1960-1969

1960-1970

OAAA members now represented over 90 percent of the outdoor advertising firms in the U.S.

A highlight of this decade was the return to popularity of the single-sheet (28″x42″) poster, used to publicize pop culture events like rock concerts and political rallies.
1960
The first International Congress of Outdoor Advertising was held in Toronto, Canada.

OAAA proposed a nationwide regulatory act to protect scenic areas, and to require license permits and bonds in order to ensure responsible operation. The proposal was modified in 1964 as a proposal for a Model Highway Scenic Area Act.

National poster sales reached $120 million.

The OAAA created the Women’s Division. The first newsletter of the Outdoor Advertising Women of America stated that “it was felt the industry should be more adequately interpreted from the women’s point of view.” By 1960, nationwide there were nearly 10,000 women associated with the advertising industry, either advertising professionals or the wives and family members of plant operators. They were soon joined by women professionals in the Roadside Business Association and from the motel industry.

The A.C. Nielsen research company produced the first nationwide study of advertising reach and frequency.
1961
Single post unitized construction of poster panels began. Prefabricated panels were created in poster plant shops and transported to the display, where they were hoisted into place by boom trucks.

The first mobile advertising panels were used.

Outdoor Advertising, Inc. (OAI) produced its “Testa” awareness test project. The campaign consisted of billboards announcing a “new” automobile, the fictional “Testa” car, followed by a series of recall studies around the poster showings. The project highlighted the ability of outdoor advertising to create audience awareness of new products in a relatively brief exposure period.
1962
Some Foster & Kleiser territories were sold to Karl Eller, who formed the Eller Outdoor Advertising Company
1963
Howard Johnson’s became the first advertiser to receive the OAAA‘s newly established Achievement Award, for the chain’s “outstanding service to the American motoring public.” By the 1960s Howard Johnson’s had become the biggest advertiser in the restaurant industry, having grown to over 600 restaurants and 153 motor lodges in the U.S., which were advertised using over 2,200 painted bulletins and posters. Howard Johnson’s reached a level of recognition that made the chain synonymous with travel. Research conducted in the 1960s revealed that Howard Johnson signs produced over 80% recall and remembrance.

New York State Highway Department officials tore down 53 billboards along the New York State Thruway. The billboards were allegedly illegally erected inside the 660 ft. right-of-way limit. The OAAA threatened to sue for damages on behalf of the billboard operators. The action set off a national debate over billboards along the Federal Highway system.

The research firm of Madigan-Hyland, in a study of the New York Thruway system, found that there were three times as many accidents in billboard zones as in billboard-free zones along the Thruway. The controversial study increased the friction between proponents and opponents of outdoor advertising, and was influential in helping to shape the legislative developments leading to the 1965 Highway Beautification Act.
1964
The United Advertising Corp. (Newark, N.J.) introduced “Tandem Rotary” panels. The panels measured 15′ high by 55′ long with a 5’x15′ cut-out illustration connecting the 2 panels.

The OAAA prepared a Model Highway Scenic Area Act proposal, providing for the establishment of scenic areas by law, and regulating and restricting placement of all signs therein. A later proposal that year called for overall regulation.

Metromedia, after purchasing Foster & Kleiser, and General Outdoor’s Chicago and New York plants, became the largest outdoor advertising operator in the U.S. Metromedia withdrew its membership from Outdoor Advertising, Inc. (OAI).

The Metropolitan Outdoor Network, Inc. (MONI) was formed to promote outdoor sales in the 50 largest U.S. outdoor markets. This organization forced OAI to concentrate on the 300 smaller markets, and small market sales, effectively crippling the viability of OAI. An OAAA Study Committee, responding to these changes in the general outdoor industry’s business environment, proposed that OAI become the direct sales arm of the OAAA, while the concept-selling and research services of OAI were to be spun off into a separate organization. The following year, however, the Committee recommended the dissolution of Outdoor Advertising, Inc., “in that it had arrived at a point where it was a direct selling organization representing too small a segment of the medium.”

A.C. Nielsen produced the first research study that compared and correlated outdoor and television campaigns.
1965
The Outdoor Advertising Institute was created as an autonomous, non-profit organization. It provided an industry-wide, total medium program of research and information services intended to better align outdoor with other advertising media. Its structure was styled after similar organizations that served other advertising media, such as the Bureau of Advertising (newspapers) and the Radio Advertising Bureau. Within a month of its formation, the Institute changed its name to the Institute of Outdoor Advertising (IOA) to avoid acronym confusion with its predecessor, Outdoor Advertising, Inc. The IOA coordinated research for the industry including national reach and frequency figures, new copy pre-testing methods, and other statistics.

The Highway Beautification Act was passed by Congress. It sought to limit billboards to commercial zones, and away from areas designated as “scenic areas.” Billboards were strictly regulated along the Interstate and other federally-funded primary highways. Federal laws mandated state regulation of billboard size, lighting and spacing standards.

National poster sales reached $215 million.

The White House Conference on Natural Beauty was held.

Metromedia’s Foster & Kleiser division commissioned the first aerial photographic study of traffic volume and circulation, in the Los Angeles area.
1966
The Alfred Politz Company conducted its groundbreaking nationwide advertising awareness study.
1967
The Advertising Federation of America (AFA) and the Advertising Association of the West (AAW) merged to form the American Advertising Federation (AAF).

The OAAA Chicago headquarters property, at 24 Erie St., was sold. The OAAA maintained offices in New York and Washington, D.C.

The research firm of Arthur D. Little, Inc. published its report “A Study of Human Response to the Visual Environment in Urban Areas.” The study, commissioned by the OAAA to develop scientific methods to study human responses to the man-made environment, was one of the first systematic efforts to move beyond anecdotal complaints and assumptions about outdoor advertising.
1968
TAB began a three year reorganization program. Budd Buszek, formerly with the advertising agency BBDO, became TAB’s Managing Director.


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