By Billboard Insider’s peripatetic correspondent Nick Coston. Nick has 20 years experience as an OOH broker and OOH consultant.
Many years ago while growing up on Chicago’s South Side, my family owned movie theaters and drive ins. I always marveled at the size of the big, curved screens. One theater I managed, River Oaks in Calumet City, had a D-150 screen, meaning it was curved 150 degrees for optimum viewing. I would always sit in the 5th row of Beverly Theatre, an art deco house we owned, with a wide curved screen, one of the first in country to have one. I just loved these big screens.
Move up 25 years and now I love big billboards. With 14 x 48’s being the same size as the big movie screens, I look at billboard copy not only as an ad, but entertainment. And that’s the way I sold it when I worked for years in OOH ad sales. You want an effective OOH campaign, be creative, get attention, and entertain the drivers and their passengers. Think Cinerama!
Too many sales people today sell off of rates, impressions and location, all which you need to do. But add that “zip” of entertaining those who see your OOH ad and you will stand out from the average sales reps. It will double the attention and recall.
Marlboro did it with cigs and smoke.
Yahoo did it with the lasso theme.
South of the Border off I 95 in the Carolina’s perfected it.
Times Square has become the Imax Theatre of the OOH world, filling the visual senses with bright colors, motion and spectacular bright lights. Agencies that simply run regurgitated print ads with bland colors, too much small copy and poor catch phrases are throwing your money away. It’s like seeing a boring movie with a bad plot, you walk out and forget it. Entertain them, make people smile, think, and remember. That’s what good movies do and that’s what great copy can do. When I went on a sales call, I was a Showman, like my parents and grandparents were, see the big board, see it light up, see the people look at it! Showtime baby and don’t forget to bring the popcorn and Dots.
Paid Ad
