Big Bold & In Your Face — The Power of OOH (The WGTS 91.9 Example).
If you are Christian and live in the DMV Metro Area — DC, Maryland, Virginia, chances are your car radio is constantly tuned to WGTS 91.9. The last time I checked, WGTS was the DMV's 5th most listened-to radio station in the DMV. How did a listener-funded radio station with a small team become the default radio station for Christians in the DMV? I do not have any answer, but WGTS is the perfect example of the best use case for OOH (out-of-home advertising) using bumper stickers to create brand awareness.
My first exposure to the radio station was in my friend's car. 'Brighter Days' by Blessing Offor was playing on the radio. It was a ~30-minute drive of pure bliss —zero commercials, beautiful Christian songs, prayers, and warm conversations. So I asked, "What radio station is this?". He shared the name and the frequency, and that information fell through the cracks almost immediately (The average audience will forget your brand when they first counter it). But then, I started noticing the "WGTS 91.9" sticker on several cars. The stickers had just the station's name and the frequency. There's hardly a day you won't find a motorist with the WGTS sticker on the car on almost every road in the DMV. Suddenly, it clicked, and my car's radio frequency had been tuned to 91.9 FM since that day.
I wanted to get the sticker, too, and a Google search led me to a conversation on Reddit. A Redditter was curious. He had started a thread to find answers. It appears the stickers were following him everywhere. Screenshots below:
I also found this video online…
As a marketing professional, I believe OOH is one of the most underrated channels. It's cheaper and, when done well, can help drive the target audience through the AIDA journey (Attention-Interest-Desire-Action) without zero friction. I eventually requested four units of my WGTS stickers from their website, and they arrived three days later — Free.
Every buying decision (purchases, subscriptions, signups, donations, product inquiries) starts with attention and then interest to learn more, resulting in a desire to buy and eventually taking the purchasing action. In the case of WGTS, the stickers served as moving billboards, turning every prospect that had them into transit adverts channels for the radio station. If you see the AIDA model as a funnel. The stickers dump people into their funnel, and every exposure pushes you down the funnel toward conversion.
"The Marketing Rule of 7 states a potential customer must see a message at least seven times before being provoked to take action."
Can you measure OOH? The answer is yes. It drives the right conversations and creates brand awareness. OOH is excellent for creating brand awareness and starting conversations. Every buying decision will start its journey from the awareness stage. I've been a listener and a monthly donor to WGTS-91.9 for one year (WGTS is a nonprofit radio station funded by its listeners who want to identify with the radio station). That tiny sticker played a crucial role in converting me.
Here are a few rules to follow:
- Less is more. (You can't make your target make a buying decision while they are in transit). When you are in doubt, use your brand name and slogan.
- Set your expectations right. Static OOH is not a channel where you can easily measure conversion rate. Limited that other channels with analytics. Optimize for awareness and drive conversations and interests.
- Go where your target audiences go. It doesn't have to be a massive billboard in Madison Square, as in the case of WGTS 91.9, a sticker on cars in cities where the radio station's frequency is available did the magic.
