Gerald Ford Airport Makes a Big Statement with Billboards

Gerald Ford International Airport (GRR), in Grand Rapids, Michigan, isn’t necessarily the first place you think of when you think about billboard advertising. But a recent campaign it undertook to raise the awareness of the airport in the community shows just how far a billboard can go with a little creative spirit.

The GRReat Billboard Hunt promotion ran from January 22 through February 18, 2024. It encompassed 30 billboards installed around the country, in cities people can travel via nonstop flights from GRR. It encouraged them to get out complete missions, mainly consisting of taking photos of specific billboards and submitting them to the contest page to be eligible for a variety of prizes, including a $300 flight voucher, destination collection apparel, limited-edition socks, and more.

“The Airport is continuously looking for innovative and creative ways to connect with our community members and passengers,” notes Haley Abbas, the marketing and communications manager at Gerald R. Ford International Airport Authority. “In collaboration with our advertising and marketing partner, Extra Credit Projects, we have specifically focused on deploying nontraditional tactics, such as the GRReat Billboard Campaign, to best reach our audience. This specific experience aims to create an enjoyable winter activity for our community, encouraging them to get out and explore the vibrancy of the 2nd largest city in Michigan during the winter months, all while highlighting the 30+ nonstop destinations they can fly to from GRR.”

Billboards aren't the only wide-format printing Gerald Ford Airport has used to help promote its destinations to travelers.

Credit: Gerald Ford International Airport

Another way the airport has promoted itself was a "flocking" campaign to showcase Florida destinations.

Credit: Gerald Ford International Airport

Just one of the billboards deployed by Gerald Ford International Airport as part of the GRReat Billboard Hunt.

Credit: Gerald Ford International Airport

Jackie Foss, media director at Extra Credit Projects, notes that the entire project was “a multi-month endeavor. We began concepting, brainstorming and planning in November 2023, finalized artwork and promotion details in December, posted boards the second week of January, and the Hunt runs January 22 through February 18, 2024.” The billboards themselves, Foss continues, “were printed via our out of home media partner OUTFRONT Media of Grand Rapids, and their third-party production team at Independent’s Service Company.”

And the response has been great, with Abbas noting that early results just after the program went live had more than 400 people signing up to participate, and she anticipates more than 500 before the end of the contest. She also anticipates that the billboards themselves will have received “a few million impressions” as they catch the attention of travelers around the country.

“As a small-hub airport, we want to emphasize that we provide the region with a seamless and convenient travel experience with modern amenities, all without having to drive to a major hub,” Abbas says. “The goal of this campaign is to spotlight all the destinations you can fly to nonstop from GRR, ultimately increasing the number of passengers choosing GRR as their preferred airport.”

And this isn’t the first time GRR has looked outside of the proverbial box for ways to promote their airport. Abbas notes, “Previous nontraditional tactics include deploying a mobile billboard at major events and festivals in our community, covering the stairs of our local entertainment and concert venue in our branding, ‘flocking’ local community partners (with permission) to promote our Florida destinations, and more! We’re always looking for new and unexpected ways to reach our audience so the sky is the limit for what we could do next.”

But, Abbas says, it is important to note that GRR can’t create these huge projects with so many moving parts alone. She credits the partnerships she and the airport have cultivated to bring these unique wide-format campaigns to life. “The synergy of diverse perspectives and specialized expertise is instrumental in elevating campaigns to go the ‘extra mile.’ We are very grateful to collaborate with exceptional partners who contribute to our shared success.”

This is just one more great example of how even wide-format applications like billboards, that most think of as “basic”, can still be an avenue for a vast amount of creativity that can help a brand — or airport — get people talking and build national awareness that just can’t be achieved any other way.