Attorney John Morgan spends several hundred million dollars each year on billboards. In these excepts from his OAAA Mediacon 2026 keynote, Morgan talks about he uses billboards.

Most of the billboards I look at aren’t creative. I was inspired by that gap, because the firms doing great creative work clearly had something I didn’t — so I decided to push hard on creativity in my television ads, radio ads, and billboards. What I want to show you now are some of my creatives and the stories behind how they came together.  The first concept we developed was turning our billboards into something almost like an art gallery — an art gallery of testimonials. When people walk by, they stop and look at them the way you’d look at artwork in a museum. They take pictures. That reaction is exactly what you want.

…One thing you have to be willing to do: make fun of yourself. Self-deprecating humor works. I actually ran a campaign where I defaced my own billboards — put graphics up all over the country that poked fun at me. If you’re not willing to be self-effacing, you’re leaving a big tool on the table…In Vegas, I made sure our boards highlighted that Morgan & Morgan has recovered over $30 billion for clients — America’s largest personal injury firm…

…New York is its own world — New Yorkers love their sports and there’s no more passionate fan base anywhere…

…We did holiday-themed ads there, including one riffing on “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.” Crazy? Yes. But people remember it…

…In Los Angeles, we leaned into the culture — did a perfume-style ad to fit the market…

…I was also hugely inspired by the Chick-fil-A billboard with the cow climbing up the board. I asked how much that campaign cost and was told $150,000 — but that cow was worth every penny in attention. That inspired me to create our own memorable visual concept.

…In Philadelphia, we used the local slang “Jawn” and played it up as “I’m Jawn — and this Jawn goes hard.” If you’re not from Philly, you don’t get to use that word. But we earned it.

Going back to the gallery idea — the goal is to make people want to see your ads…that’s the whole game with outdoor advertising — stop people, make them look, make them remember.

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