Smart Marketing: The Outdoor Element

Several companies in our industry have used outdoor advertising, otherwise known as billboard advertising, successfully. Truly Nolen is one who has relied on outdoor advertising to create a memorable presence in his marketplace.

Outdoor advertising is especially useful as part of an overall strategy of awareness. If you are already established in your market and want to reinforce your name before a large number of potential customers, outdoor ads can work for you. But, outdoor advertising does not replace other forms of advertising. Instead, it makes whatever else you’re doing in your market more effective.

THE DETAILS. Usually, outdoor advertising involves billboards or posters. Billboards are large, usually 14 by 48 feet, and are often located on major roads like interstate highways or local freeways. Today, most major outdoor advertising operators produce billboard content on vinyl surfaces and stretch them over the board. They are often lit at night and can have "extenders" and "violators" that make the board artistically appealing.

Posters are smaller and the size often varies due to municipal zoning ordinances. These boards sometimes come two to a panel and are usually pasted onto the structure. They are sometimes lit and usually appear on feeder roads, state- and county-maintained roads and even local streets.

Outdoor advertising is typically purchased for an extended period of time. Election years notwithstanding, most outdoor advertisers are interested in being there for a minimum of six months. Some even purchase boards for multi-year use, especially those who have a favorable location. Some other businesses "flight" their outdoor advertising for shorter periods of time, but that often raises the monthly price dramatically and, in my opinion, reduces the effectiveness of the medium. Contractually, boards can be purchased on either a fixed location basis or on a rotator program, which can move your message around your marketplace as often as four times each year.

BRANDING YOUR BILLBOARD. Creatively, outdoor advertising is a splendid medium for branding your service. It’s not a great medium for having to explain or sell anything. Outdoor advertising is most effective when it can be "consumed" in a single viewing. People should not have to "read" your message. It should jump off the board and make an impression immediately. Conventional wisdom allows for up to seven words, and no more, to be contained on your board. Your logo and an image of immediate recognition are about all you have time to portray. If you have a single phone number in your market that is immediately understandable (i.e., 407/555-BUGS), then maybe you can use it. If not, keep in mind that people aren’t going to be writing your number down as they fly down the freeway.

A concern regarding outdoor advertising as a major part of a marketing strategy is the movement afoot in many jurisdictions in our country to curtail and even eliminate billboards and posters. Seen by some as an unnecessary and unsightly intrusion, some local governments are attempting to legislate billboards and posters off of highly trafficked major roads and, in some cases, out of existence completely. This probably won’t happen any time soon on roads maintained by the U.S. government, such as interstate highways, but state and county roads are vulnerable to this kind of political chicanery and there appears to be little the outdoor advertising industry can do about it. Find out from your local zoning officials if this issue is a factor in your community.

Personally, I believe outdoor advertising works well in conjunction with radio advertising since both rely on an audience of people in transit. The same people who drive to work each day, or who use their cars to get through their other daily rituals, listen to the radio and see outdoor advertising. They combine well to make a great deal of impressions and, if creatively produced and properly placed, generate the awareness necessary to spell success for your marketing effort.