ADS GET IN ON PARKING LOTS' GROUND FLOOR.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

ENCINO - One of the few remaining spaces devoid of commercialism has been claimed: Nusign Outdoor Media is putting advertising to a stop - or more precisely, to wheel stops, the concrete bumpers you run your tires into in parking lots.

Slowly rolling out through Los Angeles and soon to be deployed in a million parking spaces nationwide, Nusign's patented AdCaps replace traditional concrete wheel stops with a slickly packaged advertisement. Encased in hard plastic and featuring bright ad campaigns for products as varied as cars, cottage cheese and sci-fi television, the miniature billboards give advertisers yet another way to sneak into the consumer's mind.

``AdCaps are unavoidable,'' Nusign's Web site proudly trumpets. ``Consumers cannot click them off, switch them away, toss them out or turn away from them while speeding past. Installed in clusters, AdCaps pervade a consumer's field of vision while driving and walking through the parking lots.''

The ads have started showing up in parking lots across the San Fernando Valley over this month.

Rossi Coyle, manager of Loehmann's Plaza at Victory Boulevard and Tampa Avenue in Reseda, said her firm was particularly enthusiastic since Nusign assumed all the costs of installation and paid rent on the space.

``Not too many people look at parking lots the way the property managers do, but I think it looks beautiful,'' she said. ``And they took care of all the costs, so we'll see how it goes.''

Nusign President Neil Schore said the idea, conceived three years ago, turns what generally becomes a parking lot nuisance into a convenience for all involved.

``When we did initial consumer testing, our number one response was: 'I wish I would have thought of that,' '' he said. ``We took something that has a very specific purpose, but tends to be a hassle for a property owner. We turned it into an opportunity to make money for them and a fantastic placement space for an advertisement.''

Marketing expert Hal Kassarjian wasn't so sure, saying the market has become so saturated with ads, consumers tend to tune them out - despite AdCaps' claims.

``They don't miss anything, do they?'' the California State University, Northridge, professor chuckled. ``Advertisers are cutting their own throat, because we're paying less and less attention ... It's gone to the point where people learn to ignore it. We're fighting against it, and they're fighting back as best they can.''

Craig Meyer, a Woodland Hills resident shopping at Loehmann's Plaza, agreed. As he climbed into his truck after a trip to Vons, he dismissed the Knudsen's ad providing a stop for his tires.

``I don't pay attention to these anyway,'' he said. ``But I'd rather see this than a billboard. You see (ads) everywhere now - movies, online - they're always trying to get their name out there.''

Kassarjian acknowledged that while ads are losing their effectiveness, they still register in the consumer's mind, even if only on low levels. And, Schore pointed out, better an ad over the old wheel stops.

``Society being what it is, there'll be a small percent of the population who's uncomfortable with advertising in any form,'' he said. ``But do you feel more comfortable with a parking lot filled with aesthetically pleasing ads, or crumbling concrete with rebar poking out of it?''

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Pull into the mall at Tampa and Victory and you'll be greeted by tiny, ankle-high ads. The ground-level minibillboards will start popping up all over as advertisers take their messages to consumers.

(2) This wheel stop in Loehmann's Plaza at Victory Boulevard and Tampa Avenue hawks Knudsen's cottage cheese to shoppers.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News