In early 2019, after 10 years in the e-commerce industry, Joseph Ortner had an idea. He wanted to start an exciting new business that helps sellers with unwanted merchandise. So when a business has returns or is overstocked on certain items, Joseph’s company would resell it for them so that business can turn their problem into a profit. Joseph had the idea, but where should he go from there?

Challenge:

Joseph needed assistance on building his business from the ground up. The first challenge was coming up with a business name and logo. He needed something snappy that would stick in the minds of potential customers. The business also needed an aesthetic. A distinct look that would make it memorable and set it apart from any potential competitors. This would be a vital part of the new business’ brand. The branding material would need to include their message — or who they were as a company — set in a tone that would serve as the voice of the business. But what was the message?

Once the preliminary branding was complete, Joseph’s business would need to have a large, successful launch. He needed an advertising campaign that aggressively targeted his intended customers. He needed ads that would be eye-catching and bring people in. He also needed to figure out what kind of marketing strategy worked best for his type of business. How he marketed his business would be paramount for building brand awareness, especially with a business so young. He’d tried print media, but found it to be too expensive and limited in its reach. Was there another type of media that would work better?

With such a large array of needs, Joseph turned to iCatch Media. He knew they could guide him and his budding business through it all.

Gameplan:

With the ambitious business owner putting his faith in them, iCatch Media got to work. They saw a lot of potential in Joseph’s idea. After studying the specifics of his business plan and looking at the layers of it as a product, they laid out a plan to make it a whole lot more than an idea. 

First, they chose a name. They picked something that conveyed what the business did but also was short and easy to remember: Savvy Returnz. “Savvy” implying that they have the inside knowledge a seller needs in order to resell their returned items. iCatch Media designed a logo that was a vibrant red in lowercase font. Eye-catching, but also simplistic, giving its viewers the feeling that working with this company would be just as simple. Which is exactly the message that iCatch Media wanted to create: Savvy Returnz is easy, hassle-free, and a business you can trust. 

In order to propel the brand, iCatch Media decided to use out of home (OOH) advertising. The ads were designed with Savvy Returnz’s signature red coloring, an image to make it more personable, and bold fonts with strong messaging. But where would the ads be the most effective? iCatch Media had that covered as well. They were strategically placed on bus station billboards where business owners would see them coming to and from work or when they were out on their lunch breaks. The ads were showcased all over — including various Brooklyn locations, Staten Island, Far Rockaway, Kew Gardens, and upstate New York — ensuring that plenty of potential customers saw and recognized the Savvy Returnz name. “I knew that iCatch is the leader in outdoor media,” Joseph said. “I trusted that they would get my word out.” And they did!

There was a lot of buzz about our ads, because of the striking design, with messaging that resonated with our target market,” says Joseph. “So in addition to an actual response, we received a lot of positive feedback on our ads.”

Outcome:

Thanks to iCatch Media, Savvy Returnz has gone from idea to full-fledged business. They have a memorable name and logo, top-tier branding materials, unforgettable ads, and a marketing plan that is already showing a return on investment. In the year since their launch, Savvy Returnz has had a steady stream of new client accounts, and has grown so significantly that they expanded their headquarters, moving into a larger warehouse. In the initial startup months, they received an increase in inquiry calls and saw an average of 12 new clients who signed up for their services per month, and gained much more traction beyond that. This was a direct result of the OOH ads and the coordinating digital campaign iCatch coordinated. “There was a lot of buzz about our ads, because of the striking design, with messaging that resonated with our target market,” says Joseph. “So in addition to an actual response, we received a lot of positive feedback on our ads.” The launch was a huge success!

Feedback:

Joseph is more than thrilled with iCatch Media’s services. His business continues to thrive and attract new customers every day. He plans to stick with the OOH ad platform, and even dip into online advertising as well. And for Joseph, iCatch Media’s professionalism made all the difference. “I especially appreciate the fact that I felt that I was their only client,” he says. “The process was very pleasant. Very smooth. I encountered no difficulty. Just professional, caring, and dedicated service.”

Making an impactful ad can be simple, if you know the basics. Check out these tips we’ve put together on how to make your ad stand head and shoulders above the rest.

