Author Archive for Neal Spencer

Atlanta Billboards Help Saints Fan Show Disapproval

A disgruntled New Orleans Saints fan has taken to Atlanta billboards to convey his frustration over what many are calling a “blown call” in Sunday’s NFC Championship game between the Saints and the Los Angeles Rams.

The game was tied when a Rams player committed “blatant interference penalty” that was not called by the referees. After that, each team scored a field goal, continuing the tie and sending the game into overtime. Ultimately, the Rams hit another field goal and ended the game with a score of 26-23.

Matt Bower is a car dealer in Louisiana and clearly a die hard fan who put his money where his mouth is. Following the Saints loss, which ended their Super Bowl run, Bower funded an Atlanta billboard campaign with simple, but powerful messages. He put up two billboards near Mercedes Benz Stadium here in Atlanta. One Atlanta billboard reads, “Saints Got Robbed,” while the other is more in tune with the French roots in New Orleans, and reads, “NFL Bleaux it!”

Bower says he’s taking a lot of heat on social media, but is not letting it get to him. After the loss, he posted to Facebook, “I have thousands of people hating on me right now, but not giving a single you know what. I’m not over this yet.”

The Rams go on to face the New England Patriots here in Atlanta on February 3rd.

Atlanta Makes Top 10 List

Which Top 10 List did Atlanta make this time? We barely scraped in to the list of Top 10 Cities with Longest Commute Times.  Maybe not the list any of us commuters in Atlanta want to be on, but nonetheless we are. It could be worse…we could be higher on the list, so let’s count our blessings that there are 9 cities rated higher than us in this poll.

Among those blessings in that long commute are billboards…they can benefit both the commuters looking at them as well as the businesses advertising on them.

Many of the commuters are no doubt thinking about what they have to do when the commute ends…cook dinner, cut the grass, buy a gift for a party this weekend, or any other task that will have to be done when they get home. Billboards allow advertisers to promote goods and services that can solve any of those problems, and getting the word out benefits their bottom line.

Here are the Top 10 Cities with the Longest Commutes, shown in minutes for a one way drive.

  1. New York, NY                 34.7
  2. Long Island, NY             33.3
  3. Washington, DC             32.8
  4. Newark, NJ                      31.1
  5. Chicago, IL                      30.8
  6. Boston, MA                     30.4
  7. Oakland, CA                    29.9
  8. Riverside, CA                  29.8
  9. Baltimore, MD               29.4
  10. Atlanta, GA                    29.2

So now let’s flip to the other side…the Top 10 Cities with the Shortest Commute times, also shown in minutes for a one way drive.

  1. Buffalo, NY                     20.3
  2. Columbus, OH               21.8
  3. Hartford, CT                  22.3
  4. Milwaukee, WI             22.3
  5. Las Vegas, NV               22.5
  6. Memphis, TN                22.5
  7. Virginia Beach, VA       22.6
  8. San Diego, CA                23.0
  9. W. Palm Beach, FL       23.0
  10. Cincinnati, OH             23.2

Before you go packing up heading to Buffalo, readying to leave the long Atlanta commute times behind, remember they get A LOT of snow. And it’s super cold up there way longer than here.

But if you do decide to leave Atlanta, remember, Billboard Connection can help with your billboard needs anywhere.  Just give us a call at 770-391-8528 for your free consultation.  We even answer when we’re sitting in traffic.

Billboards Work! Here’s Why You Should Be Using Them

Part of the charm of the southern-style restaurant chain Cracker Barrel is its penchant for “old” things.  But that’s also what’s helping it grow.  With the coming of the digital age, some may consider traditional vinyl billboards an “old” style of advertising.  But Cracker Barrel is spending nearly half of their advertising budget on them and they are killing it.  Analysts say the chain is expected to reach an annual growth rate above 10 percent!

It could be the delicious looking food they feature on the billboards, or the fact that their stores are purposely placed to be convenient for highway travelers, making the billboards easy to direct hungry customers.  Either way, it’s working.

But how?  Some say it’s because even though we have ads thrown at us in all directions as we use our smart phones, we have learned to ignore the clutter.  But we take notice of real life things like billboards.

