• by Larissa Faw , September 8, 2016

The Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) and its members are launching a national out-of-home (OOH) public service advertising campaign to encourage voter registration and turnout at the polls.

The campaign was created by Partners + Napier, while ADstruc Project X provided media planning and procurement services and design group Grand Visual developed dynamic content for digital OOH applications.

“These ads hold a mirror up to the American people,” said Pete VonDerLinn, executive creative director, Partners + Napier. “They’re an unedited reflection of the labels we’re free to express, and we hear in our democracy, every day. Voting enables that freedom.”

The creative showcases labels representing the diversity of the American electorate -- such as “gun-loving, fascism-hating, immigrant voter” and “idealist, activist, grandma voter” -- designed to send a message that "while we can proudly own all of these labels as Americans, we must elevate them to a place of impact at the polls," they say.

OOH will run in Times Square as well as NYC bus shelters, and subway cars. Ads will also launch in key markets -- Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Chicago, Las Vegas, Washington, D.C. -- throughout Election Day on November 8.

The OOH ads will direct viewers to VoteToCount.com where they can access their state’s voter registration pages. The site also features two social label generators. The profile picture generator -- ‘voter’ label -- allows users to upload their picture and the program then inserts "voter" onto it. The picture can be saved to the user’s camera roll and uploaded to their social profiles.

The label generator is for social cover photos where users can select custom labels -- such as gun-loving, trans, independent - that produce a cover photo that users can save to their camera roll and also upload to their social profiles.

“We are completely nonpartisan in this effort,” stated Nancy Fletcher, president/CEO, OAAA. “We are not trying to boost the standing of any party or candidate -- rather use OOH, a highly engaging and effective medium, to provoke action in a way that is constructive during a time that really matters.”

OAAA and its members each year provide free advertising space as an organization for one concerted effort. The industry donates more than $500 million each year to local and national nonprofit groups that can’t afford paid advertising.

Last year the OAAA and Partners + Napier introduced the "Feel The Real" campaign raising awareness about digital advertising and ad fraud. Unlike its usual efforts which skew more charitable and objective, that project was designed to elevate OOH as a highly effective medium to drive digital engagement.