Hammonton Market Overview: Why This Town Punches Above Its Weight
Hammonton’s official population is about 14,700 residents (2020), but its advertising reach is far larger thanks to its strategic location. The town is bisected by U.S. Route 30 (White Horse Pike) and served by U.S. Route 206 and Route 54, which collectively channel tens of thousands of vehicles per day and make billboards in Hammonton visible to a much wider regional audience.
According to recent New Jersey Department of Transportation traffic count data:
- U.S. 30 (White Horse Pike) near Hammonton carries roughly 22,000–25,000 vehicles per day, or about 8–9 million vehicle trips per year.
- U.S. 206 near Hammonton handles about 17,000–19,000 vehicles per day, adding another 6–7 million trips annually.
- NJ-54 (Bellevue Avenue) corridor sees about 13,000–16,000 vehicles per day, equal to roughly 4.7–5.8 million trips per year.
Taken together, these corridors mean that while Hammonton itself is a small town, campaigns on nearby digital billboards can reach a daily driving audience easily exceeding 40,000–50,000 vehicle trips, and 15–18+ million impressions annually, especially when we factor in regional through-traffic and seasonal shore visitors. This scale is why Hammonton billboard advertising can deliver market impact more typical of a much larger city.
Local context that should shape our billboard strategy:
- Hammonton is part of Atlantic County, which has about 274,000–276,000 residents and more than 110,000 households, and it sits near the boundaries of Burlington and Camden counties, expanding the effective market into a broader South Jersey trade area of 1+ million people.
- The town sits roughly 30 miles from Atlantic City and 35 miles from Center City Philadelphia, putting advertisers within a 45–50 minute drive of two major metro and entertainment hubs.
- NJ Transit’s Atlantic City Line stops in Hammonton and carries more than 1 million riders annually systemwide, reinforcing the town’s role as a regional connector for commuters and tourists.
- The Town of Hammonton actively promotes growth in small business, arts, and tourism through its municipal and redevelopment efforts. (Town info: townofhammonton.org)
- Atlantic County as a whole welcomes more than 25 million visitors annually as part of the broader Jersey Shore tourism economy, with tourism expenditures topping $7–8 billion per year regionwide, much of it flowing along the Hammonton–Atlantic City corridors ( Atlantic County government VisitNJ tourism).
For advertisers, Hammonton functions as a regional funnel: messages don’t just reach local residents, but also people heading to Atlantic City casinos, shore towns like Brigantine and Ocean City, the New Jersey Pinelands, and Philadelphia suburbs. The nearby New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve, which covers over 1.1 million acres and draws hundreds of thousands of recreation-oriented visitors each year (New Jersey Pinelands Commission), further boosts outdoor and weekend travel past Hammonton. Any strategy using Hammonton billboards should account for this mix of tourists, commuters, and local shoppers.
Audience & Demographics: Who We’re Reaching in Hammonton
Understanding who is on the road is central to designing winning billboard creative and choosing the right billboard rental in Hammonton.
Based on 2020 Census-era data and state/local planning documents:
- Population: ~14,700 residents in Hammonton proper, with population growth of roughly 4–6% since 2010.
- Age: Median age around 38–40, in line with New Jersey’s statewide median (about 40), with roughly 23–25% under age 18 and 15–17% over age 65—a strong mix of children, working-age adults, and seniors.
- Households: Around 5,000–5,500 households, with 65–70% owner-occupied housing, indicating a stable base of long-term residents and homeowners.
- Income: Median household income in Hammonton is in the $70,000–$80,000 range, compared with roughly $63,000–65,000 for Atlantic County overall, and around $90,000–95,000 for New Jersey statewide. This positions Hammonton as a solidly middle-income, value-conscious market.
- Employment mix: Atlantic County supports about 120,000–130,000 jobs, with strong concentrations in hospitality, healthcare, retail, construction, and logistics, and many Hammonton residents work in these sectors in Atlantic City, the shore towns, and the Philadelphia metro.
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Commuting:
- Roughly 75–80% of workers commute by car alone.
