Despite all the technological advances the outdoor advertising industry has made in the past few years, some things still require more than an email or an upload to accomplish the task. For clients that are new to outdoor advertising, I often walk them through the unique process of placing a billboard campaign from start to finish. The majority of the questions come during the planning and proposal phase and then the communication tends to quiet down a little once the media agreements are signed and the media properties are secured.

Over the years, I’ve noticed that the time that elapses between the contracting and actual install of the billboards (or any non-digital out-of-home media space) can be somewhat of a danger zone filled with client assumptions, miscommunication and human error if not managed properly.

The point of this post (and following example) is to give clients a view of what happens “beyond the wall” once a billboard buy is placed. If you are an ad agency, perhaps this will paint a picture of the process so that management of client expectations becomes a little easier. If you are a marketer considering outdoor advertising, this is valuable information that you can use to educate your client. If you are an organization that already engages in outdoor advertising, but your outdoor sales representative never took the time to share these details, then you should read on and when you’re finished, give us a call.

Ready? Ok. You have just contracted a billboard buy that starts on Monday, November 14th. Most billboard posting schedules start on Mondays, so Mondays are typically the first day or “post date” on an outdoor advertising schedule. Before the media contracts are even finalized, we send creative spec sheets for each individual out-of-home media property we are contracting. More often than not, the media space contracts are executed before the creative design is even finished. For this example, let’s say that the media contracts were signed off and approved on Monday, October 24th, leaving three weeks until the post date of November 14th.

Timely Creative

Three weeks is an adequate amount of lead time if the creative is ready, but if not, things can start to get a little dicey with the timelines. From the time you approve the creative, it may take anywhere from five to ten business days for materials (eco-posters, vinyl bulletins) to print and ship to its install destination.

So let’s say your creative team is going back and forth on elements for the final design. Time is ticking away and we don’t receive the approved creative until Monday, November 7th, just one week away from the contracted post date. We can do overnight shipping for you to make sure materials arrive in time, but bulletin vinyl weighs quite a bit and the overnight shipping cost for a 50 pound box can get expensive quick.

Installing Late Creative

If overnight shipping is not an option, we are at the mercy of FedEx or UPS ground shipping and we go back to that window of five to ten business days. Let’s say UPS is having a bad week, jam-packed with Holiday gift orders and unfortunately the materials don’t arrive until Tuesday, November 15th, one day after the post date. The billboards automatically go up the next day, right? Nope. Billboard installers have a lot of work to do (their work is typically scheduled weeks in advance) and since the materials were late in arriving, that particular work order got bumped off the install crew schedule. As a general rule, billboard companies have a window of five business days to post upon receipt of materials. The posting schedule is full for Tuesday. Wednesday too. Thursday morning there is a severe thunderstorm and install crews can’t do their already dangerous jobs in the rain and high winds. Friday the weather clears and the billboard is finally posted. But the date is November 18th, four days after you expected to be posted. What if the billboard was announcing a store grand opening and special one-day only deal extravaganza? Oops.

My job is to make you aware of all pertinent deadlines, timing issues, material ship and arrival dates and estimated post date. I also then follow-up with confirmation once the design is posted, sending proof-of-performance completion reports. (Is your rep communicating details as best as possible? Or did they disappear after the sale?)

Ensuring Accurate Installation

Back to the actual install of the billboards for a moment. Let’s say you bought ten billboards and you have a different design assigned to each one, so there are ten separate designs. Before the materials even arrive at their install destination, we send posting instructions to the billboard installers. These instructions outline the specific designs and where each design is supposed to post. These instructions are very clear and detailed and we require the installers to sign off on the instructions, indicating understanding and approval. Despite these safeguards, installers are human and make mistakes. It is not uncommon for design ‘A’ that was supposed to end up on contracted location #1, being mis-posted and ending up on location #3 instead.

Our job is to diligently monitor and audit the posting period process to ensure install accuracy. If a posting error does occur, we bring it to your attention promptly and then rectify the problem expeditiously. If you wait to follow-up with your rep or the billboard company until two weeks after it was scheduled to post, an initial error in posting may go unnoticed. Being aggressive in following-up is the only way to ensure your billboards are placed correctly and you receive proper monitoring and auditing reports.

While digital billboards have made the design install process almost seamless and error-free (with the exception of an occasional blue screen), the install phase for traditional billboards is still a very human process, susceptible to delay and error.

Hopefully this example helps give a better idea of what to expect in the time between contracting and install during your next billboard buy. And, if this seems too time consuming for you, you should be utilizing our experience and services. After all, we have an entire team of people devoted to ensuring your campaign happens the way you planned.

-Jay Schmidt, Account Executive, unwavering Lions fan and member of AW Family.