1. A Splash of Color
   Perhaps the most important part of an OOH ad is to make it eye-catching, so it stands out against the others. Use colors that will grab the viewer’s attention and draw them in. Consider incorporating the colors associated with your business, such as your logo colors, to keep it on-brand. But make sure the color is bold and vibrant. If you choose a color that’s too soft or pastel, it can blend into the sky or building your billboard is in front of. It’s also important to choose text that is in high contrast to the billboard’s background. Your audience only has a few short seconds to read your advertisement. Make sure they can.

1. Short and Sweet
   When writing the content of your ad, be sure to use as few words as possible. Because customers are usually only viewing an OOH ad for a few seconds, you want to give them as much information as possible in the blink of an eye. Only tell the customer what they need to know: your business name, what your business does, and how they can learn more. When possible, use pictures! Remember the old adage that “a picture is worth a thousand words.” A viewer is more likely to remember a graphic than a paragraph of text. Here’s a simple test to see if your ad is succinct enough: look at your design from across the room for only five seconds. Were you able to read everything? If not, it’s time to edit it down.

1. Keep it Catchy
   Since you don’t have much time to grab and keep your potential customer’s attention, make your slogan or tagline easy to remember. Keeping it simple, catchy, or even having it rhyme will make it stick in the viewer’s mind. Also, try and keep your phone number or website as simple as possible. This increases the chance that people who see your advertisement will take the time to look it up later.

1. Location, Location, Location
   Consider your ad’s location when you are deciding how to design it. Can you make the ad more relatable to the specific viewer? Can you use something in the immediate vicinity of the ad to your advantage? For example, if your ad is going to be at an outdoor bus station, you can create content that targets commuters. Or if you know your billboard is going to be against a colorful backdrop, make the ad background white so it stands out. Oftentimes, the location of the ad is just as important as the ad itself.

1. Get Creative
   At the end of the day, you can create a colorful ad with a short message, catchy phone number, and put it in the best location… but none of that helps if viewers don’t remember it. To ensure your potential customers recall your OOH ad, you need to get creative. Making your ad humorous or witty can give the viewer a laugh on their morning commute, and will make you stick in their mind. Designing an ad that is fun or beautiful and pleasing to the eye will make them want to snap a pic and maybe even share it on social media. Don’t be afraid to get innovative. Push the boundaries. Anything you can do to make your ad stand out will make it more effective and raise its value to you and your business.

Take the time to make your OOH ad memorable. This is your chance to get creative. Stand out against the plethora of billboards. If you want to be the first business people think of, make yourself unforgettable.

Here are some things to consider when designing your billboard to make sure it is legible to your potential customers. 

Font Size

Choosing the correct font size is vital when creating a billboard. Too small and your viewers won’t be able to read it. Too big and you won’t have enough room for all the information you want to get across. First, you should make sure the most important information is the largest, whether that’s your business name, logo, slogan, or pricing. The viewers’ eyes will be drawn to that first and they’ll at least read the essential information, if nothing else. Next, you want to consider your viewing distance. The rule of thumb is that for every 10 feet of viewing distance, your font size should be at least 1 inch (or 72 pt.) tall. For example, if your audience is going to be 40 feet away from your ad, your lettering must be at least 4 inches tall (or 288 pt.) for it to be legible. But even with this rule, it’s a good idea to put your font size choice to the test. Print out a copy of your billboard design and put it on the wall. Stand back 10 feet and glance at it for only three seconds. Were you able to read the ad? Perfect! If not, make the font size bigger. You might also consider having someone unfamiliar with the billboard do the same test. A fresh eye can be the best judge.

Font Style

Much like font size, the font style you choose for your billboard is an important decision. You want something that is eye-catching, but simple. A style that isn’t too over the top, but also won’t pass by your viewers without their notice. You’ll want to ixnay fonts that are too fat or too tight because the words can bleed into each other when a person zooms by. Fonts that are too thin or faint will fade into the background. Overly stylized fonts will be a challenge for your viewers to read. Cursive fonts, for example, are a no-no. Print is much more natural for today’s readers. Consider using the font you’ve chosen for your brand, so you can stick in your viewer’s mind and build that brand awareness. If, however, your brand font isn’t the best fit for a billboard, try one of the better-known billboard fonts, such as Arial, Calibri, Helvetica, Lucinda Grande, Tahoma, or Verdana. These fonts are simple, clean, and naturally draw the viewer’s eyes towards them. 

