Atlanta based billboard company Formetco is rolling out a brand new, high tech digital billboard that will not only be more customer friendly, it will also be easier on the environment. They are calling it the FTX design, and company spokesperson Todd Heller says it was designed to be the most superior billboard in the world. Heller says Formetco’s objective in designing the billboard was to take “both owner and advertiser satisfaction to new heights.” The design comes after the company’s extensive research into the top concerns of billboard owners. The new design features an LED tile design intended to make repairs fast and easy because of a significant reduction in the amount of electrical connections. In addition, it has an “open box” design that eliminates the need for cooling fans, therefore reducing the billboard’s power consumption. No word yet on where the first one will be placed.
Did you know “International Day of Happiness” is March 20th? The “Joy Team” did…and they are marking the occasion in a big way. The organization, along with supporters all across the U.S., have started a month long billboard campaign to spread happiness. The boards all have different messages…the one here in Atlanta says, “Let gratitude wash over you.” It was sponsored by Dr. Starla Fitch. It can be seen on Northside Drive, south of 10th Street. The Joy Team chose strategic locations in several states, so that the boards would form eyes and a smile across the nation, if you were to plot them on a map. Michele McKeag Larsen founded the Joy Team. She says the concept originally started in the Vancouver/Portland area, but began expansion to Phoenix when Outfront Media offered some unused billboard space. Larsen says she’d ultimately like to see the boards in every city in the U.S. She says, “it would be a great thing for people everywhere to have a positive message enter their brain at some random time because it’s on a billboard. Hopefully, it will keep snowballing.” 
Some of us take them more than others, but we’ve all done it – take a selfie. Well, now your photo can go viral on a billboard and be seen by millions of people for a good cause. Creative Chatter Communities is a charity that pairs up organizations in need with donors. They have partnered with Lamar Advertising to bring “The Ultimate Selfie” campaign to billboards around the country in over 40 cities. For a $25 donation, you can upload a photo and a message for consideration. If your photo and message is approved, it will be displayed on digital billboards around the country, as well as on Creative Chatter’s Facebook page, getting your photo in front of even more people. The campaign runs through April 2…no word on whether we will be seeing the selfies here in Atlanta.
After Leonard Nimoy’s passing last week, several billboards went up in Atlanta to commemorate his most famous character, Dr. Spock of Star Trek. The Atlanta billboard shows the infamous Spock making his signature Vulcan gesture, urging us to “Live Long and Prosper.” Images of the billboards were tweeted and retweeted over 11,000 times, even Nimoy’s Star Trek co-star William Shatner retweeted a picture as the public wondered who was behind the tribute. Outfront Media came forth later in the day to confess that they were behind the campaign to honor the late star. Nimoy passed away on February 27th from chronic obstructed pulmonary disease. He was 83.
For most of us, spring is not in the air, but that’s not keeping the boys of summer from Spring Training. On the West Coast, the end of that training brings the Freeway Series, which pits rival teams the Angels and LA Dodgers against each other, and both have league MVPs. The teams have come together in a joint marketing effort in the form of a billboard campaign touting National League Most Valuable Player Clayton Kershaw and American League Most Valuable Player Mike Trout. Team officials say that they wanted to capitalize on having the talent in their area and their ultimate goal is to get people to games, no matter which team they are rooting for. The teams say this is the first time they have come together for marketing purposes…the idea apparently came about after talks between the teams began to focus on how each team could benefit from having both the NL and AL MVPs in the same market. The teams also say they are hoping the campaign will generate some press coverage from the local media as well as on social media. The Freeway Series is set for April 2-4.
Researchers in Austria are working on new technology that could change the face of digital billboards as we know them. A new tech start up called TriLite Technologies has partnered with the Vienna University of Technology to create what they are calling “trixels.” These use tiny mirrors to reflect lasers in several directions and the result can trick viewers into interpreting the image as 3D…no glasses needed. The trixels project hundreds of images outward simultaneously, while current 3D technology only projects 2, requiring the use of glasses. Billboards using the trixel technology would not only appear 3D to the naked eye, they would also jump out at viewers from every angle. Researchers say that in addition, different images can be projected depending on where the viewer is in relation to the billboard, thereby allowing several ads to be shown simultaneously. For example, they say someone coming out of a shop to the left of the board could see something different than another patron coming out of a building on the right of the board. The new technology is expected to be finished later this year and we could be seeing it launched in New York’s Times Square by 2016. No word on when or if we will see the technology here in the Atlanta market.
Over the years, McDonald’s has come up with some pretty eye catching billboard campaigns, and they seem to like syncing their products with the sun. Their most recent campaign in Canada features an egg mcmuffin sandwich rising with the sun. Years ago, they featured several of their menu items on a sun dial. The billboard was positioned to point to the item McDonald’s thought consumers should be eating at that time of day. The rise with the sun idea actually came from an out of home contest where creative teams proposed ideas for real clients. The Cossette/McDonald’s team won…they not only got to execute their idea, but they were also awarded a trip to Cannes while the client got $50,000 of ad space. We have plenty of digital billboards in the Atlanta area as well, so maybe we will see the rising egg mcmuffin here as well.
Now that Southwest has completed its takeover of AirTran, the airline now is focusing on courting Atlanta travelers and getting a piece of Delta’s pie. A new billboard campaign starts this week around Atlanta, as well as new commercials and airport ads. One focus of the campaign is the airline’s low cost, low frills identity, compared with Delta’s focus on premium customers. The ads feature smiling employees and proclaim that the airline doesn’t care if you are “diamond, platinum or pewter, you don’t need miles to earn these smiles.” Southwest spokesman Brad Hawkins says the campaign “will underscore the commitment we have to win more Atlanta customers. We provide an alternative.”
Original story from AJC
Billboards are going up all over Atlanta to showcase the Four former Bulldogs in the NFL who will hit the gridiron Sunday night in the Pro Bowl. Defensive lineman Geno Atkins (Cincinnati Bengals), receiver A.J. Green (Cincinnati Bengals), Linebacker Justin Houston (Kansas City) and quarterback Matthew Stafford (Detroit Lions) are featured on the billboard. UGA fans say they think it’s a great recruiting tool and the school should do it more often, since schools in neighboring states are often touting their accomplishments on billboards. The Pro Bowl game is set for 8pm Sunday night.
As you probably know if you’ve driven to Florida from Atlanta, there are dozens of billboards lining I-75 in south Georgia. Not all of them are places you might want to stop or products you might want to buy, but here’s one to consider based on a recent post by an Atlanta food blogger…Carroll’s Sausage and Country Store. Brad Kaplan makes it sound like Carroll’s Sausage and Country Store has every pork product known to man, and will make your mouth water for one you might not know…buckboard bacon. It’s a shoulder cut, cured with a dry rub, smoked, then cut extra thick. This process apparently comes from an old southern way of using more than just the pork belly to get more bacon. But if you are not traveling to south Georgia from Atlanta, you can still check them out on the web and they will ship your order. Here’s Brad’s full story and more information on making or ordering some buckboard bacon.