- An additional 8–10% carpool, reflecting family and service-sector work patterns.
- A sizable share—around 35–40% of workers—commute 30+ minutes each way, many toward Atlantic City, Philadelphia, and other job centers in South Jersey.
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Cultural profile:
- Hammonton has one of the most notable Italian-American communities in New Jersey, with some estimates indicating that 40–50% or more of residents report Italian ancestry. Long-standing family businesses, feast days, and church events are central to local life.
- It is also home to a sizable and growing Hispanic/Latino population, which has increased significantly over the past two decades and now represents roughly 25–30% of residents, especially connected to agriculture, food production, and service sectors.
Local public institutions such as the Hammonton Public Schools district, which serves about 2,500–3,000 students across its campuses, and nearby colleges like Atlantic Cape Community College and Stockton University help bring in daily traffic from students, staff, and visiting families. These daily trips add further value to Hammonton billboard advertising that targets education, youth services, or family-focused brands.
What this implies for billboard messaging:
- Family-focused messaging works. Services like healthcare, education, family dining, auto, and home services should lean into “local, trusted, family-first” positioning, knowing that nearly two-thirds of households are family households.
- Bilingual creative can pay off. With roughly 1 in 4 residents identifying as Hispanic/Latino, banking, health services, and retail advertisers should consider English + Spanish copy for certain boards or times of day.
- Appeal to local pride. Phrases referencing “Blueberry Capital,” “South Jersey,” or Hammonton landmarks can increase emotional connection and recall—especially since local festivals and sports regularly draw hundreds to several thousand attendees per event.
- Offer commuter-friendly value propositions. With a large share of 30+ minute commuters, discounts, time-limited offers, and “on your way home” messaging resonate strongly.
Local channels such as The Hammonton Gazette, Press of Atlantic City, and regional broadcaster NJ Spotlight News regularly highlight community events, sports, and local business stories; we can mirror this community-first, hyper-local tone in our billboard copy to keep Hammonton billboards feeling relevant and familiar to local drivers.
Traffic Patterns & Dayparting: When to Run Your Blips
Hammonton’s key roads see predictable weekday and weekend patterns that we can exploit using flexible scheduling tools. A typical commuter corridor in South Jersey sees peak-hour traffic volumes that are 30–50% higher than mid-day averages, and Hammonton’s main roads follow that pattern.
Weekday patterns (approximate):
- Morning peak: 6:30–9:00 a.m. on U.S. 30 and U.S. 206, with workers heading toward Atlantic City, Philadelphia, and regional employment centers. On some segments, as much as 35–40% of daily traffic occurs in the combined morning and evening peaks.
- Midday: Consistent local traffic from errands, agriculture, and service businesses; U.S. 30 volumes typically hold at 60–70% of peak levels between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
- Evening peak: 3:30–6:30 p.m., particularly strong for homeward commuters and parents running after-school and sports activities.
Weekend patterns:
- From late spring through early fall, shore-bound traffic can spike on Fridays and Saturdays as people head to Atlantic City and barrier island towns. Traffic counts on key Atlantic County corridors can rise 15–25% over off-season averages during peak summer weekends.
- Sunday afternoons and evenings see the reverse flow: people coming back inland toward Hammonton, Philadelphia, and North Jersey. On some corridors, Sunday evening volumes rival or exceed weekday p.m. peaks.
How to use this with digital billboards:
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Commuter campaigns:
- Focus your budget on weekday 6–9 a.m. and 4–7 p.m., when up to 40% of daily impressions are available.
- Use directional calls to action: “Exit in Hammonton,” “Next 10 miles,” or “On your way to Atlantic City?”
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Retail and restaurants in Hammonton:
- Emphasize lunchtime (11 a.m.–2 p.m.) and early evening (4–7 p.m.), when local errand and dining traffic is strongest.
- Promote specials, happy hour, or “Tonight in Downtown Hammonton.”
