By Eddy Herty, VP, National Creative Director of OUTFRONT Studios at OUTFRONT Media
Opportunity is in the eye of the beholder… feels kind of a cliche thing to say, buuuuut it’s true, especially in this industry.
Take for example the below (although blurry)shot.
It’s hard to make out, but honestly, most people probably wouldn’t have noticed it anyway. It’s a realty ad that features about 15 people on an already overcrowded billboard.
The client in Fresno took a picture of the “DO NOT PASS” sign that’s blocking their “direct mailer” to let us know that we had an issue.
This is a prime example of where most people would say, “meh… board sucks anyway.”
Unless you’re Billy Montoya (Art Director in Fresno) and you see a once in a lifetime chance to take advantage of a hyper-local and hyper contextual opportunity… an opportunity he just couldn’t pass on.
We work in an industry that is truly only hindered by the constraints we put on ourselves.
Whether that’s rushing through jobs just to put up what the client wants (which hopefully everyone who is reading this knows that is 9 times out of 10 the wrong thing to do). Or if it’s just not taking the ten minutes to get excited about a job… to see the freakin’ opportunity to do something that no one else in their industry is doing.
Even something like a commuter bus in New Jersey (below), they can stand out using simple weather triggers (which not enough of our clients actually use).
Rain or shine, there’s a way we can help our clients do something unique… if we just try like Jeff Norris , CD in New Jersey, did.
That’s the whole freakin’ point of advertising… to stand out, do something different get noticed. Advertising (despite what we see in every market) is NOT about putting up identical “Injured?” ads because, “That works for my competitors”.
There’s another cliche that’s true… “Risk = Reward”, best explained with the billboard Acie Petty , Sr. AD in KC designed and text exchange below between the client and their Marketing peer.
Opportunity looks different from what you’re used to doing every day.
Don’t ignore it.
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More inspiration from Art Directors like this please. Thanks for this article!!!
Great read Eddy!!! My only comment to the hairless cat ad is it’d be “perrfect” if the font was black or some other dark color. The white font doesn’t stick out. The industry needs more articles like this.