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I think it is a little scary how the myth of thin is beautiful is constantly perpetuated. Billboards, print ad, tv and movies, all of those women…

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Okay, so there's a lot of discussion on this matter. I and my family have used Airborne. It's not a cure-all, though at one point it may have been,…

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Target Marketing

Billboards 2008

Dr. Sabrina Segal

Jim McCann, CEO of 1-800-Flowers.com and his golfing buddy Leslie Moonves, CEO of CBS, had a conversation over barbeque in which Moonves suggested that McCann "really ought to connect with our outdoor group. Something interesting is bound to come out of it."

Target Product: new cocktail-themed floral product line, Happy Hour Bouquets
Sole Mode: Outdoor advertising through CBS Outdoor.
Result: 600% jump in product revenue.

McCann commented: "In the past we'd done lots of online, lots of TV and radio and a lot of direct marking, but this was the most successful campaign launched in the flower category. It absolutely, unequivocally demonstrated that they (outdoor ads) can move the needle."

Outdoor ads usually take up a small portion of the budget, but since people are spending more time outdoors and more time in their cars, outdoor ads are gaining in market share. After all, today's wireless consumer is on the go, not locked up in their house.

Oxygen, a cable network devoted to woman viewers, hit New York and Los Angeles heavy with outdoor ads for a new show, “The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency.” Given these savvy markets, it almost seemed counterintuitive to go this route. In New York, the campaign featured a fake modeling agency with scores of buzz marketers roaming the streets talking it up. Would-be-models were encouraged to drop of their headshots at the fake agency.

The show’s first episode was Oxygen’s highest rated premiere!

Do you pay attention to Billboards and other outdoor ads?

Photo Credit: Dr. Sabrina Segal

6 Comments

1. SweetSour |Apr. 11, 2008 @ 4:28 PM

Great topic Sabrina, but I am curious where you found the McCann/Moonves encounter? I would like to read more.

2. WallBurgar |Apr. 14, 2008 @ 8:19 AM

I think Oxygen is really starting to hit its stride with their programing. They have found their niche in the tv marketplace.

3. McCabe |Apr. 14, 2008 @ 9:32 AM

I do agree with the billboard outdoor ads help sell products. But every time I want to send flowers to a loved one, I head on-line and look for deals. I don't have ANY loyalty to those type of companies, but outdoor target marketing might make me click on one company over another.

4. MacQuay |Apr. 22, 2008 @ 9:23 AM

I think one floral company who needs a new marketing re-haul is FTD. It seems like they have been elbowed out of the market.

5. maryh |May. 30, 2008 @ 9:03 PM

yes i pay very close attention to billboards and other ads outside, mainly when rideing down the street. Some are so old and over with that they need to be taken down, like one for a fair 3 years ago. a store that shut down 2 years ago and so on.yes billboards help sell.

6. mrmagic |May. 31, 2008 @ 10:13 AM

I don't know about billboards as ads mainly becous I cant think of one that I have seen. I'm always to in to what is going on with trafic to pay to much mind to a billboard.

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