So if you’re looking to up the ante at your business, consider billboards in your advertising budget.  Here are four tips on running a successful campaign:

  1. Take a page from someone else’s book.  Outdoor advertising is clearly working for Cracker Barrel and other brands.  Take their ideas and adapt them to fit your own brand, product or service.
  2. Create a great message and graphics.  Because the billboards still exist in such an interactive environment, the need to be eye catching and unique. Think about how to make your ad an attraction in its own right.  That’s how brands get noticed in big cities that are inundated with ads and billboards.
  3. Know your audience. Most of the people that see your ad will be traveling or commuting.  Speak to their needs and try to meet them on common ground.
  4. Use embellishments when possible.  Some brands, like Coca Cola and Carlsberg beer, used taps to dispense their products to passersby.  A cupcake shop made their billboard design completely out of cupcakes that they iced while stuck to the board.  If using something like this isn’t possible, make sure your graphics are as eye catching as possible.  Billboard Connection has award winning graphic designers to help you with this process.

If you are interested in learning more about getting a billboard for your business, click here or call 770-391-8528.

 

This article was adapted from one written by Drew McLellan for Entrepreneur magazine.

 

Students Work as Walking Billboards

There is a new generation of jobs on campus for college students these days…now they don’t have to work in the mailroom or cafeteria…they can be walking billboards!  A startup company called “Nomad” is equipping students with technology to walk around with advertising on their backs.

Nomad was started by 23 year old University of Washington alumnus Jonah Friedl.  Friedl said the idea came from when he was in school at the university and working at a restaurant.  Management at the restaurant wanted him to come up with an idea to get more college kids to dine there.  Traditionally, a company would have put a person with a sign on campus.  But Friedl said he didn’t think that would work.  “If we want to put people on campus, put representatives on campus, it’s really hard to do that – hard to track, hard to manage.  So we thought we could build some technology to help us out with that.”

The program works by having student “Nomads” who either lease an iPad from the company or use their own download the app.  When they need to walk on campus and want to work, they simply open the app and click “start advertising.”  Sensors in the iPad screen tell the company which areas they go to and how many interactions they have, then Friedl tracks it.  The app is controlled so Nomads can only work at appropriate times, while times like 1am on Monday morning would not be available to work.

The data collected by the iPad is charted and shows the density of exposure and where the Nomad is getting the most impressions.  Sometimes, the Nomad hands out a business card with a code.  The technology can track the code then see how it was redeemed and correlate sales or app downloads to a specific Nomad.

The program’s flagship voyage was on the University of Washington campus, but Friedl says it is spreading to other colleges and universities around the country.

Billboard Extensions Make Landscape Interesting

The billboard battle in Los Angeles is intense.  There are a lot of structures and not a lot of land.  So advertisers have to use the space wisely.  To catch as many eyes as possible in an overcrowded landscape, more and more companies are turning to billboard extensions.  That’s additional space built on to the already existing billboard structure.

Movie advertisers like to make the extensions in the form of people, as shown above in the ad for the movie The Expendables 3.  It may be the most extensions ever used for a campaign, coming in at a whopping 16!  The famous faces amongst the crowd include Jason Statham, Harrison Ford, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Sylvester Stallone rounding out the bunch, perched on the number 3.

Other films that have gotten in on this trend include Ted 2, Delocated, and Netflix’s Ibiza.  The movie ticketing website Fandango has also used this technique.  Their “world’s biggest movie fan” persona created for the campaign, Miles Mouvay, was portrayed by Saturday Night Live actor Kenan Thompson.  That campaign featured Miles sitting on the billboard structure.  Passersby may have had to look twice to make sure it wasn’t a real person perched up there!

We’ve seen some extensions here on Atlanta billboards as well, most notably the famous Chick-fil-A cows scrawling their messages of “Eat More Chicken” across the billboard vinyls.

Teams in Frenzy for NBA’s Top Talent

NBA superstar LeBron James is once again a free agent.  He’s only got a couple of weeks to decide if he will stay in Cleveland and play another year for the Cavs or once again head to a new team.

Teams all over the country are clamoring to show their stuff to the superstar, but rumor has it, if he leaves Cleveland, the Los Angeles Lakers are the most likely destination for the $30 million dollar player.

Some say that’s the team he’s got the most chance of beating the Golden State Warriors with, and continuing to win championships for years to come.

Salary caps with some of the franchises would eliminate them from contention.  James has until June 29th to opt in to the final year of his contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In light of his free agency, ESPN asked 30 artists with ties to NBA cities to come up with billboard art to woo King James to their city’s team.  Above, from left to right, is Charlotte, Golden State, and his hometown of Cleveland’s art.

