Under The Plate - Proof How Some Traditional Media Is Alive and Well

Under The Plate (Original Post NJ My Way, March 23, 2009)

March 23, 2009

In an age where we are bombarded by advertising messages-from our cell phones, screens at the supermarket checkout, billboards on buses - the low tech message may be the best of all.

Businessman Errol Ernstrom of Denvilleknows this well. He runs Placemats Plus(www.placematsplus.com) which is now celebrating 25 years of successful placemat advertising. Errol's paper placemats, printed with ads from local businesses, are under plates in more than a hundred diners throughout northern and central New Jersey.

"Where there's a diner, there can be a placemat," says Errol, pointing out that these eateries are the natural location for the paper placemats-the customers are varied and span different generations and socioeconomic groups-and the turnover is quick. Plus, New Jersey has more diners than any other state.

At the Tick Tock Diner (www.tictockdiner.com), they go thru 200,000 of Errol's mats every six months. There's even a one year waiting list for businesses who want to advertise at thisClifton institution.

Errol ran a furniture business that bought advertising on the placemats-and its sales grew dramatically as a result WhenPlacemats Plus became available in 1997, he snapped up the company. Now he sells ads for $16-20 per week, per diner. There is a six month minimum ad purchase.

"I had a realtor wait five and a half years to get on the mat," he says. And then he told us about the lawyer who added his picture to the placemat ad in 28 diners, and his business became hugely successful. Now, there's a waiting list of lawyers who want to get on the same mat; the 18 or so ads on the placemat are exclusive by category.

Is he threatened by the digital revolution and high-tech ads? Not as long as people love diners, and eat out.

In New Jersey-the diner still rules. And chances are, Errol Ernstrom's mats are under your plate.