AATA switches ad companies
The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority has initiated a three-year contract with a new ad agency, dropping its previous advertising company after the end of a seven-year contract.
In its Aug. 16 meeting, the AATA board authorized the new contract with CBS Outdoor Advertising of Lexington, New York, according to a report in the Ann Arbor Chronicle. AATA’s former ad agency, Transit Advertising Group of Farmington Hills, was a former defendant alongside AATA in a lawsuit brought by the ACLU after AATA denied a “Boycott Israel” ad for its buses.
The Transit Advertising Group was dropped as a defendant in the case, but a ruling on the case has not yet been issued.
Read the Ann Arbor Chronicle article.
Amy Biolchini covers Washtenaw County, health and environmental issues for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at (734) 623-2552, amybiolchini@annarbor.com or on Twitter.
Comments
Pete
Sat, Aug 18, 2012 : 3:04 p.m.
Craig, selling bus advertising is a very specialized business, and not everyone can do it. Local sign shops often fail miserably because they think it's as easy as making a few calls and everyone will want it. Marketing agencies often fail miserably because they aren't sales people. That leaves a handful of companies that know what they are doing. CBS Outdoor is one of those companies. They also have the Detroit fleet, so this is a no-brainer for them. And, they had the best offer. Would you prefer they take a far smaller guarantee and AATA raises rates? We all know the hysterics when any bus systems raises fees 25 cents. So, the transit systems are left with squeezing their own employees and breathing down the necks of their ad sales companies for more money. However, while they are asking companies like CBS Outdoor to get them more money, the transit managers and city attorneys are ignoring First Amendment freedoms and restricting the type of advertisements that they will take (no religion, no alcohol, no political ads). I heard AATA had some very restrictive clauses in their RFP that no doubt kept a lot of companies from bidding, and possibly set them up for getting less money guaranteed than they could have had.
Craig Lounsbury
Sun, Aug 19, 2012 : 9:24 p.m.
"Craig, selling bus advertising is a very specialized business, and not everyone can do it." Good answer.
Gorc
Fri, Aug 17, 2012 : 11:33 p.m.
Mrs. Biolchini...was the ACLU lawsuit the reason why AATA separated ways with the Transit Advertising Group?
No.War
Fri, Aug 17, 2012 : 5:46 p.m.
What affect will this have?
Craig Lounsbury
Fri, Aug 17, 2012 : 5:45 p.m.
"The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority has initiated a three-year contract with..... CBS Outdoor Advertising of Lexington, New York," I realize its a big world and not everything can be "made in Michigan" but when I read things like that I often wonder if a Michigan company couldn't have done the job. It is ultimately we the tax payers subsidizing the AATA. It would have been nice to keep those dollars in the state. Maybe it wasn't possible.