Archive for Atlanta West Georgia Billboards – Page 2

A Rivalry in the Making?

July 21, 2017 by Neal Spencer
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It’s the first time that Atlanta United and Orlando City will face off in a match, but some are already billing the two teams as rivals.  Coaches and management for both teams are saying that label is jumping the gun a bit, but fans and others associated with the team seem ready roll with it.

The team did buy billboard space in Orlando for some fun trash talk ahead of the match, but Atlanta United manager Gerardo Martino says because this is the first time the teams play each other, they aren’t considered rivals.  Martino says, “We will see over time if it develops into a rivalry, but today it doesn’t feel like that.”

Orlando City’s coach, Jason Kreis, agrees.  He says, “I’m one (who) believes that rivalries are intrinsic, meaning they happen through experiences. It would be premature to be talking about whether or not they are our rival. We shall see, starting with the first 15 minutes of the match.”

The rivalry talk may be due in part to the proximity of the two cities.  They are just a 6 hour drive apart, the closest of any two teams in the league.  Officials say league expansion isn’t out of the question, in cities like Nashville and Charlotte, so that could change in the future.

Fans have taken to social media to trash talk all week ahead of the match.  They seem just fine calling the teams rivals, despite this being their first meeting.  Atlanta United team President Darren Eales is doing his part to encourage a win.  He tweeted a photo of one of the scoreboards at the team’s future home, Mercedes Benz Stadium.  The score was shown as Atlanta United 6, Orlando City 0.  Eales’ text read: “Pitch side scoreboard appears to be working” (with a winking emoji).

The stadium is not quite finished yet, so the team’s home remains at Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium for now.  Atlanta United and Orlando City will meet there next week.  The first face off between the teams is tonight at 7pm in Orlando.

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Selfies for a Good Cause

July 18, 2017 by Neal Spencer
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Our society’s obsession with selfies can now be used for a good cause!  National Geographic Society has partnered with media outlets around the country to launch its “Photo Ark” campaign. The launch took place back on May 19, which is Endangered Species Day, in New York’s Times Square.  Photos of several endangered species appeared on bus shelters and billboards around the city. People who took a selfie with them and uploaded it to the website were featured on a digital billboard high above the city.

But if you missed it, don’t worry, you didn’t totally miss out.  The images of the endangered species are still being featured on various forms of out of home venues around the country.  If you find one and take a selfie with it, share it with your network, using the #SaveTogether tag.  Then upload it to the National Geographic website for display there.

The campaign aims to bring awareness to the Photo Ark project and its mission…to save the endangered species around the world.  The campaign features images from Nat Geo photographer Joel Sartoe.  Photos can be found on bus shelters, mall kiosks, in subway stations as well as on traditional billboards.  Some of the featured cities include San Francisco, Austin and Chicago.

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Poe Moving on from OAAG

January 16, 2017 by Neal Spencer
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Conner Poe has been at the helm of the Outdoor Association of Georgia (OAAG) for nearly a decade, and now he’s found his next challenge.  Poe has accepted the position of Resident Vice President of Government Affairs with Norfolk Southern Railway.  Poe became President and CEO of OAAG in September 2007.

He says he’s proud of his time spent at OAAG because several pro active measures were passed in that time.  Those measures focused on transit advertising, relocation of signs, and a huge overhaul of the highway vegetation program in 2011.  Poe says he thinks his biggest accomplishment was changing the image of the outdoor advertising industry in the state of Georgia.  “Outdoor advertisers in our state are now seen as a community partner,” Poe said.  “We answer the call when law enforcement, GDOT, and emergency management needs us.  Our assists are a vital tool for these folks if and when a community emergency occurs.”   Poe is referring to a public/private partnership that allows digital billboards to broadcast information in real time.  The high tech system was most recently used to alert motorists to weather warnings when snow and ice threatened Atlanta and areas to the north last week.

Poe says he passed on several other opportunities during his time with OAAG, but the timing for this one just felt right.  “I cherished my time with OAAG and the life long friends I will take from it.  I would never have had the opportunity that I am moving into now without the support and backing of those in the Outdoor Advertising Industry.

This is Poe’s last week with the OAAG.  Congratulations on your new position and best wishes with Norfolk Southern!

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Transit Billboard First of its Kind in Boston

December 16, 2016 by Neal Spencer
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Anyone who has ever taken public transit to an event to avoid traffic can appreciate Boston’s newest digital billboard.  A huge screen has been installed outside of Fenway Park that tells sports fans when the next round of public transit is expected to arrive.  The screen displays the schedules for the city’s trains, buses and even the number of bikes available at a nearby ride share kiosk.

