Digital advertising continues to see a huge boom these days, although there’s a small amount of danger emerging from ad-blocking services, which are seeing more and more use on a weekly basis. Fortunately, some ad campaigns continue to work including physical.
A report from the Wall Street Journal indicates that a new campaign from the Outdoor Advertising Association of America could open the door for many companies to embrace an old-school ad format billboards.
The campaign, titled “Feel the Real,” is meant to pitch these companies on out-of-home ad platforms, including billboards and transit shelters, which can’t be blocked by any kind of services. The above image shows just how effective an ad can be, even if people are passing by it at a moderate speed.
The campaign was launched alongside Advertising Week, and not only features the above billboard, but also other ads, such as rail posters that state, “You are consuming an advertisement. You are real” and telephone kiosks reading, “Media planners, do you have a reality problem ” The campaign as a whole will feature more than 1,600 advertising displays. It can also take a personal turn, such as with an ad agency’s boss getting a mention, along the lines of “Hey, Shelly, does this ad feel real to you ”
Traditional media has seen a slide over the past few years, although spending on outdoor ads continue to rise, with approximately $2 billion spent over the previous year a 2.7 percent increase from the previous time, according to Kantar Media.
But this new push by PNYC could bring back the forgotten era of billboards and transit ads, and provide companies with a new means to reach out to audiences even if it is just a curious glance. Let’s see the ad-blockers try to get around that.
