There are three key elements to a successful outdoor campaign: creative, location and timing. That statement seems absurdly obvious, but somehow many advertisers still seem to be missing the mark. Just recently I saw three billboards that left me scratching my head:

VICTIM #1 RUTH’S CHRIS STEAK HOUSE

(Board located on the corner of Church and Grove St in New Haven, CT): This popular chain has locations throughout every corner of the country; however there is only one Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Connecticut, and it’s 30 miles outside of New Haven.

Granted, Connecticut is a small state, but it is also very segmented. Someone living in Fairfield County doesn’t come into New Haven for a night out. And someone living in New Haven certainly doesn’t travel 30 miles for a steak in Hartford County.

So, what were they thinking? I have two theories. One possibility is that they were taking a shot across the bow of Carmen Anthony Steakhouse, located just two blocks from the billboard. Carmen Anthony has one of the most recognized franchises in CT, with five Steak and Fish Houses throughout the state (three of which are in Ruth’s Chris own backyard). It certainly wouldn’t be the first time a company sacrificed a sound marketing strategy to go after a competitor.

The more likely option is that Ruth’s Chris is targeting Connecticut’s business community, and New Haven is the next closest hub for power lunchers outside of Hartford. The issue here is the lack of crossover between the actual business being done in Hartford and New Haven communities. New Haven virtually revolves around Yale University and Yale New Haven Hospital, whereas Hartford is the Insurance capital of America. If you’re working in New Haven, there often isn’t much need to travel to Hartford for business, and vice versa.

VICTIM #2: VISIT CT

(Board at the intersection of I-91 and I-95 in New Haven, CT): This one makes a little more sense to me, but it’s a good example of the location and the message not playing well together. Connecticut’s new $27 million tourism campaign is aimed at bringing a fresh group of visitors into the Nutmeg State from New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania. That’s a large and rather expensive group of markets to cover, so you can understand my amazement when I saw a billboard for the campaign right in the middle of Connecticut.  I understand the need to bolster support for such campaigns at home and encourage in-state exploration, but it still  always feels odd to see dollars spent on a tourism campaign in the state it’s promoting. To be fair, the intersection of I-91 and I-95 sees a great deal of traffic from those traveling to and from New York and Massachusetts. Even so, it feels like a huge opportunity was missed in the creative execution.

The billboard features a rather generic couple smiling, with the headline “Still Playing”. The location of the photo is very vague and uninteresting (I dare say bland). I already know a lot of what Connecticut has to offer, as do most out-of-staters who are driving through from NY and MA. Show me something I don’t know about this state. Introduce me to a destination I haven’t heard of or an activity I must experience before the summer is over. Instead, Visit CT opted for the uninspired postcard approach.

VICTIM #3: LAKE COMPOUNCE AMUSEMENT PARK

(Board located on Memorial Ave in West Springfield, MA): Lake Compounce is a mid-size Amusement Park in Bristol, CT that has done a great job recently in stepping up their brand image and competing with it’s large neighbor to the north, Six Flags. They have gotten aggressive with their new creative look, as well as with their overall marketing approach. Unfortunately, they may have gotten too overzealous with a recent board in West Springfield, MA. West Springfield is a small city with a population around 30,000. It’s not a major location you think to target when advertising an amusement park that is an hour away, except for the fact that it is 5 miles down the road from Six Flags New England. Unlike restaurants, people will drive hours for a day at an amusement park, and if you want to steal customers from the highest traffic amusement park in New England, it makes sense to throw a billboard up in their front yard.

Here’s the catch: West Springfield is north of Six Flags and Memorial Avenue is a smaller secondary road used primarily by locals. Anyone coming to Six Flags from Connecticut won’t be travelling down this road, nor will most in-state visitors throughout MA.

So, what were they thinking? My only guess is that they were possibly trying to leverage the 1.2 million visitors that come to West Springfield each fall for The Big E (the country’s ninth largest fair). This billboard was literally 1 mile from the entrance to The Big E and the target audiences are an exact match, but once again, there’s a catch. The Big E occurs for 17 days in September… this board is up in May. Good spot, good tactic, bad timing.

Outdoor can be an amazingly effective tool when done correctly. Adversely, it’s a great way to throw away your marketing budget when not executed with the proper planning. Are your billboards in the right spot, for the right reason?