OOH Today Features Division of Labor Advertising as its Agency of the Day.

Quick shout out to OOH Today for featuring Division of Labor as the Agency of the Day. We always welcome positive press. And it’s an especially gratifying way to begin the new year. As we mentioned in our last blog post, we have high hopes for 2021, as a company, but also for the ad community, our country, and the world at large. So cheers to 2021 and starting off the year right. And, special thanks to reporter, Will Farmer for taking the time to write this piece.

One of several billboards in an OOH ad campaign for Lively HSA.

The Ad Agency. Not the Government Agency

By No Fear No Favor Last updated Jan 4, 2021

by Will Farmer
OOH Today
Media and Communications Manager

Division of Labor is an independent, San Francisco advertising agency. They develop strategies and creative campaigns to promote brands and sell products across all media platforms, including out of home.

Josh Denberg, founder and chief creative officer at Division of Labor Advertising.

Josh Denberg is the chief creative director and founder of Division of Labor. On top of his work with Division of Labor, Denberg also directs commercials and wrote a book titled “Stop Tweeting Boring Shit.” Additionally, he changes lightbulbs when they go out in the office. He’s a pretty good guy.

We had the chance to talk to Denberg. Here’s what he had to say about his company:

Interview with Josh Denberg, Founder and Creative Director at Division of Labor

 Will Farmer: Could you tell us about Division of Labor. How long have you been in business? Staffing? Size? Specialties? Billing? Regional Offices?

Josh Denberg: Division of Labor started in 2010 with projects from Microsoft and Nike and has worked with clients like Dropbox, Roku, Ford Motor Company, Live Nation TBS and the San Jose Sharks. We are between 6 and 10 people in the office before COVID but have project workers and freelancers around the world.

WF: What would you like brands and the OOH Industry to know about your shop?

JD: Our philosophy is, “Drop a bomb in the room and then throw in the leaflets.” Meaning, get attention with something big and emotional first and then follow up with rational benefits. We believe outdoor is the perfect medium for a digital age because it gets attention and gets people to Google. Digital and social can support from there.

WF: Do you work with clients directly and/or through agencies? What is the percentage breakdown?

JD: As an ad agency, we work directly with clients and outdoor is often part of the integrated campaigns we create and produce.

WF: Any comments or suggestions for OOH reps in approaching or working with your company?

JD: Being able to see the locations both on a map and from a consumer perspective is most helpful.

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 WF: What is your most memorable new business pitch?

JD: Our latest pitch win for Keen Shoes was most memorable because at 10 pm the night before the pitch, someone hit a button on the shared digital presentation and all the slides started disappearing!!! After some panic and %$#@ing, we found the digital restoration in our Time Machine, and life came back to normal.

 WF: What differentiates your business from others?

JD: We focus on great creative and results. Both are required in every project.

WF: How do you obtain new business?

JD: Clients often find us just by searching “Best Creative Agency San Francisco.” Our past work and reputation are what we rely on.

WF: Can you discuss some recent OOH campaigns?

JD: We’ve been creating award-winning and effective outdoor campaigns for over 20 years. We can turn around ideas in just a few days. Have a look at some of the outdoor we’ve done over the years: 

For the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, we created a simple, visual campaign that matched famous San Francisco tourist attractions with famous works of art from the museum.

 This Roku outdoor campaign went up in six major cities. Bold design and getting people to laugh were the keys to a 30% holiday sales boost in every city that had a campaign.

This holiday ad campaign was a game changer for Roku and digital streaming as a way to view TV.

Sticking your logo on a billboard is not enough to stand out these days. Today’s outdoor can also be a digital video. And taking advantage of great media placement with compelling creative is often the difference between success and failure.

 Website
http://www.DivisionofLabor.com

Industry
Marketing & Advertising

Company size
2-10 employees

Headquarters
Sausalito, CA

Type
Privately Held

Phone
415-944-8185

Email
Info@divisionoflabor.com

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The Small Agency Blog is produced by Division of Labor; a top San Francisco ad agency and digital marketing firm that’s been named Small Agency of the Year twice by Ad Age. The award-winning creative shop services clients on a retainer or project basis. They also offer brand consulting services and hourly engagements for startups and smaller brands. Click here for a free consultation. 

Nobody Cares What a Small San Francisco Agency is up to During a Pandemic.

Companies like GrubHub, Instacart and Costco are killing it. Others like the cruise industry will need a massive brand relaunch if they hope to be resuscitated. Division of Labor is here when you’re ready.

As we think about those businesses that are deemed essential during this pandemic, it is hard to believe that an industry like advertising was left off the list. I mean, when you think “essential business” you immediately think about healthcare, food, pharmacy and digital marketing agencies. You know, staples. Oh, and drycleaners are considered an “essential businesses” for some reason. A bit confused by that one. Does the government fear healthcare workers will arrive at the hospital wrinkled and frumpy? God forbid.

