Every month, OAAA’s marketing team sits down with a brand marketer to discuss creativity in OOH, the role OOH plays in the media mix, and their perspective on the future of advertising. This month, OAAA Brand Council Member, and The Weather Company’s CMO, Randi Stipes shares their creative process, the importance of OOH in their media strategy, and how advertising continues to evolve.
Read Randi’s Q&A in The Drum.
What role does out of home play in your media mix?
Since weather impacts our daily decisions, it’s the ultimate tool in contextual targeting and OOH is a proven vehicle for brands to connect with consumers in a highly relevant, engaging and performant way. From Retail to CPG to Pharma to Travel, we’ve partnered with brands across nearly every industry to help them leverage our weather data and intelligence to drive their OOH campaigns.
And we’re eating our own dogfood. We launched our new consumer brand platform earlier this year – Be a force of nature – with the ultimate goal of driving relevance and preference for our flagship consumer brand, The Weather Channel. OOH has played a key role in helping us communicate our new brand ethos by tapping into the local and cultural zeitgeist in the markets we’ve run. It’s working hard for us and essential to creating a well-rounded experience with our brand.
How do you approach creativity in OOH advertising across formats?
OOH is unique in that people see it live in public, together. Creatively, there’s a very local, contextual fourth wall to break with the audience that other media doesn’t present. With great intention, we focus on:
1 – The power of great copy.
We’ve learned that simple, bold, clever language reigns, so we start here. It requires great restraint, but when you land that line and complement it with bold, arresting imagery, OOH has the power to tell a powerful and memorable story.
2 – Location, location, location.
We love taking advantage of the spirit and climate (yes, literally and figuratively) of the local markets where we run — whether that’s acknowledging the heat of New York’s Hell’s Kitchen in the summer or that people in the “Windy City” can rock a free blow out.
3 – No matching luggage.
OOH is part of our broader media mix. The key is to create a unique but complementary set of assets that work in concert. It’s about unity vs. uniformity with other creative in the mix.
What challenges do you face in balancing creativity and data in marketing?
There’s a healthy tension here. You can probably appreciate that as the world’s most accurate forecaster, we’re obsessed with data; it’s part of our DNA and marketing is no exception. Our creative and media teams work closely to understand and ultimately align on the strategy, as well as the execution, and then work continuously to optimize. After all, no one wants to create work that doesn’t land with our target. But make no mistake: we use data to inform and inspire — not to dictate. There will always be a place for ideas.
How do you see the future of advertising evolving?
Digital consumption patterns are changing and advertising has to evolve accordingly. According to eMarketer, 46% of Gen Z’ers use social as their primary search engine. Think about what that means for brands looking to future-proof their business — it’s not only where we advertise but also the type of content we’re creating. And when you consider that consumer/customer attention will only become increasingly fragmented, advertising will need to be even more organically and authentically integrated into daily rituals and experiences.
AI is already helping us create more personal, automated, immersive and measurable advertising, and I believe we’ve only scratched the surface with how we’re using it in our craft. Still, it’s the powerful combination of technology + human brilliance that always shines brightest.
Published: December 9, 2024