‘Our medium is all about action’ – Gas Station TV CEO David Leider discusses how the company helps turn drivers into buyers
At the Digital Place Based Ad Association’s 2016 Video Everywhere Summit, The Drum spoke with Gas Station TV’s CEO David Leider to find out more about the company’s unique out-of-home business model and its ambitious growth plans for next year.
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The company’s bread and butter is in its name – it literally provides gas stations across the country with small television screens, giving customers the chance to watch news and entertainment from partners including ESPN, AccuWeather, CNN and Bloomberg TV. Between bits of content, Gas Station TV serves up ads from brands like Snickers that are likely to be found within the walls of a gas station as well as ads from auto manufacturers and nearby retailers.
Leider, who founded the company in 2005, said that Gas Station TV plans to double its distribution next year to reach more than 11,000 gas stations across the US, a number that he said will result in about 150 million monthly viewers.
As advertisers continue to fight for eyeballs, Leider said that Gas Station’s value proposition is that its ads reach people during a time when they’re likely already on a path to purchase.
“Our medium is all about action and people being out and about,” he said. “No one says in the morning, ‘I’m going to get up, I’m going to go to the gas station, and then I’m going to go back home and go back to bed.’ Our audience is on the go.”
According to Leider, 60 percent of its audience will visit a retail store on the same day that they visit the pump while 25 percent will visit one within two hours of pumping gas. He also noted that 60 percent of its audience will eat at a fast food restaurant.
On its website, Gas Station TV boasts that 78% of its audience is between the ages of 18-49, a coveted age group for marketers. It also states that its on-the-go TVs are “63% more likely to reach ages 18-49 than TV.”
“We reach an audience that is very difficult to reach on traditional television,” said Leider.
Check out The Drum’s interview with Leider below to find out how Gas Station TV balances ads with content and to hear his thoughts on traditional media.