Lamar Advertising: advert-body-2 by PNYC

Last week, Procter & Gamble’s chief brand officer Marc Pritchard outlined the company’s plans to fight ad fraud, review media agency contracts and adopt industrywide viewability metrics, all of which are part of P&G’s broader strategy to regulate a decidedly messy digital landscape that has ultimately hurt advertisers.

In response to his statements, Lamar Advertising – an out-of-home company that provides ad space on billboards, bus shelters and the like – has launched a clever self-promotional campaign that has a target audience of one: Marc Pritchard.

By putting up billboards around P&G’s Cincinnati headquarters that say “Hey Marc, This Ad Is Real,” the company is hoping that Pritchard will reevaluate the effectiveness of out-of-home advertising – particularly in light of the many headaches that digital media has brought along with it.

The billboards, which direct Pritchard to the website feelthereal.org, are part of an ongoing out-of-home campaign that the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) launched in 2015 during Advertising Week New York. Called “Feel the Real,” the effort is backed by out-of-home companies like Outfront Media and is meant to illustrate the point that out-of-home ads can actually enhance a brand’s digital strategy. According to a video on Feel The Real’s website, 30,000 unique visitors visited feelthereal.org during the first six weeks of the campaign’s launch, with 40% of them being media and advertising professionals.