Advertisements On The Floor No Longer A Taboo?

Is floor advertising making a comeback in Singapore shopping malls? I sure think so. Jackie Chan’s most recent movie The Karate Kid was advertised on the floor at Plaza Singapura, Orchard Road. Here’s a shot.

More than 15 years ago, I was a sales and marketing consultant for media advertising companies which had new ideas of placing advertisements in high traffic locations like shopping malls, train stations, bus stops or airports.  There were, in particular one type of advertising media that was so challenging to promote. The concept is called floor advertising, whereby advertisements are placed at below eye level of consumers and on the footpaths. There were two types of media that used this concept, floor advertising by Eyes Down Media and escalator advertising which was represented by Black Cat Media.

What was very difficult at that time was that advertisers and advertising agents were apprehensive, reluctant and almost not receptive to the concept of placing advertisements where the feet of the consumers would trample on. In Asia, it is not only considered taboo, but also a sign of disrespect for the brandname, logo and company name. How would you like your name to be stepped on? Yet, the concept of floor advertising  makes sense as it targets buyers as opposed to potential consumers, influencing their buying decisions as they browse through supermarkets and shopping malls. With so many advertisements and goods displayed all over the shelves, having just one big banner stuck on the floor is the most effective way to get buyers’ attention.

Brandnames on the floor? Not a chance. No matter how attractive the figures showed on sales from an advertising campaign using floor and escalator advertising, people here were not ready to accept the concept then. So the business came to grinding halt.

Floor advertising has made a comeback it seems, such as this one of Jackie Chan’s latest movie ‘The Karate Kid”. Apparently, Jackie Chan, an Asian superstar does not mind his name being trampled on. Have people changed the way they think about advertising or have they abandoned their beliefs and decided to venture along with foreign ideas? Whatever the reasons, I reckon I will encounter less resistance to floor advertising now.