If you found yourself staring at a billboard on San Francisco’s Route 101 last month, puzzling over a prominent forehead and the phrase ‘Target Marc on TV,’ it’s safe to say you’re not deep in the startup ecosystem. This intriguing advertisement was part of a bold campaign by Vibe, a New York-based ad tech startup, designed to resonate exclusively with the tech industry’s inner circle. The ‘bald head’ belonged to none other than Marc Andreessen, the influential co-founder of the venture capital powerhouse, Andreessen Horowitz, showcasing Vibe’s unique approach to getting attention.
Vibe didn’t stop there. Another striking wallscape featured just a leather-clad shoulder, an unmistakable reference to Jensen Huang, the CEO of chip giant Nvidia, renowned for his signature black motorcycle jackets. Not far off, a billboard aimed at Tesla mogul and X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk cleverly displayed a kitchen sink — a playful nod to his viral 2022 video caption, ‘let that sink in.’ These ads were a masterclass in highly specific, almost cryptic, targeting.
The campaign effectively leveraged these iconic, subtle visual cues, knowing that while a casual passerby might see just a shoulder or a sink, the intended audience would instantly recognize the powerful individuals being referenced.
Vibe’s strategy was essentially an elaborate insider joke, a highly sophisticated microtargeting game played out on massive public canvases. The goal was to pique the curiosity of a select few: powerful tech investors and influencers who would not only ‘get’ the references but perhaps even try to uncover the company behind such audacious advertising. Arthur Querou, Vibe’s CEO, explained their rationale: “These are people that everyone in the Valley wants to talk to.” He recognized that while many San Francisco residents wouldn’t grasp the humor, “the people we want to talk to do get the joke.”
Visuals accompanying the campaign underscored the specificity, with one showing the billboard dedicated to Jensen Huang, clearly intended for those familiar with his distinct public persona.
With billions currently flowing into San Francisco’s startup scene, a significant portion is earmarked for marketing. Querou’s hope is that these unconventional analog ads will inspire startups to direct some of that marketing spend towards Vibe’s streaming ad services, which offer algorithmic placement of ads to highly specific audiences in digital spaces. Christopher Tavlarides, president of Capitol Outdoor, which manages many Bay Area billboards, confirmed a surge in demand for ad space, particularly near tech offices. However, for those outside the tech bubble, these ads often just blend into the city’s visual ‘white noise.’
Take James Markert, a bartender in Jackson Square, who admittedly found the ‘Target Tim on TV’ billboard, featuring a bitten red apple (a clear nod to Apple CEO Tim Cook), utterly baffling. “To be honest, it’s too vague for me, and I feel that’s the point,” Markert remarked, highlighting the campaign’s deliberate exclusivity. An image of this very billboard cemented its presence in the urban landscape, a silent challenge to decipher its meaning.
Despite the online buzz, Querou expressed a touch of disappointment, noting he hadn’t yet heard directly from the targeted tech executives. Even his college friends, now engineers at major tech firms in San Francisco, found some of the references obscure. Danielle Jing, who works near the Apple ad, initially dismissed it as being “just for online tech people.” Yet, she instantly recognized the Marc Andreessen ‘forehead’ billboard, a testament to her background in venture capital. Andreessen himself, the subject of the infamous forehead ad, did not comment on the campaign, leaving its direct impact on the tech titans somewhat of a mystery. The article also featured the Elon Musk ‘kitchen sink’ billboard, another example of Vibe’s clever, if niche, visual storytelling.