For those of you who know me very well, you are well aware that I get antsy after an hour let alone three hours. So there I am sitting in my window seat in row 21 waiting for 100 people in front of me get off the plane in some kind of orderly fashion. Ok I am probably pushing that a little bit — you are right it is never orderly. Finally I get up, grab my stuff, stretch my legs a little bit after the 1389 mile trip to New York. As I get off, I thank the pilot/co-pilot as I ALWAYS do, and then I suddenly see something and stop — yes the person in back of me almost slammed into my back. I try to move to one side but clearly I am in the way. Normal people would clearly notice this but not yours truly! I see something of interest and want to look at it a little further — so there I am staring at the walls of the jet bridge while the plane empties.
The flight attendants finally leave the plane and sort of give me a strange look so it is time to leave. What I was looking at is actually advertising and lots of it on the jet bridge. I try and pride myself at noticing everything and I can’t think of another airport that has advertising on the jet bridge. I actually called a few friends of mine who are frequent travelers and they confirmed my thoughts as well.
As I was looking at the advertising, a number of questions came to mind:
- Who owns the walls on the jet bridge?
- Is this a good idea?
- Why don’t all airports do it?
- Do I like it?
In my mind I tried to answer the questions, but I will admit I had trouble and might be wrong with my thoughts.
I would think since American Airlines rents the gates from the airport, I assume they would rent the jet bridge. That is a guess! I would like to know if I am right. Not sure why other airports don’t do it. The simple answer would be that they do and I haven’t noticed it but I am thinking that isn’t the case. Maybe LaGuardia is very creative — it wouldn’t surprise me since some of the best and brightest advertising executives work eight miles away. Do I like it — I say yes. The jet bridge is usually cold and filled with white walls so if I can see some advertising on the walls that would be ok with me. The difference is I would like it to be VERY, VERY creative advertising, maybe even cutting edge and the advertising that I was looking at was ordinary.
- Have you noticed advertising on jet bridges in other airports?
- Do you like this concept or are you on advertising overload?
- What ads would you like to see?
I look forward to hearing from you and educating me on who does own the jet bridge.
Matt Gershner says:
Yes – I’ve been seeing it quite a bit lately (even in Dallas – on the inside of the jet bridge).
The bigger question is – “why didn’t you call me when you were in NY!?”
Bill Soule says:
Noticed a new form of airport advertising:
Departing from the San Diego yesterday, advertising in the baskets that slide through the x-ray screeners! One basket had “Do you need a new laptop?” Don’t recall the advertiser.
Happy New Year!
Bob Graham says:
I think the bigger question is “Do you remember seeing advertising in jet bridges and have you ever made a purchase or even an inquiry based on what you’ve seen in a jet bridge?”. I can’t recall any advertising, so if it’s out there I’m not noticing it. So is it effective? Am I part of the target audience? If so, it’s not making much of an impression and there are probably better ways to communicate with me.
Merrill Dubrow says:
Bill – thanks for mentioning that I traveled yesterday and the baskets had no advertising at Logan airport.
Bob – good question – I haven’t bought anything because I saw the advertising in NY. I did look yesterday and Logan airport doesn’t have any advertising on the jet bridge – although they have alot of construction to try and make it more user friendly.
Thanks.
Merrill