Airports and Opportunistic Marketing

A little while back, I was standing in the airport security line at SFO. It’s an unfortunate fact of life for business travelers these days.

While I was waiting, I noticed a sign I had never seen before. And though I’m not a photo blogger, I whipped out my BlackBerry and snapped a picture. Here it is:

What a great idea. Not only is it a captive audience – and with DHS standing by to punish any transgression, it’s about as captive as you get in this country – but Glad is able to market its products and provide a convenience. A great example of opportunistic marketing.

Shortly after I took the picture, I moved forward in line, took off my shoes, reached for a bin to put them in, and saw this:

I pulled out my BlackBerry and quickly snapped another pic before my fellow travelers started scowling at me. Advertising shoes in the shoe bin. What a great idea, esp. for an online shoe vendor like Zappos (which is apparently doing quite well). I came to find out there there’s a company behind the ads in bins called Security Point Media. A whole company dedicated to using security lines to market products:

SecurityPoint Media’s innovation improves efficiency for Airports and creates a new medium for Marketers.

SecurityPoint Media works with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Airports to provide an end to end security checkpoint solution in return for the right to utilize the divesting tray for promotional campaigns.

Their marketing copy may be a bit klunky, but I can’t take the idea away from them. And while I can’t wait for more efficient airport lines, I have to give these guys credit for a really innovative marketing idea.