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Shore-related businesses (hotels, casinos, attractions, gas, and convenience):
- Prioritize Friday afternoon/evening and Saturday mornings to catch outbound traffic; in peak summer, as much as 20–30% of weekly shore trips occur in this window.
- Use Sunday afternoon/evening for “One last stop before home” or “Order online on your way back.”
Because digital campaigns can be scheduled in small time blocks, we can:
- Run heavier frequency just during peak windows, concentrating 60–80% of impressions in the top-performing hours.
- Pause or reduce spend during truly off-peak late-night hours unless we’re targeting nightlife, casinos, or 24-hour services.
- Test different dayparts with different creatives (e.g., “Good Morning Hammonton” vs. “Tonight Only in Downtown Hammonton”) and compare results via web traffic and redemption data.
For broader regional traffic data and counts, New Jersey DOT’s traffic resources are helpful: state.nj.us/transportation. For shore corridor trends, the South Jersey Transportation Authority, which operates the Atlantic City Expressway serving more than 50 million vehicles per year, also publishes traffic and toll data. These sources are useful when evaluating which billboards in Hammonton will deliver the best exposure for a given budget.
Seasonal Opportunities: Aligning Campaigns With Hammonton’s Calendar
Hammonton has a strong seasonal rhythm, driven by agriculture, tourism, school schedules, and local festivals. Atlantic County’s tourism volume can swing 30–40% between off-season and peak summer months, and Hammonton’s roads reflect those surges.
Key local and regional patterns we should build around:
Blueberry Season (June–July)
Hammonton brands itself as the “Blueberry Capital of the World” and is surrounded by large blueberry farms that help make New Jersey one of the top 6 blueberry-producing states in the U.S. Statewide, New Jersey farms often harvest 40–50 million pounds of blueberries per year, generating farmgate sales in the tens of millions of dollars annually.
During peak season around Hammonton:
- Local farms employ large seasonal workforces, with some individual farms adding hundreds of seasonal workers to handle picking and packing.
- Visitors travel into town for u-pick farms, festivals, and farm markets, with major events drawing thousands of attendees across the season.
- Local and regional media highlight Hammonton, boosting awareness well beyond its 14,700 residents.
Advertising strategies:
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For food & beverage, grocers, and farm markets, lean into blueberry-themed creative and local pride:
- “Celebrate Blueberry Season in Hammonton”
- “Try Our Blueberry Specials – Exit at Hammonton”
- For employment campaigns, target pre-season (April–May) to attract seasonal workers with recruitment messages, especially given tight labor markets in agriculture statewide.
- Consider aligning messaging with major events promoted by Downtown Hammonton/MainStreet Hammonton: downtownhammonton.com and municipal event listings at townofhammonton.org.
Well-timed Hammonton billboard advertising during this period can capture both residents and seasonal visitors when interest in the town is at its peak.
Summer Shore Traffic (Memorial Day–Labor Day)
The broader Atlantic County region sees a major surge in visitation:
- Atlantic City alone typically attracts 20–27 million visitors per year, with July and August being peak months for casino, beach, and boardwalk trips.
- Southern NJ shore towns collectively draw hundreds of thousands of weekly visitors in July and August, with overall New Jersey tourism exceeding 100–110 million visitors annually, most clustered between May and September (VisitNJ tourism).
- A large portion of that traffic passes near or through Hammonton along U.S. 30 and connecting routes to the Atlantic City Expressway and Garden State Parkway.
Advertising strategies:
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Hospitality & entertainment (hotels, casinos, restaurants, golf, nightlife):
- Target Fridays/Saturdays for inbound messaging: “This Weekend in Atlantic City,” “Just 20 Minutes Ahead.”
- Coordinate with casino and entertainment calendars published by local tourism and casino sites such as Meet AC/Visit Atlantic City: meetac.com.
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Family attractions (waterparks, mini golf, boardwalks):
- Emphasize family-friendly, time-limited deals – “This Week Only,” “Save Today.”
- Highlight drive times (“Only 25 Minutes Ahead”) to reassure families with kids in the car.
