• by Larry Dobrow , March 11, 2004

With the recent additions of Yankee and Shea Stadium to its venue roster, TrashTalk Media has taken a big stride forward in its mission to satiate marketers' yearning to connect with active and spend-happy metropolitan area fans. And although the prospect of hawking its wares on stadium and arena trash cans--er, receptacles--may not resonate with every company, President and co-founder Paul Howell is reporting a steady flow of interest in the days leading up to the start of the Major League Baseball season.

Given the preponderance of advertising in sporting venues, the real question may be why nobody has stumbled onto the concept before now. Here's how it works: TrashTalk offers venue operators a cut of its profits in exchange for the right to sell ads on as many as 400 garbage receptacles stationed throughout the building. There are two ad panels on each 55-gallon receptacle, each measuring roughly 22 inches by 14 inches. While pricing varies based on location, panels range between $100 and $325 per month. Ad impressions, needless to say, are measured via ticket sales.

To be sure, the TrashTalk model has its limitations. The company can euphemize all it wants about "receptacle advertising kiosks," but the bottom line is that most people don't look favorably upon garbage cans in public settings. Furthermore, it's not as if most stadiums and arenas are virgin territory for advertising messages. And on days and nights when 55,000 fans pack Yankee Stadium, the ballpark's narrow corridors don't exactly encourage leisurely browsing.

Howell acknowledges these concerns, emphasizing that educating would-be advertisers is among TrashTalk's top priorities. "What we tell them is that you're not associating yourself with trash; you're associating yourself with the most successful teams and venues in the world," he says. By way of comparison, he points to bathroom advertising. "When that started, it took companies a long time to warm up to it even though it's a wonderful medium. You have people staring."

Adds Robin Potash, the company's vice president of marketing: "I was talking with an agency guy about the Metro-North recycling bins and how nobody at first wanted to be associated with them. But now you have Coach as one of their biggest supporters. It makes such perfect sense--you know exactly where consumers are coming from and their demographics. I think [the receptacles] will catch on the same way."

While Howell says that advertiser response to date has been encouraging, he declines to reveal the New York-area companies that have signed up for space at the two stadiums. "Wait until opening day," he jokes. Although Howell and Potash say they hope for a mix of national and local advertisers, the potential clients they suggest--local limousine services, restaurants, gyms, law practices--have a distinctly regional bent.

"For any of these companies, how often do they get a chance to be in Yankee Stadium?," Howell asks. "We're offering it to them at a very appealing price point." Securing national advertisers could prove a bit trickier, given that just about every sports venue has pre-existing exclusivity deals with major marketers, thus ruling out competitors within those categories.

Look for TrashTalk to add a handful of stadiums and arenas to its slate (which also includes the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. and Syracuse's Carrier Dome) within the next three months. Beyond that, Howell hopes to migrate the TrashTalk model to other types of venues in the years ahead. Although he declines to give specific plans, he suggests amusement parks as a possibility.

While emphasizing that it's too early to give a thorough assessment of the TrashTalk model, out-of-home and non-traditional media executives don't seem especially bullish. One out-of-home specialist at a New York-based firm questions the company's plans and especially the choice of Yankee Stadium as a venue. "It has the prestige, but there's just so much there... there are ads in the bathrooms, on snack trays, everywhere you look," the exec says. "Also, do you know how crowded Yankee Stadium gets? [The receptacles] look much more enticing when you see a photo without anybody around. It's not something that seems like a good choice to me."

Darrin Day, vice president of Outdoor Services, doesn't immediately dismiss the opportunity, but fears that it will be difficult to sell clients on the concept. "Non-traditional is a great niche, and certainly this provides a way for companies to get into places where they might not usually go. I just have a hard time getting past the trash aspect," he says. "A recycling company would be an obvious choice for this. Maybe nonprofit could work."