West Allis-based Poblocki Sign Co. LLC began making one-of-a-kind movie marquees in 1932 and has grown to become one of the world’s foremost architectural sign fabricators.
The company’s 110,000-square-foot headquarters harbors an extension of the company, PS Media Products LLC, which was formed in 2006 to market an innovative advertising display it named the Whirlybird.
The Whirlybird has four wings that wave eight panels of advertising, with a display on each side. It can be suspended from a ceiling up to 100 feet high. The Whirlybird is available in three sizes. The display panels are 2 feet by 3 feet, 3 feet by 4 feet or 6 feet by 4 feet, respectively. The medium and large Whirlybirds are raised and lowered by a remotely controlled hoist system.
The design of the Whirlybird came from the United Kingdom and was refined and Americanized for appropriate lighting and plastic systems, said Dennis Bauer, vice president of operations for the Exterior Sign Division for Poblocki Sign Co.
“We made quite a few improvements and did a complete engineering package on the deal,” Bauer said. “It’s a fully engineered product.”
The panels rotate once each minute, allowing for every viewer within a 360 degree radius to take notice of the advertising.
“The Whirlybird is an eye-catching display that is suspended from ceilings allowing their customers to turn previously unused airspace into advertising space, thus creating a new, non-traditional source of revenue,” said Linda Kiedrowski, president and owner of The Paranet Group, a development and networking organization for manufacturing companies.
Research performed in the United Kingdom known as the Sutton Study (2001) contributed to the Whirlybird’s design, said Tim Drury, vice president of operations for PS Media.
The study stated that displays with movement are more likely to attract consumers’ attention, with 93 percent of consumers looking at the moving display compared to 69 percent observing a static display.
“The Whirlybird allows us to extend our 75-year history of overcoming signage challenges into the advertising display fixtures market,” said Dave Drury, Poblocki Sign Co. president and CEO. “Given the expansion of the out-of-home advertising industry, we believe the Whirlybird will fuel our growth as clients begin to understand the significant impact of motion on advertising message retention.”
Address: 922 S. 70th St., West Allis
Web Site: www.gowhirlybird.com
Industry: Advertising
Innovations: Created Whirlybird moving display advertising system
