A few weeks ago Insider ran a story IBO Speedway – The New Revenue Test is Working where an anonymous client was testing billboards for their Awareness Campaign before launching their new website. The test was to see if billboards could drive social media as they suspected. Insider tracked Chris Cowlbeck down at the NYC Digital Signage Week to get the latest.
Has the anonymous client gone public?
Yes, the success of the first two campaigns which culminated in around 290 digital boards running from 50 operators in 25 states and gave them the proof they needed to launch their new website, Time2actUSA.com. It features all the creative we’ve run as well as their vision so people can evaluate what they stand for.
What is it that the client was looking for in billboards?
They had a belief from years working for a company placing billboard ads for a national brand, that billboards could be used to display their messaging that may get picked up by social media after people took pictures and posted them, and most importantly, not get censored. If what they designed was funny and drove their message, they figured it would get shared over and over and finally drive people to their website, aka going viral. Sounds so familiar to what I hear over and over that the “brands” are seeking, I now know they’re on to something.
Is it true that the latest creative went viral?
They wanted to test a few states and a couple of creatives. The country is facing a debt crisis with all the spending planned, which many won’t disagree with. See the $3.5 Trillion creative which ran in 5 states. It’s funny with Biden eating his Ice Cream cone while proclaiming “It’s Free” in the press. We all know different. However, most people don’t know the difference between the “M”, “B” and “T”rillion, so it’s big, yeah, but yada yada.
The client targeted a different creative for the 6th state of Alabama with just two media owners, and based on the local activity and understanding. A few weeks ago some students started a Biden chant at a football game, and over a week ago at the Talladega Nascar race, the crowd picked up the chant. The media reporter said what was actually being said was “Let’s Go Brandon” who won the race. The rest is history. Saturday October 9th, Fox News website picked it up.
What happened to make the creative go viral?
This “Let’s Go Bran-don” creative that ran on Blackbelt’s face (congrats Dunkin Alred!) got picked up in Birmingham social media with 70K likes in a day, followed by a Birmingham radio talk host interviewing the client, then as this screenshot shows, Saturday the 9th, Fox News picked it up on the front page of their website. The client is very happy with these results and exactly what they were hoping for, two to three times website traffic pickup, which translates into funding over time and them acquiring longer term billboard space for their messaging. It’s a really nice cycle whereby everyone benefits.
What have you learned about making ads go viral?
It’s hard work and I’ve had to get a little uncomfortable and learn more about this social media society we have. We’re not going to change it, but now there’s a reason to embrace it. It’ll bring budget to the OOH industry that typically has gone to TV or Website Ads. The creative has to be funny and needs to have a purpose. Sometimes the content may upset some, but the client will need to get close to the fire without getting burned. My job is to be a liaison between our media owners and the client as it is a symbiotic relationship. I also must take an agnostic position politically and we will entertain funds from both sides of the aisle and in the middle. We have also adopted a new policy on evaluating creative we receive, but ultimately, the media owner is the last bastion of free speech, they can post it or not, they own the display space.
If a media owner is not involved, can they participate?
If they would like to participate or simply would like the creative to run in your area, please email me at chris@IBOUSA.org. Ideally they should join IBOUSA as it costs less than 3 cups of Starbucks a month and completely optional for everything we do. This is an interesting time in our country and an excellent opportunity to tell the world how effective OOH really is.
About IBO Speedway
The IBO COOP Speedway is a cloud based set of data solutions and technology “tools” that enable our IBO Marketing team to aggregate inventory information from just about any source and deliver data to just about any buyer or operator in any fashion.
IBO Marketing has grown to over 250 companies with about a 90K face footprint and uniquely functions on a break-even basis to represent the IBO Associates as a cooperative manager, much like a wheat farming coop. Our centralized technical effort enables a one-stop functionality for buying interests whether automation assisted, programmatic or the good old-fashioned manual way.
For more information contact Becky Smith, IBOUSA Enterprise Manager via email becky@IBOUSA.org or call the office for immediate attention, 580-226-2234.
[wpforms id=”9787″]
Paid Advertisement
