For this project, we had an incredible media buy: over twenty feet of space on a wall inside of the United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks play.

The poster needed to be relevant to both teams, concerts, and events too.

We already had a campaign tagline and direction, “Harris Bank, We’re Here to Help.” All we had to do was create an execution that our client liked and fit the bill for the Campaign.

What if we used our media space to do more than get people reading, what if we got them moving?

Context Copywriting (n) - Copywriting that plays off the elements or environment surrounding the media

We used Contextual Copywriting by creating an ad that used the space in a smart way–as a measuring tool.

We also incorporated the teams into the poster in an unexpected way–by showing the heights.

We helped people jump to the sky like their heroes.

I visited this poster twice. I visited once before we designed the poster to get a feel for the area.

After the poster ran for six months, I visited again, and I was so surprised and excited to find all the markings from where people had jumped up and touched the poster. It was a very gratifying moment.

The client renewed the media buy for a second year, and it stayed up for a total of two years.

You can’t make something “go viral.” True, but you can try.

Communicating in advertising is exactly like communicating in real life: people like to feel heard. We didn’t just take over conversations in the automotive world, we added to them.

Two ingredients from great real-life conversations that helped us create highly engaging brand organic posts:

Social Listening
Brevity

Let’s explore:

1. Social Listening (n) the act of tracking, following, and reacting to content created by consumers and fans.

Great conversationlists listen. They make people feel heard by repeating what’s said and adding to it.

We used Social Listening to set alerts and track mentions of Firestone Tires across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Then we used that User Generated Content to inspire our own content.

For this one, we used a fan’s photo of their ‘72 Chevy Camaro Z28.

We got permission from the user to repost this photo. Then we added a shoutout to the original poster. It’s key to give credit, just like in a real conversation!

We also added our own brand line to the post “Wide ovals—muscle car approved,” to show our passion for the automotive world was as strong as our fans.

2. Brevity (n) the quality of being concise and exact

Brevity is the second insight to gain from this project. Brevity has always been a target for great copywriters. Because brevity respects both the readers’ time and intelligence.

“Brevity is the soul of wit” is one of my favorite sayings. Because wit makes us feel something, and that creates a powerful message.

However, the success of this post cannot be entirely attributed to the creative nor strategy.

Our client also boosted the reach of the post at the right time. When they saw how well the post performed, they decided to boost its reach. This helped maximize the return on their investment by boosting a post that had already been proven.

I believe these strategies can also be used to plan creative campaigns in the future, by using social media to inform the direction of a campaign delights audiences and exceeds their expectations.