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Local Hammonton businesses can position the town as a “stop on the way”:
- “Grab Dinner in Hammonton on Your Way to the Shore”
- “Fill Up Before the Parkway – Exit in Hammonton”
- This strategy taps into the millions of seasonal trips that already pass within a few miles of town.
The official Atlantic County government and tourism resources provide context on summer traffic and events: atlantic-county.org VisitNJ. Businesses comparing billboard rental in Hammonton with boards closer to the shore should weigh this inland “gateway” role carefully.
Fall Harvest & Festivals (September–November)
Hammonton’s cultural and agricultural identity keeps traffic strong into fall:
- Italian-American feasts, harvest festivals, local fairs, and arts events help sustain weekend traffic, often drawing hundreds to several thousand visitors from surrounding towns.
- School and youth sports drive steady local travel during weekday evenings and Saturdays, with local school events, football games, and soccer tournaments bringing dozens to hundreds of cars to town on a given night.
Advertising strategies:
- Education, after-school programs, youth sports, and family services should emphasize back-to-school (late August–September) and align messaging with the Hammonton Public Schools calendar: hammontonschools.org.
- Local dining, breweries/wineries, and farm events should create “Fall in Hammonton” themes, with calls to visit after games or on weekends.
- Home services (roofing, HVAC, landscaping) should push strong promotions in early fall before winter sets in, when temperatures in South Jersey can drop from the 70s into the 40s in just a few weeks, driving demand for heating and weatherization services.
- Use imagery of vineyards, orchards, and foliage to connect with travelers headed into the Pinelands for fall drives.
For specific event dates and to time creative, check municipal and downtown calendars at townofhammonton.org and downtownhammonton.com. Seasonal boards that speak directly to these events tend to stand out among more generic billboards in Hammonton.
Winter & Holidays (November–February)
While shore traffic decreases, Hammonton itself remains active:
- Holiday shopping and events in Downtown Hammonton (e.g., tree lighting, parades, arts nights) keep traffic flowing locally, with key nights drawing hundreds of visitors into the downtown core.
- Residents focus on indoor activities, heating services, and financial planning as average high temperatures dip into the 40s and 30s and heating bills spike across the region.
- Atlantic County continues to host indoor casino, convention, and entertainment activity, meaning that winter visitation, while lower than summer, still numbers in the millions of trips.
Advertising strategies:
- Emphasize gift cards, local shopping, holiday menus, and catering from early November through December, tapping into the holiday retail period when many businesses make 20–30% of annual sales.
- For financial planners, tax services, and gyms, push “New Year, New You” messages from late December through January, when consumer attention shifts to tax preparation and fitness, and gym sign-ups often jump 20–40% over the yearly average.
- Use warm, community-centered creative – local imagery and “Shop Hammonton First” themes resonate strongly with residents who care about supporting small businesses downtown.
Creative That Resonates in Hammonton
We can maximize impact by tailoring our billboard artwork to local culture and road context, using data on how long drivers can realistically process a message. Thoughtful creative is what turns simple billboard rental in Hammonton into a memorable, response-driving campaign.
Lean Into Local Identity
Hammonton residents and frequent travelers recognize and respond to:
- References to “Blueberry Capital of the World”
- Imagery of blueberry fields, farms, and pine forests from the surrounding Pinelands
- Local landmarks and downtown imagery (e.g., Bellevue Avenue, arts district, train station, and historic churches)
- Phrases like “Proudly Serving Hammonton,” “South Jersey Owned,” or “Family-Owned Since [Year]”
This is particularly powerful for:
- Local restaurants and bakeries
- Home and auto services
- Local healthcare practices and clinics
- Community banks and credit unions
Brand lift studies on out-of-home advertising often show 10–20% increases in ad recall when localized language and imagery are used, compared with generic creative. That means weaving Hammonton-specific visuals and phrases into your campaigns can directly improve performance.
Design for Fast-Moving Traffic
On U.S. 30 and U.S. 206, vehicles often travel 45–55 mph, giving drivers roughly 3–7 seconds to absorb a message, depending on board placement and sight lines.
