The billboard scene in Toronto is booming in a big way, with billboards soaring over prominent highways and large meeting places. The OOH advertising market in this city is steady growing, and their marketing messages are being stretched to wide demographics of people new and familiar to the region. Through smart billboarding in areas that are impressionable for consumers, Toronto has nailed the OOH influential vibe. It’s no surprise that this city is on the incline with billboard placements, as it’s constantly being redesigned and reconstructed to meet the demand for housing and living comfortably. These billboards are setup to meet those changes. Let’s dive into four large billboards in Toronto that have had a great impact.
Big Sex Toy Billboard
Dubbed as #shockvertising, this Toronto billboard had some of the best-written copy in the game this year. “Scream your own name.” received international attention, which is hard to do with a single billboard, but this display immediately broke the internet. Resting along the QEW near Highway 427, this self-pleasure promoting billboard designed by The Garden struck both praise and dismay in people- but got everyone talking. The OOH call-to-action is simple: “Get it fast at PinkCherry.ca Canada’s #1 Retailer”, placed next to a clear image of the Womanizer device being advertised. But it’s not so much the device that’s being sold to us, it’s the message in the billboard that impacts consumes in a huge way. Among mixed feedback, the big sex toy billboard from PinkCherry.ca has been extended for media buy in 2020 with new ads being rolled out. How’s that for a first-time experience.
Big “Follow The Arches” Billboard
McDonald’s is no stranger to outdoor advertising, as they’re known to keep their marketing messages as fresh as their exciting menu options. But no one predicted that Canadian marketing agency Cossette would intrigue so many people along the highway with subtle directional fast food signage. The “follow the arches” billboard campaign sparked worldwide attention due to its visual cleverness paired with the most basic copy, playing solely on the famous McDonald’s golden arches. This big billboard campaign proves how iconic the McDonald’s logo is while branding to hungry commuters. The goal of this campaign was not so much to give people directions to the closest McDonald’s, but to tap into their nostalgia of the restaurant. In so doing this, people awarded the giant fast food chain campaign.
Big Bell Digital Billboards
Staying on brand with the technology services that Bell Media has to offer consumers, Bell transformed their static billboards to digital screens in order to show their company innovation. These billboards were reported to be Canada’s largest highway billboards in 2018, which stood at 56 x 28 ft beside Toronto’s Gardiner Expressway near Exhibition Place. This location delivers about 116,000 daily impressions, so Bell Media was smart to erect these digital monsters there. Along with these huge digital billboards, Astral, Bell Media’s OOH side, operates about 143 digital OOH screens across Canada.
Big Kawhi Billboard
Straight after the Raptors won their NBA championship this year, and riding on the high of widespread audience’s excitement, athletic footwear and apparel brand New Balance unveiled a tremendous billboard at Yonge-Dundas square. Playing off the fact that Kawhi Leonard, along with his Raptors teammates, chanted “board man gets paid” when they were younger to motivate themselves to make it big, New Balance used this conversational bit to an outdoor advertising advantage. “Board Man Gets Titles” is the modern, winning tagline that dropped in, arguably, the most populous Toronto area celebrating Kawhi driving his team to complete victory.
It’s obvious that the city of Toronto keeps it current when it comes to billboard messaging, and they know how to impact people in big ways. Leaning on shock copy, visual references, digital innovation, and recent victories, Toronto’s billboard scene is among the largest in the world. Kudos to the OOH environment in the 6ix.
