Airport selects new advertising partner

The Springfield-Branson National Airport chose a new company to broker advertising placements at the terminal.

Indianapolis-based Airport Interactive Media was the sole respondent in February to a request for proposals, said Springfield airport spokesman Kent Boyd.

“Everyone described them as being very aggressive in their sales and generally delivering on their revenue projections,” Boyd said.

AIM President Matt Murray said the 2-year-old company plans to invest more than $260,000 in Springfield adding high-definition video boards and other new advertising platforms. If the contract is renewed beyond its initial five years, the airport would become the owner of the new equipment, according to the RFP provided by Boyd.

Murray, who previously had more than 15 years of experience in airport and billboard advertising before joining AIM, said his firm has about five airport Midwest, including the recently signed General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport in Peoria, Illinois.

“We found a really great niche there because a lot of the airport traffic in these smaller cities originates and terminates there,” he said.

Boyd said the Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau previously broker the advertising at the airport but did not submit a new proposal at the end of their contract.

The contract with AIM stipulates the organizations will share ad revenue. Boyd said the airport is guaranteed $50,000 annually. The contract spells out the airport will take 50 percent of gross revenue from static displays and 40 percent of gross revenue from digital displays, he said.

AIM’s RFP forecasts selling more than $300,000 in ad revenue during the first year of the contract, with sales rising 20 percent each additional year.