What Winning Our First Gold OBIE Award Taught Us
We, with the help of a lot of people, won a Gold OBIE Award. We’re pumped. But, really, we’re more excited about what this means for smaller brands using billboard advertising in smaller markets. Here are a few take-aways.
It Doesn’t Take a Big Brand to Push a Big Idea
It might seem contrary. The old adage that “you need to spend money to make money” suggests as much. And, it to a large extent still holds true. Nothing’s for free. But maybe you don’t need to spend quite as much. You’re a smaller brand. You’re speaking to less people than a Coke or a Coors. Your billboard advertising and theirs isn’t an apples to apples comparison. The key is prioritizing. Get the right medium with the right creative, in the right location—and then, sit back. Let the campaign work for you.
Smaller Billboard Companies Can and Do Compete Creatively with the Top Three
Bill Durden said it best above, “We’re just a small plant from Alabama, we’re not supposed to be here.” You might be thinking the same thing. Only in Texas, Georgia, Ohio, or Wyoming. The thing is, Bill Durden’s creative, using everything from garden hoses and PVC, to LEDs and home-built animatronics. Nothing fancy. It just goes to show, that wherever you are, big sh*t’s possible. Get the right tools in place. Make yourself aware of what’s out there. And drive it home. Not sure how to do it, call someone in the industry who has. Out of home folks are nothing if not generous.
Automotive Advertising Doesn’t Have to Suck
If this year taught us anything, it’s that dealership and automotive advertising in general needn’t be boring AF. A car image with a price point. A dealership logo accompanied by car logos and a directional. Or worse yet, the dealership logo and “exit now.” They’ve been done to death. And ought to stay buried. Hyundai of Dothan, however, has managed to blow the damn doors of off automotive out of home for two consecutive years now, first with Out of Home Creative’s “Zombie Apocalypse” campaign, and again this last year with our “Alien Invasion” campaign. And they’re not showing any signs of slowing down.
Getting to show-stopping campaigns won’t happen overnight, but it can, with the help of consistent actions and processes, unfold over time. Hell, we’ve discussed as much in our previous IBOUSA 2024 talk just this last March. And more recently, we went over how small businesses are more than capable of punching up. The fact is, big f#cking ideas happen all over the place. This win merely acknowledges what we and others in the industry have been saying all along.
Big shout-outs in no particular order:
Bill Durden and Makayla Jennings at Durden Outdoor Displays
Eddy Carolan and the team at Soft Signs 3D
Shelley Hoffman with Hyundai of Dothan
Wanna know how your business or billboard plant can blow the damn doors off of out of home advertising?
We’re here for it. We want to be your billboard experts. From creative to planning to celebrating with you on stage. Let’s get up to something.
