The Roadmap to the Big Apple: How to Fund a Global Rollout

The Question

Over Christmas, my Mother-in-Law asked me: "When will we see your ads in the Big Apple?"

I told her: "Soon."

I wasn't just being optimistic. I had recently drafted a media plan for San Francisco. It was a "Proof of Concept" designed to unlock the budget for New York.

While the campaign never went live, the strategy behind it is the perfect example of how I approach growth.

You don't need a local zip code to build a world-class engine. You just need to understand where your audience sleeps, works, and sits in traffic.

The Global Go-to-Market Strategy: Using OOH to Fund Expansion.

New York is expensive. You don't launch there; you scale there. To get the sign-off for a NY takeover, we needed a win in a high-density tech market first.

We chose San Francisco.

Here is the 3-step playbook I built to dominate the Bay Area.

1. Dominate the Commute (The "Captive" Layer)

We didn't want broad reach. We wanted the right reach. I mapped a strategy focusing on high-impact corridors like Highway 101. Why? Because between 8am and 9am, VCs and Founders are stuck there. We aren't paying for "impressions"; we are paying for 45 minutes of captive attention from the people holding the chequebooks.

2. The "Surround Sound" Layer

A billboard starts the conversation, but it doesn't finish it. My plan involved building a digital geofence around the Highway 101 corridor to retarget device IDs.

• They see the billboard in the car.

• They get the LinkedIn ad when they get to the office.

• They get the CTV (Connected TV) ad when they get home. It creates the illusion of ubiquity. They think you are everywhere, but you're actually just spending smart.

  
  

3. Measuring Lift, Not Clicks

The biggest mistake in OOH (Out of Home) strategy is trying to measure it like a banner ad. The reporting story wasn't going to be about CTR. I set the success metric as Incremental Brand Search in the Bay Area. If the graph goes up in San Francisco while we run the ads, the model works.

The Takeaway

I don't just design the billboard. I build the full ecosystem that captures, converts, and retains that traffic.

Once you prove the model in SF, you can take that data to the CFO and get the cheque for New York, London, or Tokyo.

That’s how you get to the Big Apple.

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About the Author

Winnie Chan is a Performance Marketing Lead and Strategist based in Melbourne, Australia. With over a decade of experience across Agency and In-House roles, she specialises in bridging the gap between creative brand building and commercial targets. She is currently on an "Involuntary Sabbatical" (ask her about it) and writing about the future of marketing.