In recent months, I have become very aware of outdoor ads. They are everywhere and it is pretty easy to tune them out. In Los Angeles, there are so many of them, it takes a really clever one to catch your eye. I encourage you borrow a two and a half year old and drive around the city, it’s quite the enlightening experience.

Since starting school James has really developed from a baby to a little boy. His brand awareness is through the roof, I can’t even tell you how many times I need to say “no” or “maybe later” in a day to Netflix, M&M’s, Kindle, and Legoland. We visited the park on New Year’s Eve and regularly he will climb up on my lap and say very seriously, “I need to talk to you.” My reply “What about?” It’s always the same answer, “Legoland.” It can be startling driving around town, trying to make a hard left on La Cienega Blvd. when you hear a scream from the backseat, “LEGO MOVIE!,” “FOZZIE!,” or “BUZZ!” He is pointing out the outdoor advertising for The Lego Movie, the new Muppet Movie, or Disneyland’s ads for the Southern California discount.

Outdoor advertising can be modeled behind the Heath and Heath formula of SUCCES.  The billboard is simple, just one image and short message James can’t read. In the case of the Muppets and Disneyland, it is just character against a white background with a bit of copy. For James, it is unexpected. When he screams out the name, he is just as much surprised as he is overjoyed by seeing the image. It’s almost as if he thinks “Here I am minding my own business with an animal cracker, and POW, my whole day is rocked.” The image is concrete, the spokesman–Fozzie, Buzz, or Emmet–is credible. He only knows Emmet for TV commercials. He has an emotional tie to these characters, they make him happy. He is too little to go to movies or Disneyland but he has seen them a little on TV and owns a Fozzie and Buzz.

As for the story, that’s when they get me. James has alerted me to the billboard and his enthusiasm reminds me of my enthusiasm for these products. I am reminded about the stories I have about these products. This is important, because James can’t buy anything. But once you get the kid yelling the brands in to your ear, they got you. Perhaps not today, but “maybe later.”