Outdoor Advertising in Dallas, Texas

Well, well, well…it’s the second post of 2018! And it’s not even Halloween yet!

I sincerely appreciate all of you that have checked in every day* looking for a new post. I knew that I would not be a very productive blogger this year but the creative juices started flowing during a recent trip to Dallas, Texas.

I’ve written about outdoor advertising before and it has remained a topic of interest. But after spending time in downtown Dallas, I realized a few things about this medium that I hadn’t previously considered.

I saw the following things in Dallas that I wouldn’t see as much in a city like Birmingham:

• Full bus wraps (mostly occupied by Dallas attorneys) 
• Street corner kiosks – see photos below 
• Building banners (and lots of ‘em) 

These observations prompted many thoughts, which I’ll share now.

WHY DO THESE OPTIONS WORK WELL IN DALLAS?

A city the size of Dallas has a lot to offer advertisers, including multiple cultures, as reflected in the brands claiming ad space there.

The volume of people in a city the size of Dallas all but guarantees impressions will easily reach the millions, no matter the format. That’s a nice feature to mention when selling ad space.

Downtown Dallas has many tall buildings and, whether or not a building is vacant, many of them feature windowless sides. Advertisers smartly made the most of these enormous canvases – I saw banners promoting everything from trucks to colleges to video games.

The audience and inventory make outdoor advertising work so well in Dallas.

WHAT IS FACEBOOK DOING??

These window overlays from Facebook really caught my attention.

A few questions here…

1. Are these ads intended for the 7 people out there that don’t already use Facebook? 
2. Or are these ads more about rehabbing Facebook’s image after questions about their data security practices? 

WHY WAS I IN DALLAS?

I was in Dallas to attend the State of Search conference. Each year, digital advertisers attend this event to hear from the industry’s leading thinkers.

State of Search is orchestrated very well by DFWSEM, a group of like-minded people with a desire help businesses and fellow advertisers in North Texas perfect the art of digital advertising.

I was really impressed with this conference – from the location (Gilleys!) to the speakers to the food! 

FINAL THOUGHTS ON DALLAS

• Dallas, there are portions of your downtown that could serve as a film location for a Black Hawk Down remake. 
• You are a leading-edge city in terms of transportation options (trolleys, buses, Uber) but there still seems to be A LOT of civilian traffic moving through your downtown streets. 
• Some users of the pay-to-ride scooters offer humorous moments on your rougher streets and sidewalks while other users exhibit extreme bravery by riding WITH fast-moving traffic. 

Post #2 of 2018 is in the books! Should I take it up to 3? Please comment below or let me know at @Nick_Baggett.

*These people don’t exist.