“Is it Just Us or Are Billboards Getting Better?
Architectural Digest and Sydney Wasserman—It is Just You. We Welcome Your New Found Awareness!
“Is it just us or are billboards getting better?
That is the title of a recent article in 
(AD), written by Sydney Wasserman. AD is a Condé Nast owned interior design publication, published monthly, with a readership of nearly 815,000. Wasserman managed to write without mentioning the words OOH, Outdoor Advertising or Out of Home. Billboards we are.
Ms. Wasserman’s article for her prestigious magazine titled, “Is It Just Us, or Are Billboards Getting Better?” has a revealing subtitle, “The traditionally blah advertisements are being given a whole new purpose.” Sydney Wasserman—It is Just You. Billboards are not getting any better. We Welcome Your New Found Awareness!
While very few people reading this OOH Today post would ever agree that OOH is “traditionally blah advertisements,” two points come to mind:
1. What has awoke Sydney Wasserman to billboards?
2. We have to remember there is a group outside of our OOH world, larger than us, who are blind to the Outdoor Advertising Industry. We have to continually sell and tell them the OOH story.
Tackling the first point is relatively easy. Billboards, are not getting better, though we have had some improvements. And by that I mean, we have always been good. Wasserman, likely has been affected by virtue of the latest amount of high-profile publicity for billboards, which has made OOH (billboards) more popular.
What has brought her new-found awareness? It’s just ‘3 Billboards’. Clearly, the revealing attention begins with the “3 Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri” movie, the Oscar nominations, awards and recognition. ‘3 Billboards’ has generated significant amount of mainstream press. The ‘3 Billboards has created a number of ‘knock off’ OOH campaigns as well.
The Outdoor Industry has taken advantage with the ‘knockoff campaigns’ of LeBron James billboards, the Serena Williams, GMOAT billboards and the third, the LA street artist Sabo, Outfront Media pirated billboards. All the campaigns mentioned, generated main stream press. I know there are a few of you who shake your heads in displeasure every time I write about Sabo. The Sabo saga, generated the most interest for OOH Today.com. When ABC (Click ABC for story) and NBC picked up Sabo and broadcasted it over its national network news, that’s a winner for OOH.
This is a rare magical moment for OOH with a major movie title having the word ‘billboard’ in it. We need to take full advantage of the timely opportunity.
The second point, is to continue to tell our story and sell our medium. There are still a great number of people who believe a billboard is only a roadside, directional display, sold long-term and permanently. Some OOH investors still in 2018, clamor for 3 year agreements. While long-term may be good for the short-term revenues, it is not good for the long-term success of the OOH provider or the advertiser. We must always be driving the OOH story and never give up on delivering the best value with creative as the number one priority your team
Read the full story by Sydney Wasserman, in Architectural Digest, “Is it just us or are billboards getting better?”
