Bulletin, Big Boy Board, Poster Blast: Defining Outdoor Strategies

by Laura Hudson | July 9, 2015

Blank Billboard Still iStock_3398256HD720How do you know when outdoor is right for your brand? And then how do you know what to buy? Like the answer to almost every question asked, the answer is “it depends.” It depends on how your TV budget looks. It depends on what kind of outdoor is available in your market. It depends on how established your brand is in the marketplace. There are many variables to deciding what to buy, but we’re here to help. And this post will give you a quick overview of cj’s outdoor thoughts.

Bulletins (Big Boy Boards) vs. Posters

Bulletins, aka “Big Boy Boards” as Arnie likes to call them, are the boards that you see primarily on interstate highways. These boards are typically sold on long-term contracts—six months to one year are common. We recommend using these boards as part of an overall billboard strategy that includes posters. We like to get them on a rotary program, meaning the locations will change every so often over the course of the contract. Bulletins are a good addition to an existing poster billboard program.

Posters are the smaller boards that you find on internal roadways throughout a city. These boards are sold on a much shorter contract—as little as one month. Remnant opportunities are typically available with poster inventory and that’s where we like to be. A poster blast is our term for blanketing your area with posters for a month with the remnant inventory. We buy remnant because the boards are less expensive and they have the most opportunity to stay up for bonus weeks if they continue to be unsold. Our strategy with poster blasts is to cover the market three to four times per year. People will notice that you’re there, and because you return so frequently, they will never realize you were gone.

The Greater of Two Goods

We recommend using both bulletins and posters, but if only one is an option, we prefer posters. The blast strategy is our tried and true approach that we will always return to. You will receive more bang for your ad dollar using remnant inventory multiple times per year versus a stationary or rotary two or three bulletins. You can run posters without bulletins but we wouldn’t recommend running bulletins without posters.

So, if your TV budgets are sound and you’re ready to take the next step, outdoor could be the answer. We’re here to help weigh your options to make the right next move.