California, and Minnesota. And within
72 hours the billboards reached over
760 million press, social, and TV impressions,
according to Outfront Media.
Wide-Format & Signage spoke to Zipp
to learn how this passion project came
to be within the span of four hours, and
what makes billboard advertising so
consistently aff ecting.
Creating the Viral
Bachelor Billboards
Zipp said that almost immediately aft er
receiving Th e Bachelor fans’ email,
Outfront Media’s National Creative Director,
Eddy Herty mocked up a concept
and design, and sent it back to the fans
for approval. Upon approval, Outfront
Media checked to see what spaces were
available for the billboard, and because
of the tight turnaround they resorted
to digital.
“We could only do it on digital,
obviously because it’s the push of a
button, opposed to putting up a vinyl, or
painting a wall,” said Zipp.
Around 11:30 a.m., Outfront learned
what areas they were targeting. Th ey
focused on New York, California, and
Minnesota.
“We put up one in Times Square
for the wow factor, one in Minnesota
because that’s where Becca’s Kufrin
from, and one in Los Angeles because
that’s where it’s Th e Bachelor fi lmed,
and that’s where they were going to be
fi lming the second part fi nale,” said
Zipp. “It was all going to be live, and we
had a certain amount of availability
around there, so that’s where we were
able to get the boards up, and they were
up by noon.”
It didn’t take long for fans and entertainment
reporters alike to notice
the billboards.
Th ey quickly became a trending topic
on Twitter, and every major entertainment,
and celebrity outlet had picked up
the story—even former Vice President
Joe Biden tweeted about the billboards.
Zipp received a call from Th e Bachelor
producers—something Zipp guessed
might happen— asking if they could
include the billboards on the show, to
which she obliged.
Outfront Media also created a second
billboard for Th e Bachelor fans that
went up the next day, aft er Kufrin was
named the new bachelorette on the
second part of the series’ fi nale. Th e
new billboard read: “Strong, Beautiful
Woman, Seeking Man with Back Bone.”
But this isn’t the fi rst time that one of
Outfront Media’s projects has gained
major nationwide attention. A couple of
months ago, Giants fans asked Outfront
to create a billboard to show how upset
The now-famous “Bachelor”
billboard in Los Angeles,
courtesy of Outfront Media.
they were by former Giants Coach
Ben McAdoo’s decision to bench Eli
Manning. Th e billboard read, “Big Blue
Shame On You,” in Giants colors, near
Giants stadium. Th e billboard went
viral, made it on the cover of Th e Daily
News, and landed in Sports Illustrated.
Shortly aft er the billboards went up
McAdoo was fi red. Something that
seemed a little more than coincidental.
Billboards Remain a
Powerful Medium
When asked why Zipp thinks Billboards
continue to remain such a powerful
medium, she said it boils down
to their acceptability, accessibility, and
aff ordability.
Smaller brands with smaller budgets
can really benefi t from putting themselves
out there and making a splash
with a billboard according to Zipp.
“People are driving by, and they’re seeing
it, and whether they like it, or not, it’s
kinda stuck in their heads,” said Zipp.
“A lot of times we’ll have clients come
to us and say, ‘I only have so much
budget, and I really want to make a big
impact, and you know what I love about
your medium is it’s a huge open canvas
for me to tell my story, and develop my
brand,’” she continued.
People are also becoming more and
more savvy, according to Zipp, when it
comes to avoiding online advertising.
Consumers are closing tabs, and downloading
ad-blocking soft ware—but
billboards are impossible to turn off .
The Giants billboard, courtesy of
Outfront Media.
PrintingNewscom April 2018 Wide-Format & Signage 19
/PrintingNews.com