While there are more than 50 smaller screens in use for the same purpose around the city, this is the first outdoor one, as well as the largest.  The smaller screens can be found in bars and restaurants, as well as some apartment buildings and public facilities.  The idea for the screens came from a Washington DC based startup, called TransitScreen.  Their usual clients include real estate developers or other businesses who would like to include public transit information inside their buildings.  This Fenway Park board represents a new business venture that the company hopes to replicate in other cities.  Ryan Croft is TransitScreen’s cofounder.  He says, “If you go to a baseball game and you’ve been drinking, we want to be able to promote mass transit.”

Orange Barrel Media in Columbus, Ohio owns the board.  The mass transit information displayed on the board is designed to draw more attention to the screen by offering non advertising content, along with advertisements. Pete Scantland, a chief executive at Orange Barrel, says they are trying to add value to the screen, so people will want to look.  He says, “Think of it like television.  If there was no program between commercials, there would be a lot less viewers.”

Scantland says early next year, the company plans to expand the TransitScreen service to allow anyone within 200 feet of a board to have access to the information on their smart phone. It will also allow the visually impaired to get the information audibly.

No word on whether the service will make its way south and be on display on an Atlanta digital billboard.

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Outdoor Ads Give Commuters a Break

October 3, 2016 by Neal Spencer
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massaging-billboards

The agencies charged with launching the Kit Kat bar in a new market last year did so in a memorable new way…When the candy bar launched in Columbia, rather than have teams give samples to busy passersby, Mindspring and J. Walter Thompson decided to use bus shelter billboards to take the slogan used for the candy, “Give me a break,” to a whole new level.

The agencies transformed 20 bus shelters around the capital city of Bogota into massage stations.  Tiny motors in the signs activated a system that transferred vibrations to the lower and upper back of anyone who leaned on the sign.

The idea was to give stressed out commuters a “break” tying into the Kit Kat slogan of “Have a break, have a Kit Kat.”

While some may have found the campaign to be a little too “touchy feely,” it seemed to be well received by most.  Everyone from suit clad daily commuters to construction workers took advantage of the quick massage.

No word on if the campaign will be revived here in the States, but surely commuters in Atlanta could use a quick massage to help with stress as well!  A few samples of the delicious Kit Kat bars wouldn’t hurt either!

 

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Mississippi State Thanks Former Player with Billboards

September 12, 2016 by Neal Spencer
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missippi-state-billboard

 

Mississippi State wished a former standout well as he prepared to make his debut in the NFL…Dak Prescott was the school’s quarterback from 2013-2015 before he was drafted to the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth round as the 135th pick, making him the highest drafted quarterback in MSU’s history.

Mississippi State put up several digital billboards around the Dallas Fort Worth area to let him know “wherever you go, we are with you.”  Prescott was the starting quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys yesterday as they faced the New York Giants.  Unfortunately, the billboard campaign was not enough to start the Cowboys off with a win, they fell to the Giants by one point with a score of 20-19.

Prescott carried the Bulldogs to a number one overall ranking during his tenure…the first in the school’s history. He also holds 38 records at the school and helped them win two bowl games, the Auto Zone Liberty Bowl in 2013 and the Belk Bowl in 2015.

The billboard campaign is the school’s response to a letter written to Sports Illustrated magazine earlier this year in which Prescott thanked the school.

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Campaign Urges Drivers Not to Text

August 24, 2016 by Neal Spencer
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Texting billboard

While most billboard campaigns aim to increase business, a recent one in Texas is trying for just the opposite.  Lucas Funeral Home in Fort Worth is trying to keep people alive by trying to discourage drivers from texting.  Although fatalities from drunk driving are higher, deaths from distracted drivers in Texas is on the rise and quickly closing in.  Nearly 29 percent of traffic fatalities in Texas can be attributed to drunk driving, while distracted drivers are faulted in 14% of fatal accidents.  That statistic is even higher in the Fort Worth area, at 16.9%.

A spokesman for Lucas Funeral Homes, Mark Lucas-Kelly, says that the message is dark humor, but not intended to be disrespectful.  Lucas-Kelly says, “We see families when they are going through the toughest times of their lives.  You could call us ‘the last responders’ in a way.  But even though it’s somewhat humorous and catchy, we are 100% sincere about the message.  Please don’t do it.”

