We, at Norton Outdoor Advertising, are proud to say that we have been providing outstanding outdoor advertising in the Cincinnati area for over 62 years. That is a lot of yesterdays; over 22,600 of them, in fact.
While we can point to our history as a testament to our experience and understanding of the out of home space, the true benefit to our client partners is not what we have done in the past, but rather how we can help them in the future.
We have adapted to and grown with myriad changes and evolutions in the social, technological, media and advertising landscapes. Among these changes is the conversational dynamic between brands and consumers.
For years upon decades, brands used advertising to “talk at” consumers, extolling their best attributes, and when done correctly, how those attributes were benefits. The consumer was then expected to act upon this information, by seeking it out and, hopefully, buying it, as follows:
Miller Lite Ad: “Tastes Great! Less Filling!”
21-44 Year Olds: “I like beer. I really like beer that tastes great. I would love to buy beer that tastes great AND is less filling!...I need to make a beer run!” (Note: do a YouTube search for “beer run song”, it’s pretty funny…oh, heck, just click this link AFTER you read the rest of my little blog.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmcJWPYcr1I
This is how advertising, when done correctly, was expected to work (right placement + right message + right time = sales). This one-way conversation was the accepted norm for decades…and then, a funny thing happened on the way to the beer aisle.
First, it was the internet. The information available on this new platform allowed consumers to do much more of their own research on brands, goods and services. Remember calling a travel agent if you needed a flight to Florida? When’s the last time you did that? Of course, the goods and service providers quickly made it easier to buy online, because the only thing better than selling something in the store was selling it online, with less overhead. Score!
This was still a relatively one-sided conversation, although the ability to review brands and products started to turn the tide toward a conversation. The explosion of social media, presently led by Facebook, has given the consumer a more even foothold in the brand-consumer conversation. As a buddy of mine and I just discussed (Hey, Mitch!), this has led us back to the days of a one-to-one relationship between brands and consumers. Instead of walking into the butcher shop, and Sam starts cutting your ham, iTunes is making recommendations for music that you might like, based on recent purchase history. This is what consumers are now expecting, if not demanding from their brands. Furthermore, social media has combined the power of digital (search, websites, etc.) with the irresistible force that is word-of-mouth. More and more, people, especially younger consumers, rely very heavily on the expertise and/or opinions of their social media peers to make purchasing decisions. This isn’t just for big ticket items, like cars, TV’s and tablets, it is spaghetti sauce and headphones (I’m sorry, earbuds).
I made the case for “Why Outdoor in Today’s Social World?” in a blog last May (http://www.norton-outdoor.com/blog/). In that blog, I made the case that OOH should be viewed as the first step of engagement with a brand. What I didn’t concentrate on is content control, which is evaporating with other media.
Outdoor advertising still allows the advertiser to direct viewers to do something, whether it is as direct as “Buy this now while it is on sale!” or the first engagement request (First Screen, if you will) to be searched or liked on Facebook (please offer an incentive to do so, not just withholding your Facebook information until we “Like” you). We do this without immediately being peer reviewed on Facebook (unless you are Facebooking and driving, which is very dangerous).
What we have always done well as a medium is reach a lot of people for relatively little money. With Eyes On Ratings data (http://www.norton-outdoor.com/eyeson.html), we can now show the demography of exactly who is Likely To See each display. Just like the old equation, the message is the key to unlock the power of outdoor to help achieve your goals.
Norton Outdoor would love nothing more than to help. I can tell you that we will do our very best to make it a rewarding and profitable experience.
Mike Norton
EVP
Norton Outdoor Advertising
