How Frantz Coutard Uses OOH Advertising to Stay Competitive in Today’s Advertising Landscape

Advertising is the lifeblood of a company’s success. From word-of-mouth advertising to physical flyers to complex Google ad campaigns, the need to inform customers about your goods or services will always be a basic business necessity. However, the advent of new technologies has made staying competitive in the advertising world challenging. The wealth of options available to businesses has forced business owners to choose specific types of advertising to the detriment of others.

Through his work with a multitude of clients, from supermarkets to mayoral candidates, Frantz Coutard has put a spotlight on an often-overlooked form of advertising that is both versatile and effective. This style of advertising is known as out-of-home advertising or OOH advertising.

Frantz explains it this way, “In a nutshell, out-of-home advertising is reaching people on the go who aren’t online or in their homes. Reaching them in places they visit, such as gyms, restaurants, malls, supermarkets, etc.” Frantz experienced great success with OOH advertising during the aforementioned campaigns for a local supermarket and current New York City mayor Eric Adams’ election campaign.

Regarding his supermarket campaign, Frantz commented, “I saw a correlation between people and places they visit. The average person visits a supermarket 2-4 times a month and the average wait time there is pretty impressive. A whopping 15 minutes to 35 minutes on average. That’s plenty of time to showcase and communicate just about anything to people while they wait in line to pay.”

In response, he designed a technology-driven advertising campaign to reach customers at the checkout lane. Allowing customers to see what was on sale in real time helped his supermarket clients generate more income and get rid of inventory quicker.

OOH Advertising Explained (by Frantz Coutard) In a world where the advertising industry is driven by methods such as social media marketing, Google ads, SEO, and other digital marketing methods, it may seem less advantageous to use in-person advertising methods. Reaching people at places they go may even seem primitive compared to traditional advertising through mass media such as radio and television. However, since January 2019, I have been discovering the power and efficacy of out-of-the-house or OOH advertising, especially for reaching local audiences in specific locations. OOH advertising is designed to reach people when they’re not at home, online, or in front of a television. Instead, we design messaging to reach them at places they visit, including gyms, restaurants, malls, and supermarkets. OOH advertising can include billboards, posters, banners, and other public displays. Well-designed OOH advertising campaigns can also overlap with online and social media advertising since people can be motivated to take snapshots of in-person ads and share them online. Though my background is in sales and computer science, I found a way to leverage those skills into a career in advertising. Subsequently, I learned how to apply OOH advertising during a campaign I did for a supermarket in 2019. I noticed that the average person visits a supermarket 2-4 times a month and waits in line for an average of 15-35 minutes. I realized that this was more than enough time to communicate almost any type of message to supermarket customers. My company eventually partnered with supermarkets to add new displays to checkout lanes using our technology. On a daily basis, these displays let shoppers know which products were on sale in real time, generating more income and helping supermarkets get rid of inventory. This illustrates one of OOH advertising’s advantages over more traditional marketing methods. When practicing OOH advertising, you won’t have to compete as hard for your intended audience’s attention. Digital marketing is a competitive field. Due to the Internet’s ubiquity, nearly every successful company recognizes the potency of reaching customers through the Internet. Furthermore, TV advertising has been a competitive, fairly expensive option since the 1940s. In contrast, OOH advertising reaches audiences in mundane, everyday moments when they may not be focused on anything else. OOH advertising’s other main advantage is providing repeated exposure to advertisements, which makes the ads more likely to convert customers. Studies have shown that repeated exposure to an ad makes it more effective in the eyes of viewers. By placing advertisements in regularly-visited places, you can achieve more consistent and frequent ad exposure. With the right technology, you can even add audio and visual components to your ads, making them even more memorable and effective. OOH advertising’s ability to reach people in real-life locations also makes it ideal for location-based campaigns. I observed this during the time I worked on the election campaign for current New York Mayor Eric Adams. For this project, we had to focus on reaching the During the campaign, we noticed that there weren’t enough African-American New Yorkers who were familiar with Eric’s impressive track record and well-earned qualifications. In response, we began advertising in frequently-visited shopping areas around town. We did this in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and Manhattan. Through our efforts, we ended up reaching an average of 50,000 people per week. I really think we made a difference in helping Eric get the nomination he deserves as mayor of New York. OOH advertising is often overlooked because people assume the Internet or mass media are always the best approaches for advertising. However, OOH advertising may be an even better option for your business, depending on its needs. If you don’t have the budget to pay for repeated impressions through Google Ads, OOH advertising can be a more affordable and impactful way to communicate your messages to your intended audience. The price of OOH advertising campaigns can be scaled according to your needs. For example, my company bills customers using a subscription system. Pricing can be adjusted based on factors such as location, audience size, campaign length, and the type of campaign. Based on these conditions, our pricing starts at $350 monthly. If you can afford to spend more, you may also choose to do a lead generation campaign in multiple locations starting at $40,000 monthly. You may want to consult with your chosen advertising provider before committing to a specific campaign plan. This is why our company offers free consultations so we can determine the best solution for your business’s needs. Be sure to choose the OOH advertising plan that addresses all your current business goals.

After his supermarket campaigns, Frantz was selected to apply his OOH marketing skills to Eric Adams’ mayoral campaign. In this instance, he focused on targeting a specific demographic at the local places they often visited.

He explained, “A lot of African-Americans weren’t familiar with the Mayor. Our job was to introduce him to people from this demographic in multiple shopping areas around town where people visit constantly. On a weekly average, we were reaching 50,000 people around Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, and Manhattan.”

After seeing the effectiveness of OOH advertising in his professional life, Frantz has become an advocate for OOH advertising despite the popularity of options such as print, digital, and television advertising. He credits its versatility and ability to produce satisfactory results under lower budgets. Because OOH advertisements are located in frequently-visited locations, they also result in more repeated exposure, which increases their effectiveness.

“With more hours, more repetition, and more consistency, you’re seven times more likely to convert customers. It also offers some of the same benefits as the other types of advertising, such as audio and video capabilities for people who are visual,” he said. “It actually connects with online advertising as well. When people see something in their local neighborhood, they tend to pull out their phone, take a snapshot, and share it on social media… You get to kill two birds with one stone.”

OOH advertising can be particularly potent for local businesses or organizations because of its ability to reach large groups of people in a specific area. Local enterprises can tailor campaign messages for nearby eateries, fitness centers, or shopping areas. This allows them to reach the people who are most likely to shop at their locations or visit their offices. If companies are willing to spend less but work harder on a local OOH campaign, they can save money while developing connections with their target audiences and demographics.

In regards to saving money, the price for OOH advertising campaigns can be scaled according to your company’s needs. Frantz commented, “We use a subscription system. You can run a branding campaign based on location, audience size, and length of the campaign. That type of campaign can start at $350 monthly or you can choose to do a lead generation campaign in multiple locations ranging from $40,000 monthly. It all depends on a company’s needs, budget, and how fast they want results.”

Frantz mentioned that his company offers a free consultation to assess a business’s needs before choosing a specific advertising campaign plan. If you are interested in OOH advertising for your business, it may be best to talk to a company and determine how well they can accommodate your specific needs and advertising goals. Find a company flexible enough to provide affordable service while maximizing awareness of your goods and services in popular local venues.

Pierre Zarokian

This article was provided by Pierre Zarokian. Pierre Zarokian is an entrepreneur and internet marketer running several companies, including web design company “Web Design Express” and an online reputation management company “Reputation Stars.” Please visit his sites to get in touch with him.