As a property owner, you’re in the landlord business. Our clients – whether they’re indie bands or world-famous brands – are in the entertainment and marketing businesses.
And Phantom Billstickers? We’re in the communication business.
Since we’re all in business together, money is always going to be a factor. So we’d like to share a bit about how the market affects all our returns.
Here are three things we always keep in mind when we deal with commercial partners:
1. It’s a long-term payoff, not a quick buck
A lot of work goes into setting up a Phantom Billstickers site. It’s not just a case of whacking up some frames on any wall we can find.
We may have to spend a lot of time and energy working with Councils and rule makers to get the right permits. We need to analyse the business case for each site, which may involve measuring traffic flows to justify our clients’ investment in attracting eyeballs. And of course, we have to physically install and maintain the frames and other infrastructure such as lighting.
We make this investment of time and money because we take a long-term view. We believe posters are Flora For The Concrete Jungle, so it’s worth doing things right. And we want every one of our frames to make money for our advertisers.
As a landlord, you benefit from the unseen work that takes place before Phantom frames are installed on your walls. It’s an investment in creating a long-term, passive revenue stream for your business.
2. The unexpected will happen
There are the normal ups and downs of the business cycle – and then there are factors no one can plan for. ‘Black swan events.’ Covid-19 qualifies as one, but there have been others and there will be more.
During these times, it’s human nature to expect a return to previous conditions ASAP. But it may not be that straightforward. It’s no doubt obvious to you that, as with a fully occupied commercial property, fully occupied poster frames do not mean an immediate return to smooth sailing.
Once again, it’s about taking the long-term view.
3. We’re here to listen and communicate
Curious about how the market influences the frames on your building? Ask us.
We understand that you’re looking closely at the dollar amounts in the contracts you sign with Phantom. We’ve shared some of the factors that influence the revenue we generate and share with our partners But if you’d like to know more, ask us.
As we said up front, it’s a business after all.
We are always happy to discuss our targets for revenue from your site, the income it’s generated in the past, and our view of where the market sits. We will be as transparent as possible to help reach agreement on divvying up the money that flows from our clients to us, and then to you.
Phantom Billstickers invented the model that created a revenue stream for property owners by renting their wall space to people who wanted to communicate with the public via street posters. We’ve been doing it for over 40 years now.
It’s about creating a win/win scenario that’s sustainable and dependable. As the saying goes, we’re all in this together.