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.
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.
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.