Kerning

Kerning refers to the spacing between letters and it’s another necessary aspect to consider when designing your billboard. If your lettering is too close together, it will look like a blur when your viewer goes speeding past. Having the letters too far apart might make the wording confusing and eligible. A big random gap between two letters can distract your viewer from the message you’re trying to get across. Pay attention to your ad’s tracking, or the even spread of letters across a word. You also want to take kerning into account as you write out the content of the ad itself. For example, if your ad includes the word “clip” but the “c” and “l” letters are too close together, it can look like the word “dip.” Kerning can help you make your message more clear (not dear).

Clutter and White Space

With so much space to fill and so much information to get across it can be tempting to fill your billboard as much as possible. The more information the better, right? Not so for billboards. It’s important to include only the most vital information to stop your billboard from looking cluttered. If the billboard looks too busy, viewers who are in a hurry won’t bother to read it. Or if they do take the time to look, a cluttered billboard can be confusing and downright unprofessional looking. To avoid a messy ad, consider your billboard’s white space, sometimes called negative space. This is the space around your billboard’s words, logos, or pictures. White space is there to make your billboard more legible and to help set the aesthetic with its coloring. It’s true that “white space” doesn’t need to be white, but it’s a good idea to use a neutral color. Something that draws the eyes toward it without clashing with your font coloring. Even though it may sound boring, a classic black text on a white background (or vice versa) can naturally attract attention. After all, most things we read are black text on white, whether in books or on websites. If you’re looking to get more colorful with your background, such as a vibrant red or a calming blue, just make sure the text color doesn’t clash.

At the end of the day, a billboard is only as effective as its legibility. Taking these aspects of design into account will ensure that your billboard is attracting new customers, building your brand awareness, and bringing in a return on its investment. 

So how do you create brand awareness? How do you make your brand stick in the minds of potential customers? Check out our five tips for developing brand awareness so you can put your brand to work.

Tell a Story

As humans, we love to hear stories. Does the origin of your company have an interesting, personal story? Share that with your audience so they see you as a person, not just someone trying to sell them something. A touch of authenticity that your audience can connect to. When you create promotional content, give them characters they can identify with or a story that has your business as a resolution. Stories are paramount for communication and making personal connections. And making that connection with your customers will create a richer, deeper connection with your brand, which will thereby increase the likelihood that that people who come across your brand will actually remember your brand when needed. 

Social Media

Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter can be effective tools when you are promoting brand awareness. Facebook is a great way to create a community with your customers through your page or even a group. With more engagement with your page and your brand, you increase people’s awareness about your company and who you are. As a visual platform, Instagram is the place for you to showcase your business’ aesthetic. Keep your signature colors and images prominent. Invite customers to send their stories and photos to you for you to post, to give your account a more personal feel. Twitter is the platform for giving your customers the chance to talk back to you. Having an open, honest, or even funny dialogue will make your brand memorable.

Stay Uniform

You chose a name people can easily remember. A slogan they get stuck in their head. A logo that can become a classic. Colors that draw the eyes toward it. A message that sets you apart from other companies. And once you’ve chosen these aspects of your brand, stick with them. Use the same style guidelines and messaging on every piece of material, promotion, and advertising. From the flyers you pass out, to the website you launch, keep it consistent. The uniformity will make you feel familiar to your audience and promotes a sense of steadfastness and trust. Customers will know exactly what they will get when they come to your business. 

Personality

Don’t just be a business. Be a person. Create a strong voice to make interaction with your customers feel more like they’re talking with a friend. For example, using humor in your promotional materials can make your business appear more charming. Or if the brand you’re pushing is charitability and community engagement, highlight your company’s volunteerism with photos about the work you’re doing. If your brand is focused on hassle-free customer service, make your representatives the trusted face of the company. Adding an identity to your brand is a great way to forge a lasting relationship with your customers and reach potential customers.. 

OOH Ads

OOH ads are unique in their ability to create awareness among your target audience with a bold, visual statement. Make a large, eye-catching ad with your signature colors and style, showing viewers your business’ personality and message. OOH ads can be a canvas to tell a story. Use multiple billboards to expand that story and draw the viewer in. By placing ads at bus stations or newsstands, a person will see your ad consistently in their commutes to work. Keep an ad at the same location for years, cementing it in the neighborhood and the minds of the viewer. Use that repetition of your brand to create a lasting impression on the viewer. Soon, they’ll become not just familiar with your brand, but truly aware of it. So when they do finally need your services, your business will be the first one they think of.  