We should:
- Use 5–8 words maximum of main copy—research from out-of-home industry groups shows that boards with under 7 words have significantly higher comprehension at highway speeds.
- Feature one core offer or CTA, such as “Exit at Hammonton – Next Right” or “Visit Downtown Tonight.”
- Choose high-contrast colors (dark background with bright text, or vice versa) to aid legibility in all weather conditions.
- Use large, legible fonts – avoid thin scripts; bold, sans-serif typefaces work best.
- Include one recognizable logo or icon; too many visual elements reduce recall in the limited viewing window.
Bilingual & Multicultural Messaging
Given Hammonton’s strong Italian-American roots and growing Hispanic community:
- Consider alternate creatives with Spanish language copy for campaigns in banking, health, telecom, and retail—especially for boards closer to agricultural areas or worker housing.
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If you run multiple creatives in rotation, test:
- English-only
- Bilingual (English headline, Spanish subline)
- Spanish-dominant for specific time blocks or boards
- Track downstream metrics (website visits, calls, coupon redemptions) from bilingual boards; in similar mixed-language markets, advertisers often see 10–30% higher engagement from bilingual campaigns targeting Spanish-speaking audiences.
We can adjust the share of impressions going to each creative based on performance and response.
Matching Campaign Types to Hammonton’s Audience
Different industries can exploit Hammonton’s geography and demographics in distinct ways, matching message to both who is driving and where they are headed. When planning Hammonton billboard advertising, it helps to think industry by industry.
Local Retail & Dining
Ideal strategies:
- Geo-target boards that capture traffic immediately before Hammonton exits on U.S. 30, U.S. 206, and NJ-54, reaching the tens of thousands of weekly drivers passing each location.
- Emphasize distance-based CTAs: “2 Miles Ahead – Downtown Hammonton,” “Next Exit,” “Turn at Bellevue Ave.” Distance-based CTAs are associated with higher store-visit conversion rates in out-of-home studies.
- Promote time-based offers: “Tonight Only,” “Lunch Special 11–2,” “Friday Night in Hammonton,” especially during known busy nights like arts and food events.
- Sync digital billboards with local event nights promoted by downtownhammonton.com and community calendars on townofhammonton.org, so your message appears the same week or day as major draws.
Tourism, Casinos, and Shore Attractions
Ideal strategies:
- Target weekend and evening dayparts to match travel patterns to Atlantic City and shore towns, capturing the millions of leisure trips made annually along these corridors.
- Use countdown- and distance-based messaging: “Atlantic City: 25 Minutes,” “Boardwalk in 30 Minutes,” or “Tonight’s Show Starts at 8 PM.”
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Test creatives by audience:
- Families: “Kids Eat Free This Weekend.”
- Couples: “Date Night at the Casino – Live Music Tonight.”
- Groups: “Book Your Party – Exit Ahead.”
- Align messaging with major entertainment schedules posted by venues and tourism groups like Meet AC/Visit Atlantic City: meetac.com.
Healthcare, Education, and Community Services
Ideal strategies:
- Highlight trust, longevity, and local service – messages such as “Caring for Hammonton Families Since 1995” or “Serving South Jersey for 25+ Years” resonate in a town where many households have lived in the area for decades.
- Emphasize convenience and access: “Same-Day Appointments,” “Walk-In Clinic – 10 Minutes Ahead,” or “Free Parking – Downtown Hammonton.”
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For schools, colleges, and training programs, align campaigns with:
- Enrollment windows (spring and late summer)
- Open house dates
- Athletic and arts seasons, when parents and students make dozens of trips per month to campuses and venues
- Coordinate billboard messaging with digital and print campaigns in outlets such as The Hammonton Gazette and Press of Atlantic City to build frequency across media.
Professional & Home Services
Ideal strategies:
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Use seasonal urgency tied to real weather and usage patterns:
- Roofers & HVAC: “Get Ready for Summer Heat” or “Before Winter Hits,” timed for April–May and September–October when homeowners are planning upgrades.
