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This is an opinion column
It dominates the Birmingham skyline.
Some folks are okay with it and some are not.
But you have to admit, it’s genius from a name recognition standpoint.
I’m talking about the Alexander Shunnarah billboard atop the Two North 20th Building downtown.
It makes perfect sense that the billboard king of Alabama appears on the ‘mother of all billboards.’
People even tell me they see it when they fly into Birmingham.
The downtown billboard is obviously good for Shunnarah
Alexander Shunnarah dominates billboards all over the state. When my family takes a road trip, we often play a game predicting how many Shunnarah billboards we will pass.
According to an interview in the Birmingham News Lede earlier this year, Mr. Shunnarah said, “Give or take, depending on the month, and sometimes we’re doing things like a poster, we typically have about 2,000 billboards.
“Our annual budget this year is pretty extensive. Because we’re now a nationwide firm. And so half of it is spent traditionally on like the radio, the TV, the billboards in the community. And the other half is now spent in the digital space, like pay per click and the social platforms. But it’s roughly about $60 million this year. It’s about $5 million a month, but it’s across the U.S.”
Is the downtown billboard good for Birmingham?
When you think of Hollywood, California, you picture the iconic Hollywood sign.
Think of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge comes to mind.
St. Louis has its Gateway Arch.
We hope when people picture Birmingham they think of Vulcan, but Vulcan may be getting competition from the Shunnarah billboard dominating the Birmingham skyline.
A win-win solution for Shunnarah and for Birmingham
According to al.com, “The sign has been a feature of Birmingham’s skyline for more than 50 years. It was formerly an electronic sign with more than 1,330 lights, projecting changing messages. The sign went dark in 1988.
“A plan to replace the electronic sign with a vinyl covering advertising Pepsi generated controversy in 2013 and was rejected by the Birmingham Design Review Committee, with committee members calling it a ‘glorified billboard…but it appeared the law was not enforced.’ The sign later advertised LP Building Products and the Wind Creek Casino.”
In the early days when the sign was a message board, it often posted public announcements.
Why not have the billboard serve the public good, while at the same time promoting the Shunnarah Law Firm?
Maybe the firm would consider monthly/quarterly postings–something great about Birmingham? An achievement? An historical event like the recent MLB game at Rickwood?
This would be a recurring reminder about what’s great about Birmingham and be a public relations boost for the firm.
Mr. Shunnarah is investing heavily in Birmingham
According to the Birmingham Business Journal, the Shunnarah firm recently bought the 125,000 square foot former home of the Birmingham News Building downtown for $13.3 million.
In The Birmingham News Lede interview mentioned above, Mr. Shunnarah said “We started here in Birmingham, and obviously, this is home. This is our headquarters. But in Birmingham we had one building and then a second building. So, we were pretty bifurcated.
“We never were able to find a headquarters that could fit everyone in it. And I’m really excited to be able to actually consolidate all seven offices into one building, because I think it’ll be great for the culture, everyone being under one roof finally.”
A creative public-centric marketing plan for the downtown billboard would be a big win for Birmingham and for a law firm who takes great pride being headquartered here.
David Sher is the founder and publisher of ComebackTown. He’s past Chairman of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (BBA), Operation New Birmingham (REV Birmingham), and the City Action Partnership (CAP).
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Invite David to speak for free to your group about how we can have a more prosperous metro Birmingham. dsher@comebacktown..com