Don’t be afraid to use more than one tip on this list. In fact, try to use as much as possible. Brand awareness requires multiple touchpoints, from multiple forms of media and marketing. It’s not just about getting your name out there. It’s about getting in front of your customers, consistently and constantly, and showing them who you are in a way that will make your business familiar and trusted. 

What is a brand? 

A brand is every aspect of your business’ outward appearance that could make it more memorable to your customers. Your business name, your logo, your slogan, your color scheme, your services, your origin story, your unique selling points, your location, your advertising styles… Even the values of your business are a part of the brand. And your brand has everything to do with public opinion. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos called brands “what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

What is brand awareness?

Have you ever asked someone for a Band-Aid? Or a Kleenex? When you wanted a refreshing summer snack, you may have gotten a Popsicle. Or when you needed to send a delicate package you used Bubble Wrap. We might not realize it, but all of these aren’t just products — they’re brand names. We have become so familiar with them, they became synonymous with their purpose. Brand awareness is how much customers associate your business with the service they need. 

Is it just brand recognition?

Not at all. Keep in mind that brand awareness is much more than recognition. You do need brand recognition, but brand awareness goes further. When customers hear your name or see your logo, you want them to automatically know the specifics of what you offer, where they can find you, what kind of service they can expect, etc. The goal is to give customers a positive association with your business. Not just a name they recognize, but a name they want to use.

Why is it important?

Brand awareness is a highly effective way to grow a loyal customer base. It can create a sense of trust. If your brand is the first thing people think of when they need a service, you’ll be the place they go. You’ll be the first business they recommend when their friends or family are in need of your service. It can also help when dealing with competing companies. If people are more familiar with your business’s name, they’ll be more likely to use your product or service as opposed to researching for alternatives. 

Brand awareness is paramount to making any marketing strategy work. So how do you promote brand awareness? We’ll cover that in our next post! 

Out of Home ads (OOH) can be a highly effective way for you to do all of this. They are a visually creative method to draw people to your event, and therefore your business. Check out our tips and learn how you can use your OOH ads to promote your business’ event.

1. Make it Easy
   Make it easy for people viewing the ad to see exactly what it’s for. Design the ad so the name of the event and your company is prominent. Include specifics on what kind of an event it will be so your target attendees know exactly what they’re going to get from the experience. Just remember to keep it short. Make the event’s location, date, and time stand out so people passing by can easily remember how to get there and when to come. Create a website for your event and display a catchy URL on the ad so people can look into it when they get home. If your event requires tickets, include an easy way to purchase them on the website. You can even include a QR code on the OOH ad, enabling any passersby to scan and register on the spot.

 

2. Pictures
   Pictures on OOH ads are a great way to grab a viewer’s attention. If you’ve held a similar event before, use pictures from that event so people can see what to expect. Nothing will make a person want to attend an event more than seeing other people having fun. Make them think, “I want to be there, too.” FOMO is real! If you’ve never held an event like this before, staged images of parties that are similar to what you are planning are still a great way to bring people in. A visually pleasing photo will help people associate your event, and therefore your business, with a good time.

 

3. Perks
   What perks you want to include, if any, really depends on your event. But a giveaway, raffle, or contest can be a great way to get people interested. Everyone loves getting stuff for free. Advertising the event’s giveaway on the OOH ad will get your viewers interested. And offering giveaways such as merchandise with your company name on it ends up being even more advertising for you. Also consider making the OOH ad itself a giveaway. For example, a photo of the ad could be a free or discounted ticket to the event. Or put a promo code on the ad that folks can use to get free stuff at the event. This can also help you figure out how many attendees at the event are there because they saw the OOH ad.

 

4. Consider Your Location
   As we always say, one of the biggest perks of OOH ads is that you can meet your potential audience right where they are. When deciding who you want to promote your event to, consider the location of your OOH ads. If you want younger folks to attend, put your ads in neighborhood with younger residents. If you want professionals to attend, place your ads in an area with lots of businesses and offices. Placing ads in areas with high turnaround, such as subway cars or at bus station billboards, will mean even more people are seeing it. Also consider the location of the event itself. Putting an ad close to where the event will be held increases the chance that locals who live near the event space will want to come check it out.

By knowing how to use OOH ads, you can market your event to your target audience and gain some valuable attendees. Once they attend your event, have a good time, and become aware of your business, watch them go from party guests to loyal customers.

