The company plans to rename itself Intran Media Vehicles and will to try to bring "focus" to the fragmented truckside advertising industry. The acquisition added key national advertisers such as McDonald's and the Home Shopping Network to Intran Media's local and regional advertiser base.
According to industry data, outdoor advertising is a $5.2-billion yearly business, of which truckside advertising represents about $30 million. Billboards still are the dominant force in the market, representing $3.2 billion or 60% of all outdoor advertising, but truckside advertising has been making some inroads, said industry experts. Truck lobbying group American Trucking Assns., for example, said a study it conducted found 91% of people notice words and pictures on the sides of trucks.
Atlanta-based Media Vehicles had taken a leading position in the truckside advertising industry by developing a Mobile Advertising Tracking System (MATS). The Web-based system allowed advertisers and especially advertising agencies to track data by satellite of trucks running ads.
The routes those trucks operated on were then tied to 1990 census data so advertisers could literally see what types of people were potentially viewing the ad as the truck passes by. The system was eventually to be connected to the 2000 census data, but that move could be in doubt because of the acquisition.
