Travelling across London, you probably have seen Mike Hattim billboards along the way.
Hattim is changing it up around the year becoming a super hero, growing bunny ears, or parodying your favourite media. He has something for every holiday and occasion.
Mike Hattim is a mortgage broker with 23 years of experience at Dominion Lending Centres. He took marketing in school before falling into the world of mortgage financing years later.
Originally, Hattim started as all digital. His marketing background started to show as he took graphic design in school.
Hattim was making unique ads early in his career with the creativity of digital platforms.
“I was capitalizing on current trends on films that were coming out. I would kind of Photoshop my face onto movie posters,” said Hattim. “Then I started doing billboards, my first time committing to the billboard(s) in London were pretty standard.”
“Then I said, you know, why don’t we try something different.”
The first billboard design for Mike Hattim.
(Credit: Mike Hattim / @mike.hattim on Instagram)
Hattim remembers a few days beforehand calling his rep at Pattison with buyer’s remorse thinking it was a terrible idea.
“She’s like, no, no, it’s amazing. You’re going to love it.”
The billboard got a lot of response after it was put up. Hattim said not all responses were positive.
Hattim started to notice the general type of advertising around the city that could look amazing and could get noticed, but according to Hattim “it’s going to get lost a little bit in the shuffle.”
“You got a guy selling cars, he’s got a car advertisement, you know, real estate, mortgages, you name the industry. If it’s a sales perspective, it’s how can I become a little bit more noticeable?”
The way Hattim gets more noticeable is by doing something that is weird. He gives the example of the six he bought at Wortley and Stanley. He notes that these ideas don’t go over well with everybody.
Mixed reactions for his billboards can be found all over social media. Here is one of the more popular posts about the six billboards he bought on reddit:
Mike Hattim, please chill
byu/scorpio_sunshine98 inlondonontario
Mike Hattim does most of the work for the billboards, estimating around 95 percent of everything. Pattison’s team is also extremely helpful with some of the billboard designs.
Every year when Hattim restarts his billboard campaign, they brainstorm ideas of what to do. He makes sure to hit the holiday billboards including Christmas, Valentines day, and more related to special months.
Most of these designs are made in Photoshop by Hattim as he learned the software in school.
These are some more designs Mike used over the years:
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- Love Island parody (Mockup from Mike Hattim www.hattimgroup.com/about)
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- Barbie movie parody (Mockup from Mike Hattim www.hattimgroup.com/about)
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- Valentines day (Mockup from Mike Hattim www.hattimgroup.com/about)
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- Super hero (Mockup from Mike Hattim www.hattimgroup.com/about)
Hattim’s biggest design was his parody on the show Love Island. According to his analytics, it had the biggest response through online activity.
According to Hattim, many of his designs don’t get noticed and not everything works.
He says some designs even don’t make the cut or they are on the edge of being implemented. Hattim says he gives it a shot anyways.
The cost of billboard advertising
While Mike Hattim does have a presence on social media, he says the billboards have been the most expensive and the most successful option.
“It’s one of those options where you don’t go out and just do one for a few months and that’s the end of it,” said Hattim. “It’s a commitment long term, just like a commercial or a radio commercial or TV commercial, any of those things. You need long term viewership in order for it to start to maintain and bring back some value. So it’s a heavy initial investment.”
Hattim budgets around $10,000 a month, depending on the time of year and what is happening.
The budget is towards 15 to 20 billboards, ranging from month to month.
Hattim says he is now noticing the effect of the billboards to his business after nine years. People initially for a few years acknowledged the billboards and say something to Hattim.
Now when people book appointments with Hattim, He says 9 out of 10 people bring up these creative billboards. Many seeing them years in advance and contacting mike when they need him.
Who is Mike Hattim?
Mike Hattim is a proud supporter of the Humane Society. He was also an advocate for the most recent London location on Dundas Street, east of Highbury.
Hattim also supports the Cancer Foundation and local GoFundMe’s.
For those who have gone to Basha Lebanese Restobar on Hyde Park, you may have seen a drink on the menu called “The Mike Hattim.” The drink was named after him as his cousin owns the restaurant.
As a nod to his past, Hattim has an IMDB page for two movies he executive produced for. Mike says it was not glamourous as he had friends in the film industry and they were “more or less investments.”