Challenge: With the new design, Hamodia moved in newsstands from the newspaper section to the magazine section. The company was looking for a way to inform their current and potential customers about where to find their improved product. To do this, Hamodia wanted to reach people as close to the point of sale as possible. So they turned to iCatch Media for help.

Game Plan: The iCatch Media team secured prime out-of-home (OOH) ad space for Hamodia, reaching a large segment of their target audience. Hamodia ads appeared at bus stations, boards near newsstands, and even advertising spots located directly on newsstands. The results spoke for themselves.

The OOH ads were definitely a worthwhile investment. 

Outcome: iCatch Media’s OOH placement strategy proved to be very effective. The ads from the Hamodia team were professional and eye-catching, and paired with the OOH media, the ads were able to get people walking by to take a second look. They helped to make customers aware of the newspaper’s changes and even created buzz amongst new potential customers. Overall, Hamodia saw in increase in interest around their product.

Feedback: Hamodia chose iCatch Media because of their ability to get advertisements in target locations. Israel Bitton, a marketing consultant for Hamodia, praised iCatch media for their great pricing and smooth process.“Working with iCatch was very straight forward, easy, and professional” says Bitton. “The OOH ads were definitely a worthwhile investment.”

]]> http://icatchmedia.com/case-study-hamodia-launches-new-magazine-with-strategic-ooh-advertising/feed/ 0 http://icatchmedia.com/finding-the-best-locations-for-your-ooh-ads/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=finding-the-best-locations-for-your-ooh-ads http://icatchmedia.com/finding-the-best-locations-for-your-ooh-ads/#comments Thu, 11 Jul 2019 00:50:06 +0000 http://icatchmedia.com/?p=7055 There are a lot of things to consider once you’ve committed to investing in out of home (OOH) advertising. You’ve chosen the ad’s content, color scheme, message, design… but there’s another decision: Where do you put it?

It might be tempting to choose a random location and let your customers come to you. After all, we see dozens if not hundreds of ads every day. They’re everywhere, so why should it matter where it’s displayed? But an advertisement’s location is everything, especially an OOH ad. Outside of the home, you are battling for your audience’s attention against the world around them. Even the most well thought out OOH ads are useless without a viewer’s attention. In order for your ad to do its job, you need to be the one to meet your customers. And you need to meet them where they already are.

1. Public Transit
   Every day, millions of people use public transit to get to work, school, the bank, the grocery store, etc. If you’re going to find your potential customers where they are, you need to find the places where you are guaranteed to capture their attention. Your audience is stuck on a subway, train, or bus — sometimes delayed — with little to look at. Display your ads in the subway car or on bus station billboards. Consider having your advertisement on the side of the bus itself! You’re guaranteed a wider audience when your ad is cruising all through the town.

 

2. Highway Billboards
   You can capture the attention of those driving commuters as well. Highway billboards have the luxury of being big, loud, and right where people are driving by. But be sure to do some research before deciding which road to place it on. Choose spots with lots of traffic. If it’s an area that tends to get a little grid locked during rush hour, even better. Drivers are more likely to see it. You can use the Department of Transportation to check for the busiest roads in your area. Putting your billboard near the off-ramp where cars are slowing down also increases the chance that your ad will be seen.

 

3. On the Streets
   Once you exit the highway, there’s still a slew of locations for OOH ads. There are newspaper kiosks, street furniture, parking lots, bus station billboards, plenty of ways to meet people where they are on the streets. In this situation, it is extremely important to know the neighborhoods where you plan to display the ad. Do you want it in a residential area? Close to commercial businesses? If your audience is children or parents, consider placing your ad near a school. If you’re trying to reach professionals, show your ad near office buildings. Knowing where your audience frequents is vital.

 

4. Close to You
   If your business has a physical location, you can put your advertisement nearby. This gives potential customers who are walking or driving by the chance to check you out now instead of waiting to look you up when they get home. It also helps if your business isn’t on a main street. Putting an advertisement on a busier road with an arrow or directions telling people how to find you, can increase your business’ foot traffic. Oftentimes, customers are already looking for your services. You just have to make yourself easier to find.

When choosing the location for your OOH ad, the most important question to ask is, “whose attention am I trying to get?” Knowing the ins and outs of your audience’s movements is paramount. Only once you have gone to them and captured their attention, will they find their way to you and your business.