To Be Sought Out, You Must Go Outdoors

The Kunsthal Museum in Rotterdam

Bergschenhoek, The Netherlands – The Dutch company PK Media specializes in outdoor advertising. Local and regional advertisers turn to PK Media for a complete package: from design consultation through the finished product. Advertising in bus shelters, on bus stops, on lampposts and on 215 sqft (20m²) billboards is the core business of the company. PK Media has won several international awards for the creativity of its projects.

Roland SOLJET SC-545 printer/cutter

PK Media’s vision can be summarized in four sentences: Those who wish to be heard must speak; those who wish to be seen must show themselves; those who wish to be understood must understand others; and those who wish to be sought out must go outdoors. That’s why the company believes that outdoor advertising is the optimal form of advertising; it is informative and is always noticed by those passing by. PK Media offers local and regional advertisers a complete solution: from design consultation to production, placement and maintenance of advertisements.

Bas Schuring, production manager of PK Media, said, “Pleun Klootwijk founded the company in the year 2000. Back then, advertising in bus shelters was our largest source of income. We produced and placed advertisements in bus shelters in 90 cities.

"For logistical reasons, we had to scale down this form of advertising, but we’ve found an excellent alternative in advertising on lampposts. Now, unlike in those early years, we produce everything ourselves.

We have had a Roland SOLJET SC-545 for several years and use it to print all our advertising. The printer is so easy to use that anyone can print with it. Another big advantage is the SOLJET’s reliability: it has been consistently printing for many years now, without any major problems.”

PK Media has already won several international awards. In 2007, the company won its first Fespa Award for wall graphics displayed in the Kunsthal Museum in Rotterdam. Bas Schuring created stickers for a glass wall as part of an exhibition on dinosaurs. “The 16' x 80' (5 x 25 meters) wall was completely covered with an image of the jungle. We used transparent foil that let daylight through, which created a very nice effect and allowed the wall to blend with the garden. The Fespa Awards jury was thrilled with the result and awarded us the gold prize. We also won a Mactac Award for this project,” explained Schuring. PK Media won a second Fespa Award for a totally different project: designing a cover for the back of Philippe Starck chairs. The chairs are part of a marketing campaign for a new line of clothing and are used in the dressing rooms of the shops that sell the clothes.

Schuring printed the designs in reverse on vinyl and applied the prints on the back side of the transparent back of the chairs.

PK Media staff applies print on to the glass wall in the Kunsthal Museum

Erik Witjes (Tripa), Bas Schuring and Pleun Klootwijk (PK Media) receive the Mactac award

The same designs were used on the clothes, so the link between the clothes and the chairs was made clear. The prints were produced on removable material so they can be switched every season. Currently there are 50 of these chairs in shops across the world.

PK Media is convinced that outdoor advertising will remain an important medium, despite the evolution of online advertising. “It’s becoming more and more difficult to obtain licenses for advertising on lampposts, but that doesn’t mean that it will disappear. Outdoor advertising remains a very effective form of advertising and people are used to seeing advertisements while on the streets. Moreover, we keep discovering new outdoor advertising opportunities. Recently, we began offering advertising on taxis and we’ve already received our first orders. I’m sure this will give us fresh inspiration for new advertising media,” said Schuring.

For more information, please visit
www.pkmedia.nl