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Richard Bond of Talon: how Out of Home advertising can create the tipping point for start-up success

We all know the age-old phrase, “you have to speculate to accumulate.” When talking about building a brand, there’s a certain amount of risk involved in choosing the right direction, especially when there are seemingly endless options on the table.

Talon Outdoor recently worked with dog walking app Tailster, who not only received further investment post campaign but also picked up the first ever SME award at last year’s Outdoor Media Awards. We developed a bespoke strategy to help them achieve the next stage of growth, with Out of Home advertising playing a crucial part in the brand’s launch. They attracted new customers and interest as they sought to grow throughout the UK.

After seeing the value we could provide as an independent business ourselves working alongside SMEs, we decided that a dedicated entrepreneurial division was needed to really give the focus that these types of businesses deserve to grow their brands. And Talon Ignite was born.

The new venture works alongside entrepreneurs and start-ups to create a tipping point towards the next level of success. This will allow amazing ideas to reach the right audiences on the move via strategic marketing, brand communication and advertising solutions.

Here are the three ways that I think that Out of Home advertising can best benefit start-ups looking to build their brand:

Creativity

A really smart or contextually relevant advert can make the difference between someone seeing your advert and remembering it. We work with creative agencies to advise and make recommendations about what works best on the formats we know inside out. This means a smooth and seamless process, and a collaboration between creatives and senior level members of the Ignite team can only be a good thing for the brand in question.

Flexibility

Out of Home advertising doesn’t just mean a giant billboard. There are so many sites available in a host of different types of locations that can specifically reach your target audience. You can go traditional, digital, only go live at certain times of the day or even only when the sun comes out. At Talon Ignite we have access to the whole menu, you’re not locked into one format and we have the expertise and experience to find the best combination to answer your brief.

Results

Results can mean completely different things to different brands. We are always focused on helping brands achieve their individual objectives, particularly around driving action. So, if it’s a big, emotional impact they want or a specific target ROI we’ll develop something completely bespoke to make it happen via our tried-and-tested Ignite Process.

In the case of Tailster, by using our in-house online behaviour tool we were able to track the volume of website traffic generated from the advertising campaign, measure the duration of time spent on the site and even isolate regional performance. This resulted in a 63 per cent increase in search and 118 per cent increase in website traffic, all connected to the collaboration with Talon Ignite.

Tailster CEO and founder Indy Sangha says: “With over £1.5 billion being spent on dog-walking every year, we knew that a business which connected pet owners with trusted sitters, walkers and boarders was a great idea, but our challenge was getting the word out to reach a broad cross-section of the population, and rapidly build our database. The Talon Ignite team created a hugely effective plan to suit our budget and objectives and guided us through the whole process, achieving fantastic results.”

I want to throw out the gauntlet to start-ups of all sizes and say give us a challenge! We love hearing new ideas and turning them into brand-building strategies. Our Ignite process works in four stages: Start, where we can get involved no matter what stage of investment you’re in. Spark, which is about developing a collaborative strategy to build your brand. We continue working together to reach the next goal with Sustain, and finally measure and celebrate the Success! No budget is too small and by partnering with us, your brand name could be in lights before you know it.

Richard Bond is Business Development Director of Talon Outdoor.

Talon Outdoor is a truly independent Out of Home media specialist and a significant player in the Out of Home agency sector with a focus on delivering smarter, creative, technology-led and integrated OOH communications.

For further information about Talon Outdoor, please see Talon Outdoor or contact Nick Mawditt at [email protected] or Tom Belcher, marketing manager, at [email protected].

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