By Nick Coston,
After 25 plus years in OOH, I’ve seen some awesome billboard copy and plenty of not so awesome (I’m being very polite). I’ve also seen plenty of OOH copy from major agencies that left me mystified cause it was so bad. Conversely, I’ve seen some very eye-catching OOH copy running on displays from Times Square to digital urban panels placed as Public Service Announcements, where the copy was done up by local artists.
Some very talented local artists to be exact.
For free. The space was free too. After all it’s a Public Service Announcement.
Some very talented local artists to be exact.
My point today is if a local artist working on adding to their portfolio has their creative running on an OOH display, be it Times Square or on a digital 55” screen in the window of a local cobbler, does the audience seeing the ad even know some random artist in their cousin’s basement did it on his iPhone? Do they even care?
Probably not a lick, if the message is engaging and gets the point across, all they see is good art. They have no idea who drew it up or snapped the photos.
Over the years I’ve worked on plenty of PSA’s, years ago I even assisted in producing a 30 second spot for the NYC Department of Homeless Services. We needed a director, a writer, a make-up artist and someone, like a producer to put it all together. I was that someone. We started at 6:00am and went thru the day, wrapping up by 4:00pm. The homeless child used in the video was the director’s daughter and the voice over was the copywriter, who worked full-time at a large agency.
The make-up artist was a girlfriend of mine who worked at the Lancome Cosmetics counter at Bloomingdales on 3rd Avenue.
Nobody got paid. The black and white PSA played all over the NYC airwaves. It was even up for a local Emmy. Filmed on video tape and edited at home by the director, who at the time was looking for work.
Nobody made a dime, yet the PSA drew a ton of attention and donations. Most of the talent who worked on the day long shoot used it in their own personal reels, when interviewing for more gigs.
That’s why from my vantage point as an industry writer I like to see what the smaller and medium sized media owners produce from their own in-house artists. Companies like Meadow Outdoor, Durden Outdoor, Link Outdoor, Arrington and Grace Outdoor aren’t household names in the big markets but they sure do put some amazing billboard copy, showstoppers as we say.
Good copy gets attention, regardless of who’s doing it. Maybe it’s about time we tap into some of these hidden gems and give them a chance to move a product, build more brand awareness and not look like every other cookie-cutter billboard does on the interstate.
Years ago, the recently departed artist Peter Max had a knack for posters and occasionally billboards. In his later years, he would use transit shelter space in NYC for local art shows that displayed his works.
It was incredible copy. I even had one framed and hung it my house.
The next Peter Max is out there. Whether on as PSA copy or for Apple, that big beautiful empty canvas is waiting for them somewhere in our OOH world. All they need is for someone to give them the assignment .
Insider’s Note: Nick Coston has been writing opinion pieces for the OOH industry for 10 years now. His weekly pieces also appear on Substack where you can view the last 2 years worth. Full-time, Nick is the VP, Sales and Sales Strategies for Moving Walls, the Singapore based media and ad tech giant, here in The America’s.
If you are interested, here is Nick’s Substack LINK
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