Other safety advocates are taking a much darker and shocking approach to convincing people to stop texting while driving.  A video production company in Arlington created a 4 minute public service announcement based on a real distracted driving accident that claimed the life of a child.  In the video, a man and his infant daughter are hit while walking on a sidewalk after a distracted driver hits a van, causing it to veer off the road.  The dad is injured, but upon seeing his deceased child, grabs the baby’s body and takes it to the driver, telling her to “Look at what you’ve done!” The family on which it is based was consulting in the making of the video, although some details were changed in the making of it.

Texas is one of four states that does not have a blanket ban on texting and driving.  Georgia has had one in place since 2010.

 

 

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Rock Wall Draws Attention in Times Square

June 6, 2016 by Neal Spencer
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Rock climbing billboard

It’s not everyday that one might see a rock climbing wall in the middle of Times Square, and even less likely to see someone actually scaling it!  But that’s what happened this Spring as a promotional stunt for the Toyota Rav4 Hybrid.  The 100 foot, 6,000 pound billboard took months of planning and came down to the wire in terms of getting permits from the city before its debut.

Patricia Turosz is the Director of Client Partnerships at OOHA Wilkins, the agency behind the enormous billboard.  She said the billboard was the “tallest climbing wall in New York City and the first billboard of its kind in Times Square.”  Finding a space that would house the billboard wasn’t easy.  Turosz says, “first we had to find the right vertical space with a static board that could take 3D rock props and then we had to get an outdoor vendor who was willing to allow a person to climb its billboard.”  Apparently several large outdoor companies rejected the project on that basis.

Although the wall was in place for a 4 week campaign, it only had active climbers for 3 days, coinciding with the New York International Auto Show.  The wall wasn’t scaled by just anyone…a team of 3 climbers was put together, lead by David Morton, a professional climber who has scaled Mount Everest 6 times.

Needless to say, the stunt attracted quite a bit of attention from passersby.

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Billboard Campaign Inspires Happiness

March 14, 2016 by Neal Spencer
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2015 Gratitude Billboard Atlanta

 

We are less than a week away from the International Day of Happiness, which happens to coincide with the first day of Spring, Sunday March 20th.  For the second year in a row, The Joy Team is leading a partnership to bring happy phrases to billboards across the nation, hoping to inspire people to be happy and kind.

The founder of The Joy Team, Michele McKeag Larsen, says “one positive message can make a huge difference in someone’s day.”  Larsen has partnered with The Natural Life for this year’s campaign, along with Clear Channel and Lamar Outdoor.  Founder and CEO of The Natural Life, Patti Hughes, says “the moment we saw the billboards and the story behind The Joy Team, we knew we wanted to be a part of it.”

The billboard campaign will run for 4 weeks, beginning today, and it is expected that more than 13 million people will see one of the billboards during the campaign.  Billboards were chosen as the advertising medium for the campaign because they cannot be turned off or have the channel changed.   The group adds that most people can’t help but read something they see because it’s automatic.

Atlanta was one of the cities in the campaign last year, and will be among the 31 cities featured this year as well.  This year’s message for the Atlanta billboard is “Believe in Yourself.”  Some of the other messages featured in the campaign include “Do more of what makes you happy,” “Slow down and enjoy life,” and “Everything will be ok.”

 

 

 

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State Flag Billboard Made of Yoghurt Lids

March 9, 2016 by Neal Spencer
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noosa yogurt lid billboard

 

It’s a new twist to recycling used products…a billboard made entirely of used lids from yoghurt cups.  Noosa Yoghurt is trying to show their dedication to the state of Colorado and reassure it’s faithful customers that despite being acquired by a private equity firm, their high quality product will remain the same.  Often when a mom and pop operation gets acquired, the increase in funds goes toward making changes to the product.

The billboard was no easy feat to pull off…it took over 6,000 lids fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.  Initially, the design was drawn by hand and painted on wooden sections.  Once the lids were attached, they were painted with special UV absorbing varnish to protect the color of lids from fading in the sun during the duration of the campaign.  The sections were then transported to Outfront Media where they were reassembled and put up on the billboard structure.

The billboard is in Downtown Denver, near Coors Field.  Despite the massive amount of work, the billboard hasn’t received much attention.  A few passersby have tweeted the image and a story ran in the Denver Post, but no national news outlets have picked it up.

Maybe an Atlanta company could follow suit with the unique idea and create a billboard image from their products…Coca-Cola or Chick-fil-A, are you listening?  We don’t want to replace the cows, though!

 

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