‘Our goal is to get the word out’: Mobile app Uproad uses digital billboards for education

By Julian Cannon

Mobile app Uproad is looking to boost brand awareness by educating consumers on its offering via digital billboards and new digital video ads. Adding digital out-of-home billboards is a first for the nearly 2-year-old company, whose app allows users to pay tolls via a cashless system while they drive and whose competitors include EasyPass, EXpresstoll, and NationalPass.

“It will help educate people that there is an alternative option for paying tolls,” said Kathryn Kiritsis, director of product marketing and optimization at Uproad, observing that the way people pay tolls has remained relatively the same for years. “People are still using hardware in their cars, and I don’t think that people are familiar with the fact that you can download an app and use that app to pay tolls.”

To get the app’s message out, Uproad sought the help of Boston-based creative agency HeyLetsGo. The goal of Uproad is to increase brand awareness to make its app more appealing to traffic toll payers, and to get those people to use its app to pay the toll. This campaign is the first time Uproad has turned to digital billboard advertising, and the company sees it as a good way to reach its target audience. A number of these digital billboard ads will be placed in Dallas, Texas, including on the Dallas North Tollway.

Due to the cluttered digital space, brands are reconsidering the value of OOH and other traditional ad buys. There has also been an increase in OOH advertising due to the fact that people are more comfortable traveling, despite the ongoing pandemic. Uproad isn’t alone in leaning into OOH now. As previously reported by Digiday, startup brands such as Andie swimwear, JUDY emergency kits, dining app Seated and virtual healthcare app K Health have all launched OOH campaigns recently.

It’s unclear how much Uproad spends on advertising, as Kiristis would not share specifics. However, Kiristis did share that one-fifth of the entire ad budget was allocated to digital billboards and one-third of the budget was allocated to Google Ads, YouTube, Twitter and print billboards, with Google Ads often being given preference.

Data firm Kantar didn’t have ad spend data on record for the company. At the time of Uproad’s launch in September 2020, there had been a marked decline in travelers between those two years due to the pandemic. As a result, Uproad anticipated spending more money between the two years. The launch was timed poorly so the company didn’t have the budget to spend as much as expected. Over a period of three years, Uproad’s overall advertising budget was cut by a third.

Because the billboards will be in circulation for two months, travelers will have a greater chance of spotting one while driving on toll roads. “Out-of-home, such as digital billboards, are a strategic match both for targeting likely audiences and as a brand-building channel,” said Mat Zucker, senior partner and co-head of marketing and sales at strategy consultancy agency Prophet.

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Source:: Digiday