But, alas, we have grown comfortable with our non-essential lot in life, and this San Francisco ad agency is strictly adhering to California’s Shelter in Place Orders. Oh, and even if we were located in one of the dumbass states that refused to invoke a shelter in place order, we still would have decamped. It’s the right thing to do.

That said: We’re happy to report that all of our employees are safe, healthy, and working from home.  If we’re being honest, no one really gives a shit what we’re up to, but here’s what we’re up to:

As a small creative shop, we are nimble, scrappy and working to create marketing opportunities for our clients with daily Zoom calls, plenty of time to think, and a shit-ton of digital tools and software to put stuff together.

Our latest digital ad campaign for Keen footwear offers loyal fans a 25% discount with the message “Keep the Love Going”, which follows up our initial effort that helped KEEN and their fans give away 100,000 pairs of shoes to workers on the front line and others in need. And now, inspired by that collective compassion, they’re offering everyone a 25% discount. No, it won’t save the world, but it’s something.

For our restaurateur client, True Food Kitchen, we had to pivot. With all but a handful of locations temporarily shuttered, we eighty-sixed the Easter brunch, Earth Day, and Mother’s Day messaging and are currently tweaking it to target summer offerings.

For the San Jose Sharks, whose season was cut short, we are beginning our plans for next year’s campaign with hopes that life is normal enough to care about sports again soon. It’s the Shark’s 30th season so our Teal Together campaign will be pulling out a few new surprises.

We also completed projects for Foster SF, Cloudflare, Roadie, Lively and Bay Area News Group as the world shut down. Of course, no one knows whether life will return to normal by summer, or at least something approximating normal. But all we can do is prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

Regardless, we are here for our clients. We look forward to the day when the Division of Labor can reunite in person. But for now, we are thankful for good health, extra family time and Zoom conference software.

 Happy Passover. Happy Easter. Happy non-denominational weekend.

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The Small Agency Blog is produced by Division of Labor; a top San Francisco ad agency and digital marketing firm that’s been named Small Agency of the Year twice by Ad Age. The award-winning creative shop services clients on a retainer or project basis. They also offer brand consulting services and hourly engagements for startups and smaller brands. Click here for a free consultation.

Seven essential tips for an effective OOH campaign

In the digital age, the growth of traditional advertising, print, tv, radio—has  stagnated with one notable exception. Out of home advertising (OOH), a catch-all term for billboards, transit wraps and point of sale signage is actually going gangbusters. According to the research firm, Magna Global, OOH spending grew 4.6% in 2018, a record high.  But, of course, not every billboard campaign will yield record results for the brand. So how do you make sure your OOH money is spent wisely? Of course, a well thought out, efficient outdoor buy is crucial. But great placement with a boring, wordy, generic message is worthless. Consider these seven essential tips for an effective OOH campaign.

#1 — Strategy First

Start with honest, human insights. An outdoor campaign for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, for example, targeted visitors to the city. The assumption is that people use social media to plan their trips, research their destination and ask for recommendations. But research found that 85 percent of vacation itinerary decisions are actually made at the destination. This one statistic was the driving force behind the See Them Both campaign.  Rather than compete with some of the more iconic tourist destinations, the museum chose to capitalize on their fame by promoting the museum alongside, Alcatraz, Fisherman’s Wharf, the Golden Gate Bridge and other bucket list faves. Following a three month campaign, museum traffic increased 48 percent while the average ticket sale increased 14 percent. So not just more people visiting the museum, more people spending more money. 

# 2 — Put Google to Work

Don’t try to explain everything while someone is driving 60 miles an hour. Compel people to do their own research. Ninety percent of Americans are proficient with the same research tool that got you to this blog post. If they drive pass something intriguing on their commute, they’ll Google it.  This approach proved successful for Comedy Central, which in 2018 ran an OOH campaign with messaging that read: #CancelSouthPark. Fans rushed to the internet for confirmation only to discover that it was the creators themselves pushing for the show demise, capitalizing on past viral Twitter campaigns which successfully saved the tv shows, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Lucifer both slated for the chopping block. 

#3 — Invest in Multiple Executions

OOH is meant to build brand awareness. And the best way to do that is to stick with one unifying message and then create varied executions that people won’t get sick of. According to the 23 Below Media Group, Multiple OOH executions improve lasting impact by 14 percent thus extending the overall life of the advertising campaign. This was the strategy used to help launch Roku back when awareness of streaming was only at 7 percent. Despite being a superior product, they were having trouble stealing market share from brand leader Apple TV.  Before we explained why our small, black box was better than the other small black box, we had to equate Roku with streaming so that when people did decide to jump into the streaming market, Roku would be top of mind. We blanketed communities with out-of-home messaging around the holidays that was funny and simple, but also varied. So it remained entertaining like the TV shows they love.  By the time the campaign was over, we had established brand awareness on-par with Apple TV and increased Roku sales by 30 percent.

