Roadblocking, what is it and why?

As the name suggests Roadblocking advertising has been a strategy utilised to block and capture the customers or viewers attention, irrespective of what medium or channel they are viewing. Now it is fair to say this strategy is very difficult to implement these days with the introduction of so many new mediums and channels within these mediums, see article on media dispersion vs concentration for more. The theory being however that you could purchase a series of ads on radio or TV at roughly the same time to ensure the audience receives your message. Today Roadblocking is more common amongst on network websites, where a company will purchase all the available inventory for a  set period of time or across multiple pages ensuring 100% share of voice (SOV).

To achieve this, it is usually reserved for a new product or business launch, public announcement and the big end of town with large advertising budgets.