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Your client writ large on a tall billboard Actually, you can think of it as handwritten jottings Apr 17, 2006 Commuters stuck in Los Angeles traffic were entertained by a whole new kind of billboard last fall: lengthy, handwritten vignettes about being stuck in traffic. The advertiser was a radio station promoting its traffic report. The campaign was recently nominated for one of the out of home industry’s prestigious Obie awards. To find out how to get your client’s message in the thick of commuter traffic, read on. This is one in a Media Life series on buying the new out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.
“I think what we wanted to do in particular was to make people laugh. When they’re frustrated they can look up, read our billboard, and get a good laugh. And to let people know they don’t have to spend two hours in their cars,” Hamling says. The handwritten presentations were a mix of printed letters and sketches, with words crossed out in places, all to the end of looking to be a slapdash note. But the process of developing the creative was actually quite involved, says Hamling. “Our print production manager hand-wrote everything,” Hamling says. “I would look at it from 20 yards away and look up to make sure an ‘m’ looked like an ‘m.’ At the end of the day it needed to be very personal and also readable. “Handwritten comes across as more personal. That and the little pictures on there kind of give each one a personality. We wanted long copy and we wanted non-sensical. It wouldn’t have been funny just to have the message.” Trickle-down coverage of the campaign included comments on numerous media blogs. Markets
“I think the idea would work in New York, Atlanta, Boston, places with crazy traffic where commuters spend hours in their cars every morning,” Hamling says. How it is measured Traditional billboard measurement, or DECs (daily effective circulation) wasn’t factored into planning for this nontraditional billboard campaign. Creating buzz was the goal, says media director Jerry May. What product categories would do well A product or service that would be relevant to commuters stuck in traffic would work for this specific type of billboard. “Making it about traffic makes it a much stronger ad,” Hamling says. “You could have an ad for say Pampers written in long copy form when commuters stuck in traffic could read it, but it’s not as conceptually strong.” Demographics A broad demographic--commuters with radios in their cars--was the target of this campaign. “Commuting is a great equalizer,” Hamling says. “Everybody has to do it.” Making the buy Lead time varies with the advertiser’s goals. Factors that affect the cost of billboard campaigns include location and the creative elements. Who’s already appeared on handwritten billboards Radio station KNX in Los Angeles What they’re saying “Basically, the long, handwritten-style billboards immerse gridlocked commuters into the thoughts of their new 'traffic buddy,' a character who waxes poetic about everything from omelettes to cork to sea otters. It goes against every rule in the book on copy length and type size for an outdoor ad. But the rules obviously don't apply here in LA, a city notorious for turning streets into veritable parking lots. Plus it was just a hoot for us to do.” Connie Sung, a spokesperson for Wongdoody. Web site info Wongdoody at www.wongdoody.com Etc. Wongdoody recently took second-place honors in the 2006 O’Toole Awards for Creative Excellence in the small agency category. The KNX campaign was an element in their entry.
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