'making light' of it. This will grab attention and sell some newspapers but when people read past the headlines they are going to get to know Dean the way we do. He is not full of hot air, quite the opposite. That is why this will work for him where it would not for most of the other politicians out there.

If you agree with me that this idea considers serious consideration please mention it on Dean blogs & link to this page on your sites.

UPDATE 12.11.03 bushout.tv has put up a picture submitted to me be a Dean Blimp admirer. The picture is great but not appropriate for this page. Go on over and have a look. I got an email a few weeks back from a Dean Blimp enthusiast who was able to get a few moments with Gov. Dean in Houston. He told him about the blimp & how much it would cost, Dean 'bristled' at the price tag as he put it. Let's see what happen's- "The seed has been planted" says my source.

UPDATE 11.10.03 (giving thanks, added poll & pics below)

Big thanks goes out to Dean Nation & Dean Core for featuring this page on their sites! Also to the hundreds of people who have voiced their encouraging support on the Oblog, thanks!! - keep the subject alive.

Float the Vote - Dean Blimp Poll

Current Results
Free Web Polls

Here are some sites that further explain the benefits of advertising using blimps

http://www.globalskyships.com/gss5.htm

• Your name and logo have the greatest impact. Your message can be seen for over 3 miles.
• Nightsign system lights up both sides of the airship, and can be seen and read from over a mile away
• Eight-thousand two hundred lights program messages, graphics, animations, or scrolling messages
  

http://www.airshipsexpress.com/why.html

• "High Visibility Aerial Indoor/Outdoor advertising is dramatic and highly visible. People are fascinated with "Things That Fly." It's the natural instinct to look up to see what's in the sky. Airship Advertising is Impact Advertising. With Airship Advertising, your message WILL GET NOTICED!"

http://www.airshipman.com/benefits.htm

• "UNIQUE SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
  Tie-in with your company's sponsored outdoor concerts, festivals and similar events with T.V. cameras for national broadcast."

http://www.lightships.com/ae.html

• "To illustrate the Lightship's effectiveness, Whitman's chocolates in Australia experienced a sales increase 240% above expectations during and after their Lightship campaign, catapulting them to the No.1 spot in the market according to Nielson ratings.

• "Advertising Value
  The Family Channel Blimp generated $5 million of spin-off media value during its first year. Family Channel studies show the total media value outweighs total cost of blimp operation by 3 to 1.
  
• Coverage of 19 TV events by the Blockbuster Blimp resulted in $1 million worth of on-air time and $45,000 of spin-off local media.
  
• "The cost of running the blimp for a whole month is equal to the cost of just one or two prime time commercials." Bob Weinstein, Director of Advertising, Metropolitan Life.
  

So, here is the idea. For one weekend on the Dean blog, put up a bat to raise the amount needed to secure the blimp contract. The amount could be raised in 2-3 days. Should the Dean community think this is a good idea they can 'float it'. If they don't think it is a good idea they can 'sink it'.

Thanks!

llamasonic, expats4dean

Some nice pictures of blimps here from American Blimp Company & Lightship and Global Skyships

Ever wonder what blimp pilots are like? NY Times, November 9th 2003 : "I LOVE watching passengers get these great grins on their faces. One little boy, who wasn't actually supposed to fly, was a huge fan of the Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield blimp. He just turned up at the airport in Atlantic City wearing a white T-shirt on which he had drawn a little blimp in pen with "Horizon" written on it. He also made a paper blimp, and it said, "For the pilots, from Elia." I'm a sucker for any cute kid, but especially a blimp fan. We weren't doing anything in particular that day and so I said, "I'll tell you what, how about flying?" His mother was so excited she was practically in tears. We went over his house and he got to wave to his grandmother out the window."
-Katharine Board is a blimp pilot for the Lightship Group

*disclaimer: the picture above is just an example of what a Dean blimp might look like -done in photoshop. I am in no way affiliated with a blimp company. I will consider offers though :)

Like the banner? Get more Dean Blimp banners here