- Landscaping: “Spring Clean-Up – Book Now,” as temperatures climb into the 60s and 70s and demand spikes.
- Target commuter dayparts to reach homeowners during drive times; households with longer commutes still rely on local service providers, and billboards can remind them while they are already on the road.
- Highlight local presence and trust: “Serving Hammonton & South Jersey,” “Local, Licensed, Insured,” or “Rated #1 by Your Neighbors,” referencing reviews or awards in local publications.
Using Digital Flexibility to Test and Optimize in Hammonton
Hammonton’s combination of local and through-traffic makes it a test-friendly market for digital billboards. We can use Blip-style tools and tactics to refine results over time, quickly learning what resonates with the town’s 14,700 residents plus tens of thousands of daily passersby. This same flexibility also helps advertisers compare the performance of different Hammonton billboards or placements over time.
Approaches that work well here:
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A/B Test Creative Concepts
- Run two versions of a board: one featuring local pride (“Proudly Hammonton”) and another purely offer-driven (“$10 Off Oil Change”).
- Studies of digital out-of-home show that structured A/B testing can improve key performance metrics (like clicks or store visits) by 15–30% over time.
- Compare performance through downstream metrics: web traffic from the area, QR scans (if used), or offer redemptions, and adjust impression weighting toward the winner.
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Rotate Seasonal Messages Without Reprinting Costs
- Use “evergreen” creative most of the year (brand, location, core value).
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Swap in short-term messages for:
- Blueberry season
- Back-to-school
- Holiday sales
- Special events (concerts, festivals, fundraisers)
- This flexibility allows you to run short flight bursts (1–2 weeks) around specific events advertised on townofhammonton.org and downtownhammonton.com, without incurring print and installation costs.
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Adjust Budgets by Day of Week
- Increase impressions Friday–Sunday during summer for tourism-related campaigns, when shore-bound volumes can be 20–30% higher than midweek.
- Focus Monday–Friday for professional services, B2B, and school-related messaging, aligning with office and campus schedules.
- Reallocate spend quickly as you see which days produce the best response.
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Coordinate With Other Local Media
- Align billboard messaging with campaigns in The Hammonton Gazette, local radio, and social media: same tagline, same color palette, same promo code.
- Drive users to one consistent landing page or phone number for easier tracking; when you can tie a specific URL or code to billboard flights, you can measure lift and refine creative and schedule.
- Consider collaborating with local organizations like the Greater Hammonton Chamber of Commerce ( hammontonnjchamber.com
Putting It All Together: A Hammonton-First Billboard Strategy
To create an effective digital billboard campaign in Hammonton, we should:
- Anchor our strategy to local routes and travel patterns: U.S. 30, U.S. 206, and NJ-54 are our primary canvases, with tens of thousands of daily vehicles and millions of annual trips that can translate into impressions.
- Design creative for a commuter-heavy, family-oriented audience, using simple, high-contrast messages that can be read in 3–7 seconds at 45–55 mph.
- Align campaigns with Hammonton’s seasonal rhythm—blueberry season, shore traffic, fall festivals, and winter holidays—rather than running the same generic message year-round, capitalizing on periods when visitor volumes may jump 20–40%.
- Embrace local pride and bilingual opportunities, referencing Hammonton’s identity and tailoring messages for English- and Spanish-speaking audiences where appropriate, to reflect a community where about a quarter to a third of residents are Hispanic/Latino.
- Leverage digital flexibility to test, refine, and time campaigns precisely—by daypart, day of week, and season—maximizing every advertising dollar and using data from web analytics, store traffic, and redemptions to drive decisions.
By blending local insights and credible regional data with the power of dynamic, schedule-controlled digital billboards, we can turn Hammonton’s strategic crossroads into a high-performing advertising gateway for both local and regional brands—reaching not only its 14,700 residents, but also the millions of travelers who pass through South Jersey each year. When approached strategically, billboard rental in Hammonton becomes a cost-effective way to keep your brand in front of this steady flow of drivers all year long.