Agency advice for DOOH: skip the adoring crowds imagery, they're not buying it

January 13, 2011 by Dave Haynes

Senior out of home strategist James Davies of Posterscope in the UK has a nice guest post up in DailyDOOH that gives a too rare point of view from the agency side on the year ahead. It’s worth a read.

What I really enjoyed was one of his closing points about marketing material.

Showcasing Products

One key area in which DOOH media owners almost always under-deliver is supplying advertisers and agencies with high quality, realistic looking marketing materials. Repeated spend on photography and video might seem unnecessary but we spend a lot of time merchandising campaigns back to clients and agencies. Each is an opportunity to impress and increase the chances of repeat business.

Please though do NOT make photos look staged – so no audiences pointing at your screen with awe!

Yes! That last bit is soooo true and has been a source of amusement and amazement for many year. Having a cluster of models staring adoringly at a screen, like they are at Lourdes looking at a statue of the Virgin Mary, is pretty commonplace. And it tends to look ridiculous.

On the flip side, I have also seen a few companies run and provide images of screens in empty rooms. Which sends a different but equally bad message.

Spend the money and take the time to show what you do, and how the audience fits in.

It’s remarkable, too, how many networks don’t really have much in the way of images from their venues. They have narrative tell readers what goes on, but few if any pics. Kinda goofy.