You’re here. Perfect. Let’s get started. Let’s take this outside was historically an invitation or taunt to move outdoors for the start or continuation of a fight.  I may want to bust my opponents jaw, but don’t want to damage the furniture.

In a less confrontational strategy, let’s take your advertising Outside. I’ve always loved Outdoor advertising. Both as a planner/buyer, as well as a consumer. The necessary brevity to convey a powerful message with a visual and a few –stress ‘few’ – well chosen words is the ultimate impact.

Did you see this one? I’ve liked this one a long time and is perhaps the benchmark for me of Outdoor impact. Several years ago, one skin cream manufacturer ran a wonderful campaign.

Our animated hero is sunburned red, and in the process of diving off a swimming pool diving board into a jar of their product. The only word was the Brand name on the jar.  The implied message of instant sunburn relief was all that was needed. That’s one reason I love Outdoor advertising.

Importantly for you and maybe your next campaign, is to use Outdoor either as a lead media or in the supporting cast.

•    It adds visual impact of your creative message.
•    It can be an extension of a TV or magazine campaign with the same visual.
•    It can feature a website or 1-800 Number as a call to action.
•    It is very efficient and available in various formats
      depending on the market.
•    Horizontal paper posters (10’ High X 20’ Wide) can capture a diverse
      audience being posted at high traffic arteries.
•    Vertical Transit Shelters (4’ Wide X 6’ High) have a street-level presence
      reaching both vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
•    Both of these formats are typically rotated to new locations after 4 weeks to
      deliver greater city coverage and increase reach.

Two trends are emerging you may want to consider. Many standard poster locations are now moving to Digital Formats.  Your ad is still a skyline dominant image of 10 feet X 20 feet, BUT, now that it’s electronic, you can change the creative more frequently without incurring new printing costs.

Here’s how it works. If the nature of your product /service offers seasonal variations, then you can have one creative that offers hot chocolate and soup on a wintery day, and a cool beverage and sandwich when the sun is shining. Because you can change the file electronically, you save a lot on printing costs.

The transition to this format varies from market to market, but ask your outdoor supplier to tell you if this is an option for you. The second changeover we see happening is the redevelopment of many downtown cores. This means that oversized superboards, posters, wall murals are being removed…and not being replaced.

To counter this, many smart advertisers have adopted, or enhanced their use of Exterior Transit advertising. Signage on the sides and backs of buses and streetcars. It ensures your message is very mobile, it reaches both pedestrian and vehicular traffic and generates recall which matches or exceeds that of other outdoor media formats.

Don’t you just love an endless buffet of media choices?

Stay tuned.

P.S. We offer a series of articles on Outdoor advertising you may find of some assistance. The following link will take you there:

http://firstimpressionsmedia.ca/how-to-improve-your-advertising-using-outdoor-media---a-10-part-series.html