How Billboards Delivered All Under One Roof

All Under One Roof

We installed an ad on a billboard on the Interstate for a Home Remodeling business,  named All Under One Roof. (AUOR) Catchy name right?  It was a very impressive design, of a side of a house with a 24 foot long, 3 Dimensional extension of an actual roof with gabled end built by the AUOR and attached to the billboard structure’s face as an embellishment. The 3D cutouts extended the top, side and front of the 14′ x 48′ bulletin. It was a monster. I wish I had a photo to share. The copy read, Everything to Improve Your Home, 25% Off,  Phone number and All Under One Roof.    It was ‘a first’, design wise, in our market and gained a great deal of attention. Or so we thought.  AUOR owner was very specific in identifying his objectives for the campaign.  He had to receive verifiable inquires attributable to the billboard. His office receptionist, Alice, diligently recorded the details of every phone call, ending with, “How did you find us?” It was the ’80s man.

I stopped in to visit after week one and week two to check the inquires. Alice gave me ‘the look’.  AUOR owner was not happy.  “The billboard is not working”, he stated.  I was surprised to hear the bad news.  Great design. Super, high-profile location with tremendous visibility. And zero calls attributed to the sign?  “BUT”, he went on, “our calls are up nearly 75% and number of quotes are up 50% over last year.”  “Bill”,  he said, “the billboard is not generating the calls.”  I was disappointed. I asked him how he knew the billboard wasn’t working?  “Easy answer”, he said, “Alice screens every caller for the source of the call and every single person replied, it was the Yellow Pages.”  I suggested,  “Would you please ask Alice to add one additional question?”  “Please ask Alice to request from the callers, what prompted them to search the Yellow Pages?”

Yeeep. Every single caller going forward credited the billboard as the reason for searching the Yellow Pages. Customers remembered the roof design as it resonated with the name. The phone number was never recorded.  And at 55 MPH, why should it be?

Today, Yellow Pages and 411/Information are history. Gone. Everyone uses the Internet’s search engines for information. And billboards are still activating search.

Nothing has really changed.  Billboards /Out of Home still drive traffic, generating search, online.  Use the data below, provided by OAAA and Nielsen in your next pitch.

Online Activations from OOH

Nearly 5 in 10 U.S. residents age 18 or older (46%) have used Google, Bing, Yahoo or another Internet search engine to look up information after seeing or hearing something advertised on a billboard, bus shelter or other outdoor advertising or in a movie theater in the past six months

If you would like more data like this, contact the OAAA.
If you want the data with the stories, contact Bill at OOH Today. billboard@oohtoday.com or 202 840 3901

BB