by Benny Taubman, OOH TODAY Reporter
It is no secret that award shows and big-name sporting events such as the Super Bowl are lucrative opportunities for televised advertisements. These sought-out advertising spaces earn an outstanding number of impressions and are excellent opportunities for brands to maintain their cultural relevance. On top of that, the likelihood of a viral advertisement is high and ads from these events often land a place in the ‘marketing hall of fame.’ However, if done right, OOH ads can share in the splendor.
“If done well, branded billboards timed in tandem with events, allow brands to make a bold statement,” said Kevin Bartanian, the Founder and CEO of KEVANI. “Timing is extremely important as campaigns need to occur as micro-moments happen, in real-time. One example of this is the Los Angeles-based campaign Pepsi ran during the 2022 MLS Cup congratulating title winners LAFC. This seemingly simple set of billboards allowed them to insert themselves into the playoff buzz and connect with fans as the action happened.”
Bartanian goes further to discuss how – by using creative, adaptive, and reactive advertising – OOH can directly help brands remain culturally relevant. Additionally, he hones in on the concept of ‘relevance by association’ with culturally ubiquitous events.
“With many big events slated over the coming months, from the Super Bowl to the Oscars, we are seeing advertisers embrace out-of-home advertising by designing creative campaigns to be adaptive and reactive. Cultural relevance has always been a driving factor in ad efficacy, and by aligning themselves with a popular event, brands in turn can be relevant by association,” stated Bartanian.
In his next statement, Bartanian speaks on the effectiveness of “positive association” and the concept of “micro-moments.”
“Advertisers need to consider the power of context and setting in order to be culturally relevant. Stand-out campaigns activated on thoughtfully selected assets lend the opportunity for brands to be contextually relevant to the influential crowd in each market they are activating in. To be truly effective and build positive associations requires advertisers to think about micro-moments and incorporate those moments into OOH campaigns – this could be something as simple as tying in an event occurring in a city. Patron used this formula with their Super Bowl billboard ad in 2022, celebrating the tequila company’s own “Championship Team” of beverages,” Bartanian continued.
Finally, Bartanian discusses the nature and potency of “Call to Action (CTA)” messages. Over the past few years, all types of different advertisements with effective CTAs have gone viral and caught social media and the internet by storm. Nonetheless, in the context of CTAs, it is vitally important for the advertisement to know and understand its audience.
“Additionally, brands can maximize conversion by using Call to Action (CTA) messages to get consumers to interact with OOH media. An iconic example of this, which merged both popular culture with a strong CTA, is Kevin Hart’s billboard prank that pushed readers to phone Nick Cannon for fatherhood advice. Speaking of phones, consumers have mobile devices in their hands so much of the time in today’s world, offering brands an opportunity to think beyond the billboard and create integrated campaigns using tools like QR codes to create viral moments with phones and secondary screens. Thinking about the targeted audience, content, and surrounding context allows brands to forge deep connections and make their own set of fans,” Bartanian concluded.
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