Getting the most out of outdoor
8 February 2012 - Advertising
It’s extraordinary what you see on some outdoor media nowadays.
Often very little. In some cases, absolutely nothing at all.
Leastways, not without the aid of a small telescope directed at the 48-sheet, bus back or Adshel in question.
That’s because there are so many examples of outdoor advertising out there where it’s practically impossible to read what’s actually on the poster. The type’s too small, the message is too long, the imagery too complex. It sounds such a simple error, such an obvious oversight, but it’s amazing how many times it happens.
What a shocking waste of the client budget. What’s the point in slapping your message on the back of the bus, if the person travelling behind has to get out of their car and press their nose up against the bus’s behind to read it? What’s the point in committing thousands of pounds to a 48-sheet campaign, if the viewing public has to cross the road, mount the pavement, hurdle a small wall and practically stand underneath the poster to make any sense of the message? What’s the point in taking out those six-sheets if the passing pedestrian has to whip out a small magnifying glass to understand it?
The whole point about outdoor is immediacy. You’ve got to get it straightaway. You’ve got to have impact and instant understanding. It’s bad enough trying to attract and hold the attention of your audience in the press. But, at least with that medium, you have the comfort of knowing that the reader can always turn the page back if sufficiently interested to take another look.
You don’t get that luxury with a commuter in their car. Once they’ve gone past, that’s it. The moment lost.
Yet how many times do you find yourself sitting there in your car trying to make out what’s written on that bus back? Trying to decipher the impossibly small and spidery text, trying to make out the montage of tiny confusing images? How many times do you catch a fleeting glimpse of a poster and get all of half way through its 15-word headline before you find yourself compelled to give up? How many times do you find yourself saying: ‘Wonder what that ad was about? Wonder who that was for?’
Blowing a client’s budget on an outdoor media message that’s too small to read, too illegible to make out and too long to register is nothing short of criminal.
Creating great and compelling outdoor isn’t easy. Not by any stretch. But there are some simple rules to follow that can go an awful long way to making it effective. In fact, I’d boil those rules down to three:
Keep is short. Keep it sweet. Keep it simple.
Sure, you can stretch those rules and add some quirky tricks – particularly when there’s some latitude in the budget. For instance, adding a 3D element is a great way to grab attention. But stick to those three simple rules and you won’t go far wrong.
A former client of ours once wanted to take out 48-sheets around the city centre. Their objective was straightforward enough. They wanted to convey that they were respected specialists at making financial deals around the world – particularly in Europe, even more particularly in Germany.
Our solution was three words:
‘Buy-in Munich?’
Just three words that got across the financial aspect of their business and also their specialist geographical area of concentration. Plus a neat little joke for the football fans amongst us.
Not a 3D gimmick in sight. Just a bold, immediate, impactful, relevant message.
And actual proof that, when it comes to making the most out of outdoor, then less is definitely more.
If you’d like HROC to create some great outdoor advertising for you, why not give us a call.
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