Charlotte is owned by basketball legend Michael Jordan, while Golden State is the team that swept the Cavs in the finals.  Cleveland’s art plays to the family aspect, rather than solely James and his incredible talent.

To see all of the designs, click here.

Netflix Eyes Possible Billboard Ownership

The next big player in the billboard business could be one you’re already familiar with…Netflix.  The media streaming giant has reportedly made an offer to buy Los Angeles based Regency Billboards, to the tune of $300 million.  It would be the largest acquisition in the company’s history.

Although neither parties could be reached for comment, one of Regency’s competitors says the deal makes sense for Netflix.  Evan Richheimer is the CEO of New Tradition Media.  He says Netflix advertises quite heavily in the area and the deal “would allow Netflix to so called ‘block the box’ on premium sites in one of the most important and desirable media markets in the United States.”

Regency’s website says they have locations all over the LA area, including prime spots like the Sunset Strip, UCLA campus, Orange County, and near LAX.

Reuters is reporting that Netflix is not the only one making Regency an offer for their inventory, so the deal is not a definite as of now.  No word on when a decision is expected.

 

Team Move Spurs Billboard Ads

The owner of the San Diego Chargers has moved the team more than two hours north and fans are not happy.  Many say they are also angry with the National Football League and feel like the team has abandoned them. One life long Chargers fan took to the internet to express his anger and raise funds for a billboard campaign.

Joseph MacRae started a Go Fund Me page and raised over $10,000 that has gone to fund several ads on a digital billboard near the team’s temporary home, StubHub Center, in Carson, California.

MacRae said on his Go Fund Me page, “Have you been an NFL fan your whole life only to have your team suddenly taken away from your city?  You may have been the most loyal and dedicated supporter, but it didn’t matter in the end.  Have you ever wanted to tell the NFL how you actually feel?  This is your chance.”

One of the messages featured in the campaign is pictured above…a photo of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell with the words, “No Freaking Loyalty.”  Other ads take aim at the team’s owner, Dean Spanos.  Spanos moved the team in the off season from San Diego to Los Angeles.  The team now shares the StubHub Center with the Los Angeles Rams, while the Chargers wait for their new facility to be built in Inglewood, California.  The digital billboard running the campaign is located near StubHub Center.

 

 

Billboards Help with Recovery Efforts

The out of home (OOH) advertising industry has used its muscle in recent weeks to help with hurricane recovery.  After Hurricane Harvey devastated parts of Texas, the OOH industry responded by donating space to help disperse recovery information.

Digital billboards all around the affected areas displayed information to help victims get in touch with federal aid.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) encouraged people in the hurricane ravaged areas to contact them at 1-800-621-3362 or visit their website at disasterassistance.gov.

In other areas of the U.S., the outdoor industry donated billboard space to the Red Cross to encourage those not directly affected to donate to help the recovery efforts.  Billboards like that could be seen as far away as Times Square.  Other campaigns around the country displayed slogans like, “Texas Strong.”

Anti Gun Violence Campaign Gets Funding

 

Mary-Pat Hector may be young, but she’s beyond her years when it comes to understanding the world.  Hector is now a 19 year old junior at Spelman College in Atlanta, but she’s been working to end gun violence in her community for years.  Hector says she was tired of hearing about kids dying from gunshot wounds and wanted to do something about it.  She started “Think Twice,” a campaign aimed at encouraging people to think twice before they pick up a gun and pull the trigger.  She says when people think of gun violence, they may think it can’t happen to them.

“But to become uncomfortable with that, to be moved to action, you have to see yourself.  I wanted to create billboards so that people could see themselves, to see it happening to them.”  But despite her hard work, funding for a billboard campaign just wasn’t there.  Then Hector heard about an organization called “Peace First” that was offering a $50,000 prize for submitting a compelling video explaining your mission.  She not only submitted a video, she took that grand prize!

It was enough to fund nearly 50 billboards around the metro Atlanta area to display her anti gun violence message.  Hector said she was proud of that achievement and people really started to take notice of her mission and she was asked to speak to various groups and organizations.

But she didn’t stop there.  She also got the attention of the Allstate Foundation.  They took her message to Chicago and put it on billboards there as well.  Hector says that came as a complete surprise.  She was shocked to travel to the windy city and see her image and message on billboards there.  “I was taken aback. It’s still in the beginning stages, but we’re really excited.  Really, really excited,” Hector said.

She’s not the only activist in her family.  Her parents were also champions for various causes as well and she credits her mother with teaching her that “Good starts young.”