Palomar Mountain Premium Spring Water has long relied on the Yellow Pages, billboard advertising, direct sales, and ad insertions for generating sales leads in what has become a highly competitive industry. Now, the Escondido, Calif.–based company is taking its marketing to the most peculiar of places: the portable restroom. Talk about reaching a captive audience. After all, in addition to death and taxes, answering the call of nature is one of the few certainties in life.

This emerging form of outdoor advertising, offered since May 2006 by Toronto-based Micro Target Media (MTM), allows companies to purchase advertising space on the outside or inside of a portable restroom. MTM has even developed special exterior materials that let advertisers wrap their message around a portable restroom to enhance brand equity. MTM has successfully implemented pilot programs with Palomar, Major League Baseball, Ford, Universal Records, NASCAR, and GlaxoSmithKline.

“Because people are so close to the advertising and it’s something so new, we find people standing in front of the [ad-wrapped] restrooms getting their picture taken,” says Danielle Jennings, senior vice president of marketing communications and special event sales at MTM. “It’s fascinating to watch people engage with the advertising.”

Of course, advertisers demand measurable results. And to meet those demands, MTM developed a proprietary technology that provides companies with real-time, Web-based proof of performance. A radio frequency identification device inserted in each restroom allows advertisers to track the location of portable restrooms online throughout a campaign. Additionally, infrared beams on the top of the restrooms count ad views as people walk by. Advertisers receive reports and performance measurement data to track campaign results.

A High-Water Mark
Placing ads on portable restrooms is especially suitable in the construction industry because construction workers are typically an elusive demographic, as they move to different work sites every few weeks. In August 2006, Palomar launched an eight-week campaign inside 2,500 portable restrooms at construction sites around San Diego. “We weren’t sure what they would generate, but it provided the opportunity to try something that would differentiate us from our competitors,” says Conrad Pawelski, chief financial officer at Palomar.

Did the company watch its money get flushed down the toilet? Not in the least. The campaign helped Palomar secure 24 new commercial accounts for a total of $70,000 in annual revenue. Moreover, Pawelski says the company significantly increased its penetration in the construction industry.

“I think this is a great advertising medium that really allows you to target a specific audience,” Pawelski says.

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