Our core message tapped into what we knew was a daily, growing concern for media decision makers – the reality vs. unreality of media impressions in a world of digital uncertainty.

THIS AD IS REAL was our hero communication (with the subtext being "is the rest of your media plan?"). Binary Easter Eggs furthered this tension and hid messages such as “100% bot free” that drove yet more earned and digital engagement.

We created a messaging architecture that paired content with context in the most pointed ways possible. Our 280+ unique messages honed in on our targets' workplaces with tailored communications to individual agencies and key influencers at those agencies. Not only did we demonstrate that “mass reach” OOH could be a targeted B2B medium, we proved that OOH can be a powerful direct response medium also generating earned and social media buzz we know creates a favorable sales environment.

The campaign launched during NYC Advertising Week (9/28/15) and ran through mid-November.

Feel The Real surrounded 36 media and advertising agencies in 20 U.S. markets, with 1,400+ donated placements and 280+ unique and often personalized executions. Binary Easter Eggs hidden in the digital code spelled out messages such as “No bots here” and “100% real impression.” When Ad Age broke our code, we changed the binary of our digital Times Square units in real time to say, “Ad Age loves real clicks.”

FeelTheReal.org was our call to action and destination where we presented facts about OOH’s effectiveness to drive direct response behavior in the digital age.

In the days and weeks following the launch, sales teams armed with Feel The Real swag and real time insight on how media planners, themselves, were engaging with the campaign descended on agencies to make their pitch to a thrilled and receptive audience.

The OAAA has said Feel The Real was the most effective campaign in their 125-year history leading to their best sales year ever. It demonstrated that an OOH B2B DR campaign could generate more efficiency and effectiveness than the direct mail, e-mail blasts, and digital advertising OAAA used in the past (dramatically proving the value of their own medium!)

The campaign garnered:

$2.2M in earned media during its first week (The Wall Street Journal, Ad Age, Creativity, Adweek, PSFK, etc.)

30,000 unique site visits, 40% from media and advertising professionals

74% of web traffic directly from mobile devices

85% of traffic as a result of seeing an OOH unit in the real world

Average time on site was 2:30+

6.4% growth in OOH advertising sales (VYA).

$74 million in incremental sales (VYA).

Since OAAA’s member OOH companies donated all media, the paid media cost of this effort was $0.00.