Digital ads certainly have their place, but nothing beats OOH advertising. When you need to reach as many people as possible out in the real world, there’s no substitute, and this is especially the case in the United States’ largest cities, where activity is at the highest volume.
National brands, agencies, franchise groups, and anyone who has to generate interest for an idea at scale always needs to consider OOH first. No two cities are the same, and global marketing campaigns must be tailored specifically for the area in question and its unique traits.
At The OOH Squad, we understand how to attack this challenge head-on. We’re specialists in developing comprehensive, interconnected, highly tailored strategies for brands worldwide, helping organizations drill down to what really matters at the granular level. Below, you’ll discover the top OOH advertising strategies we’ve identified for four major U.S. cities (as well as how to scale them).
New York: Addressing Density
There’s nowhere in the world quite like New York, so it stands to reason that a special kind of approach is required here. The population density is high, and as such, you’ll require the most eye-catching materials possible. Given that no one really has time to stop here, you’re going to need the best way of making an impact in the least amount of time.
Mobile outdoor advertising can work fantastically, as you’re able to target car commuters, cyclists, and those on foot simultaneously in the densest areas. Digital billboards are also a great choice when strategically positioned for visibility, and transit stations, like subways and bus stops, are an ideal place to start. These are relatively cheap to implement, so you can start with a couple of units in the most important areas and gradually expand outward as things start to pick up.
Los Angeles: Prioritizing Vehicle Traffic
LA is much more car-centric than other large US cities, so your best bet is usually highway billboards on the busiest freeways, as well as those positioned where traffic tends to crawl.
The benefit of this form of outdoor advertising is that once paid for, it can stay in place for months at a time without the need for you to do anything else. Again, mobile units can be deployed to target traffic in neighborhoods and in areas away from major roads. To scale, you’ll expand coverage across multiple key routes and districts one by one, watching carefully for what’s working and what could improve.
Chicago: A Flexible Playground
Chicago is a place where a mix of different strategies tends to work the best, as you’ve got a blend of city center density with a lot of suburban commuting. Cars are used extensively, but so is public transport, offering the opportunity to experiment with your approach. In Chicago, strategies tend to do best when multiple forms of OHH media are layered together. Populations here are ready to engage with a range of modalities, from billboards and posters to interactive displays that tap into people’s natural curiosity.
This is also a city where many major events, like sports games and music concerts, take place, so you can capitalize on key dates with your installations. The layered approach is highly scalable, as you can replicate and slightly tweak installations in new areas to see how reactions change and learn what’s resonating.
Dallas: The Need for Adaptability
Dallas is an interesting place in that expansion is at an all-time high, and your potential customers are really spread out. To that latter point, you’ll want to prioritize advertising that primarily targets drivers. Billboards are, once again, a great option for the most established routes, and for what you can’t quite reach, mobile units are a surefire way of embedding the campaign within the suburbs.
Out-of-home advertising campaigns are certainly challenging here, but the most important factor is staying adaptable. Dallas will continue to morph and change, so being cautious and not double-downing on any one strategy makes sense. This naturally makes for a scalable strategy, as your approach grows with the city.
Scaling a Campaign to Work in Multiple Cities: How The OOH Squad Delivers on the National Scale
Understanding how each city ticks is one thing, but knowing how to bring your global strategy into a single, powerful package is another. This is something many OOH advertising agencies struggle with. Maintaining a consistent, concrete message that people can identify with is the main goal; it’s all about adapting and tweaking a great idea for each place without losing sight of what matters. Campaigns will need to be both structured and flexible – general yet personal. It’s a tough balancing act, but at The OOH Squad, we’ve been creating winning campaigns of this magnitude for years.
Unlike other outdoor media advertising companies you might have worked with, we’ll first spend plenty of time understanding your vision and target market, and only once everything’s crystal clear will we look at how we can evolve it to resonate in each major city. There are no gimmicks – just a passion for helping great brands succeed and a highly-skilled team at the ready to bring your goals to fruition.
If you’re ready to engage with national OOH marketing the smart way, we’re ready to make it happen.