Northland billboards — 16 sites, Mangawhai to Kaitaia
How Roadside Reach Helped Alibaba's Flying Carpets Reach a Whole New Audience
A single, fixed sign in central Kerikeri wasn't enough to reach Northland drivers, so Alibaba's Flying Carpets, a flooring specialist based in Waipapa, moved to a mobile billboard with Roadside Reach on State Highway 10. Over two years and three site moves, that billboard has helped the business reach a whole new pool of customers.
Roadside Reach is Northland's mobile billboard specialist, owned and operated by Zelda and Wayne Thompson from their base in Kerikeri. The business positions double-sided billboard trailers at roadside sites from Mangawhai to Kaitaia, handling every part of a campaign, from the land lease and the printing through to the installation and ongoing upkeep of the site.
2 Years of campaigns
Continuous coverage across three site moves on SH1 and SH10
40% Say It's the Sign
Of customers, when asked, say the sign is how they found Alibaba's Flying Carpets
Real Results over 3 sites
Each move reaching a fresh pool of Northland customers
The Client
Two years, three sites
Two years, three sites
Two years, three sites
Following the highway traffic across the Far North
Built for their style
Two years, three sites
Two years, three sites
Bold, playful boards that match the brand
Always evolving
Two years, three sites
Always evolving
A new location, a new audience, every renewal
Background
Additional Information
Alibaba's Flying Carpets is an independent carpet and vinyl flooring specialist based in Waipapa, serving customers across the Far North from Cape Reinga down to Waipū. Formed in February 2019, the business has built a loyal following in a local market that leans toward supporting independent operators over national brands.
Natalie Fletcher, General Manager, leads Alibaba's Flying Carpets' client relationships and oversees aspects of its advertising, including its work with Roadside Reach
The Problem
Before working with Roadside Reach, Alibaba's Flying Carpets relied on a single-sided static sign in central Kerikeri, along with a radio advertising campaign with More FM that ran for roughly two years. Both worked well for a time. "The static sign and radio campaigns worked until they didn't," says Natalie. "We'd reached a point where most of the people we were going to reach, we'd already reached, so we weren't seeing any further growth from it."
Most of Alibaba's Flying Carpets' competitors are based within Kerikeri itself, which meant that being seen by drivers who were bypassing the town altogether, rather than driving through it, had become an important point of difference for the business.
"I wanted to capture the people who are on the road that are going to detour to Kerikeri," says Natalie. "It's about reaching people who don't already know about us." What Alibaba's Flying Carpets needed was a form of advertising with the flexibility to move as the business's needs changed, without losing the highway visibility that mattered so much to their growth.
The Solution
Working with Roadside Reach gave Alibaba's Flying Carpets a flexible, fully managed alternative to its static sign, and the partnership has grown from there:
Moved onto State Highway 10: Alibaba's Flying Carpets invested in a mobile billboard near the Puketotara Road stretch of SH10, close to Waipapa, replacing its previous static sign and putting the business in front of the high-traffic bypass route it had been missing out on.
A new site at each renewal: At each renewal, Alibaba's Flying Carpets moved the billboard to a new site along SH10 and SH1, from Puketotara Road to Pakaraka, and now to a new site near Canopy Imaging. Each move has put the business in front of a different stretch of highway traffic, reaching a new pool of potential customers each time.
Freedom to relocate: Roadside Reach's contract terms give clients the option to relocate at renewal if a site's performance plateaus, opening up a different audience altogether. Natalie says, "With six-month contracts, you get the opportunity to relocate if you need to. That's a huge benefit compared to a fixed sign: you can move location to see what's working and what's not, and capture people you might not have reached at your previous site."
A new site chosen together: While Roadside Reach maintains an established network of high-traffic mobile billboard sites across Northland, the team is happy to explore a new location when a client has a particular area in mind. When Natalie flagged a promising spot near Canopy Imaging, Zelda handled the landowner negotiations and land lease arrangements.
Fully managed by Roadside Reach: Roadside Reach arranges the printing, carries out the physical installation, and manages ongoing site maintenance, from trimming vegetation to re-stretching or water-blasting the billboard skin as needed. "It's great that she does all of that as part of the package," says Natalie.
Responsive communication: Zelda answers the phone promptly and replies to enquiries the same day. "She'll get back to you within the day, and she keeps you informed the whole way through, from when your contract's renewing to sending photos when the sign's being built and when it actually gets moved onto site," says Natalie.
The Results
Alibaba's Flying Carpets asks customers how they heard about the business as part of its sales process, giving Natalie a read on how the billboard is performing.
A steady stream of billboard-driven enquiries: When asked how they heard about the business, roughly 40 per cent of customers say it was the sign. "It's a solid chunk of our new business," says Natalie.
Reaching a new customer segment: The billboard has opened up areas of Northland that were previously untapped for Alibaba's Flying Carpets. "We noticed a real increase in customers from Mangonui and Coopers Beach, which was pretty much an untapped market for us before," says Natalie. "That area tends to be drawn to a one-stop shop, like Guthrie Bowron or Flooring Xtra, so it was really nice to see. Otherwise, it's been more of a general increase in sales across the whole of Northland."
Stronger local business relationships: Natalie's conversations with other local business owners who also work with Roadside Reach have deepened existing relationships within the Kerikeri business community.
Above-and-beyond service: When it came time to launch the current sign at Pakaraka, Zelda and Wayne got the billboard installed in pouring rain and difficult, muddy conditions, exactly as they'd promised. "She's also gone door-knocking and made phone calls on our behalf when we've had our eye on a potential site," says Natalie.
A positive return on investment: Looking back over the full partnership, Natalie is clear that it's been worth every dollar. Consistent, fair pricing is a big part of why: "Zelda is fair and reasonable with her pricing, and has kept our increases very minimal, even with costs going up everywhere else. That's a big part of why we've continued our recurring contracts with her."
Room to grow with the business: As Alibaba's Flying Carpets continues to expand, Natalie sees the mobile billboard model as something that can grow alongside it, rather than being tied to a single, fixed investment. "If the business keeps growing, we might even look at adding another billboard somewhere further north," she says..
What Does the Client Say?
"The mobile billboard has paid for itself many times over. When we ask customers how they heard about us, 40 per cent say it's the sign, so it's a solid chunk of our new business.
What I like most about working with Zelda is her communication. She gets back to you within the day, and she keeps you updated the whole way through, right down to sending photos when the sign's being built and when it goes up on site. And she goes above and beyond: she and Wayne installed our current sign in pouring rain and mud, exactly as promised, and she's gone door-knocking and made phone calls on our behalf when we've had our eye on a site.
I'd absolutely recommend Roadside Reach to other businesses, and we'll definitely keep working with them. We've been very pleased, and it's been genuinely fun. Zelda completely aligns with our quirky style, and we love our billboard. If the business keeps growing, we might even look at adding another billboard somewhere further north."
— Natalie Fletcher, General Manager, Alibaba's Flying Carpets, Waipapa, Northland NZ
