When Hershey Park, an amusement park in Pennsylvania planned the celebration of their 100-year anniversary, they chose light pole banners as part of the marketing mix. Commerce Color worked with Don Rhoads of Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company on the project.

"Over seventy banners are displayed in the parking lots and on the light poles that line Chocolate Avenue," according Rhoads. "We used two styles of banners: one marks the 100-year anniversary of the Hershey's Kiss, and the other marks the 100-year anniversary of Hershey Park. This is the first time we have used pole banners along Chocolate Avenue, and we are quite pleased with the results."

Commerce Color has seen a dramatic increase in their pole banner business in recent months. According to Tom Croghan, Vice President of Sales / Marketing for Commerce Color, it's not surprising. "Pole banners are relatively low cost, offer high impact and visibility and have almost endless applications."

In St. Louis, Commerce worked with the advertising agency of Maring | Weissman on a pole banner campaign for the Gateway Arch. In a departure from the usual practice of multiple identical banners, each banner pair highlighted different activities available inside the Arch and at nearby Arch venues.

Explains Marti-Maxwell: "When tourists visit, they may be unaware of all the activities available at the Arch. The banners not only increase awareness of visitors' options, they also improve the aesthetic appeal of the Arch grounds and surrounding area."

Design options are expanding too. "The old pole banners had a more graphical representation of the attractions," Marti-Maxwell says. "The new banners use photographic images and incorporate a free-flowing flap at the bases of the signs, which gives them movement and adds visual interest."

In addition to cultural institutions, Commerce Color has worked with a number of municipalities, Petersburg, Virginia among them.

Says Joe Rauchi of the City of Petersburg: "We currently have banners mounted at each downtown corner to mark the Jamestown Festival, an annual event held in nearby Jamestown. There are three banners per pole angling out like blades of a fan, affording a clear view regardless of which direction one approaches from," says Rauchi.

"Following the Jamestown event, they will be replaced with seasonal banners. On my computer screen right now, I have designs for a pole banner campaign to signal the renovation of a municipal pool. We will also use banners to promote future events. The goal is to create a cohesive brand for the municipality and the downtown area in particular," concludes Rauchi.

Ferndale, a bedroom community of Woodward, Michigan, had a different goal: Every year, Woodward hosts the Woodward Dream Cruise, a one-day celebration of car culture attracting more than 1 million visitors and 40,000 specialty vehicles. Ferndale wanted to capitalize on this exposure. An area in transition, and the next in line in terms of gentrification, Ferndale uses pole banners as a means of promoting itself as a desirable place to live.

Suzanne Lee of That Color outsourced the project to Commerce Color. Says Lee: "The banners, which needed to be visible from a long distance, were eight feet high. Our plotters are not big enough to print on that scale, so we called on Commerce Color. Since it was our first project of the kind, we asked Commerce do a sample for the client to approve. The quality was excellent and I am thrilled with how everything went," says Lee. "The vibrant blue banners stood out for miles. It was a very good experience all the way around and we are prepared to do more."

Croghan doesn't see the trend going away any time soon: "We have seen a swell in our pole banner business in recent months, and I think it's safe to say this is a form of outdoor advertising that is here to stay."