#4 — Give Them Something to Talk About

People hate boring advertising. They love things that are funny, compelling or worth talking about. And, of course, outdoor advertising needn’t be static. Just recently, for example, Kelly Services needed a digital video execution for the Times Square facing side of New York City’s landmark NASDAQ building. It’s a fabulous location in terms of eyeballs. But because there are 26 windows smattered throughout billboard it’s a design nightmare. Most companies ignore the windows, which then breaks up the type and makes the images look pretty crappy.  But Kelly, a temporary staffing agency, incorporated the windows into their creative concept seizing on the adage: “Every time a door closes, a window opens.” In this way, the windows went from distraction to focal point and dovetailed with their overall brand message that no job is permanent. And because we knew the installation would turn heads, we even hired a production team to record people’s reactions when it went live in Time Square, which prolonged the life of the campaign by allowing it to proliferate on social media.

# 5 — Keep it Simple

Less is more.  We promise. Per research uncovered by  23 Below Media Group, OOH ads are 23 percent more likely to get noticed when they have fewer design elements. The billboard’s purpose is to build brand awareness. In the case of Metro Mile, for example, we cut right to the chase: Insurance for People Who Don’t Drive Much.”  The message, coupled with a playful illustration, is a way to pique curiosity, not close a deal.

# — 6 Pay Attention to Placement

If a board or location is super cheap, there’s a reason. Is it behind a tree? In a bad part of town? Blocked by construction? Also essential: Pay attention to what’s being advertised on adjacent OOH real estate as it can negatively impact your brand.  A billboard purchased by Burger King in Louisiana went viral, but for all the wrong reasons. The billboard was created to promote the fast-food giant’s meal deal—two sausage and cheese breakfast sandwiches for three dollars. Nothing provocative about it.  However, it was placed alongside a billboard purchased by the American Heart Association (AHA) which read: One in three people will die from heart disease. No further explanation is necessary.

# 7 — Quit asking your agency to make the logo bigger

The logo should be visible, but not so visible it’s the first thing people see. No one gives a crap about your logo without a compelling idea. Give them a reason to WANT to know who is doing the message. If all you had to do was make the logo bigger, we would have done that years ago for all our clients and retired by now. Apple’s “Shot on iPhone campaign” embodies this approach. The company used crowdsourced photos shot with the iPhone to demonstrate the power of the product’s camera. The Apple logo is dropped quietly and tastefully into the lower left hand corner of each billboard.

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The Small Agency Blog is produced by Division of Labor; a top San Francisco ad agency and digital marketing firm that’s been named Small Agency of the Year twice by Ad Age. The award-winning creative shop services clients on a retainer or project basis. They also offers brand consulting services and hourly engagements for startups and smaller brands. Click here for a free consultation.

Free Sharks Tattoos and a Whole Lot of Free Press

They started lining up last night at 8:30 pm in front of Players Ink Tattoo Shop in San Jose to be one of the first 40 in line to get a free San Jose Sharks tattoo. “Sharks for Life” is the tagline we started using three years ago when we first started working with the team. Today, Sharks for Life became literal. Hundreds of fans came out to show their support for the team they love by getting Sharks ink.

We launched the marketing idea on social media before the Sharks had even won their second round series against the Avalanche. It was heartening to see how many people came out, in the rain no less, to be a part of this event. It’s also a great example of how to harness social media to build engagement and encourage brand loyalty.

We and the Sharks partnered with three local tattoo shops. The Sharks cover the cost of all the tattoos, they help promote local businesses, do something nice for their fans, build community spirit and brand awareness. Not to mention, they get a ton of earned media worth hundreds of thousands of dollars for a fraction of the price of equivalent paid media. It’s proof that if you take big swings and do something unconventional, it pays off for everyone involved. Thanks to the Sharks for always supporting bold ideas.

ABC News, NBC Sports, KRON4 News, San Jose Mercury News, Yahoo Sports, . SFGate, KSBW News, KFOX Radio, 105.3 Radio

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The Small Agency Blog is produced by Division of Labor; a top West Coast advertising agency and digital marketing firm that’s been named Small Agency of the Year twice by Ad Age. The award-winning creative shop services clients on a retainer or project basis. And also offers brand consulting services and hourly engagements for startups and brands interested in testing new ideas, but who aren’t quite ready to invest in an integrated campaign or media spend. We can assist with brand strategy, brand voice, early stage asset development, video creation and other communications to get things up and running without busting your budget. Click here for a free consultation.