Outdoor Advertising Ideas
By charen
I’ll bet you were expecting an article filled with ideas of what to do with billboards. Well, you’re right and you’re wrong. Billboards are the common vehicle when people think “outdoor advertising,” but more and more options are becoming available every year.

Billboards are now only one of many outdoor choices. Here are some other outdoor vehicles:

Actual vehicles – cars and buses wrapped in advertising, or trucks with mobile posters in the bed.
Ad graffiti on the side of the building – legal graffiti, of course. Somewhat similar to how businesses used to paint their names on the sides of downtown buildings.
Airplane banners – this is a tried and true outdoor method. (Hey, it worked for Snoopy and MetLife, it can work for you!)
Showing ads in movie theaters – outdoor doesn’t mean actually “out of doors” – it just means out of people’s homes.
Signs and digital signs on top of taxis.
Posters – hanging in public restrooms, outside of downtown office buildings, in theaters.

As you can see, there are several ways you can use outdoor that doesn’t include billboards! Using any number of these techniques can:
1. Inform consumers about your products or services
2. Gain repeated exposure for your brand
3. Influence impulse buys
4. Give you a cost-effective way to advertise where your demographic customers are

Outdoor resources
If you want to check out the latest and greatest outdoor discoveries or trends, visit Great Outdoor Network, a B2B network for outdoor advertising.

Compare and contrast outdoor companies and programs at the Outdoor Association of America (OAAA) (www.oaaa.org). OAAA members are listed according to categories like transit, street furniture and alternative outdoor media (think stadiums,

beaches and golf courses).

Consider hiring an agency to keep it all together. For an outdoor campaign to work, all your billboards, poster printing, brochures and other marketing materials should have the same look and feel. You’ll also need to deal with a number of different vendors. This can be a huge undertaking. Consider hiring an agency to help you out. Go to the American Association of Agencies (www.aaaa.org) and click on Agency Search to find an agency by location, service type or size.

Here are some design tips to keep in mind to make your outdoor effective:

Make it visible. Make sure your message can be easily read. Is the font big enough? It should be able to be clearly read from at least 1,000 feet back. What about the font choice – are the letters easy to read, or are they curly or blend together to make it harder to read? Also, look at the surroundings around your ad – are there are tree branches or other things blocking your message from passers-by?

Make it short. Billboards, posters and airplane banners only have five to ten seconds to make their mark. How long is your headline? Keep it short and snappy to communicate your message quickly.

Use colors that help your ad stick out from the scenery. If your poster is on a brown building, don’t use a brown background or any other color that could blend in. You want the colors of your ad to pop out against the background so people will notice it and read it.

Include a call to action. Clearly state what it is you want readers to do after they read your ad. And make sure to give them the info necessary to do what you want!

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