3. What do outdoor ads
accomplish?
Outdoor advertising increases brand
awareness by reminding consumers of a
product as they travel through their day.
Unlike radio, TV, newspaper, and Internet
advertising, outdoor is hard to ignore.
4. Benefits and setbacks
Pros
• High reach and frequency
at low cost
• 24 hour exposure
• Gains immediate
attention
Cons
• Can only communicate
short messages
• Difficult to measure
• Regarded as visual
pollutant by some
6. Billboards
• Bulletins
• Digital billboards
• Spectaculars (light box)
• Posters
• Junior posters
• Wall murals
• Keep it simple
• Personalize
• Use human appeal
• Use color
• Location
7.
8. this ad is definitely eye-
catching and one of my
favorites for originality
and creativity
Pacific Airlines
Also creativity in their use
of the billboard acting as a
weight beam
Silberman’s Fitness Center
They placed furniture
on the billboard to
create a dynamic 3-D
installation
IKEA
Hello, my name is Daniil, and I am here today to discuss some of the latest innovations in advertising. Now advertising isn’t anything new to us, it’s something we have all been expose to in our lifetimes, but most of us tend to think of it as just T.V commercials and newspaper inserts. But there is a much bigger world of advertising out there. And today we are going to focus on outdoor advertising.
Outdoor ads are so visually different, they demand attention. For example, all of us glance at billboards as we’re driving down the freeway, and the more dramatic and surprising they are, the more we focus on them and read the message. The Outdoor Advertising Association of America states “designing outdoor advertising is visual storytelling. The expression of an idea can surprise viewers with words or excite them with pictures.”
The pros of outdoor ads are they have a high reach and frequency at a low cost meaning they reach a lot of people at frequent intervals. They have 24 hour exposure and gain immediate attention. The cons are they can only communicate short messages, usually seven words or less, they are difficult to measure for both success or failure purposes and research purposes. And they are regarded as visual pollutants by some. In fact there are four states that ban billboards and they are Alaska, Hawaii, Maine and Vermont.
Here we have a chart of money spent on outdoor advertising from 2002 to 2011. As you can see advertisers have spent quite a bit on outdoor ads. The highest it’s been is 7.3 billion in 2007 and the lowest is 5.2 billion. It lowered a lot in 2009 due to the recession but is steadily increasing again.
Billboards are the medium we most associate with when thinking of outdoor advertising. They consist of bulletins, digital billboards, spectaculars, which are one of a kind, large displays usually with some sort of illumination, posters, which are just smaller bulletins with a frame, junior posters and wall murals. Billboards are intended for viewing from extended distances, usually more than 50 feet. For best results, advertisers should keep both message and layout simple but they should also personalize it so viewers know exactly what the brand is. They should use human appeal. It can be an entertainment medium for travelers who are hungry of bored. Use of color is important to make it more eye-catching and they should use location to their advantage like high traffic areas or a few miles away from the business being advertised so they can include “next 5 miles” in their copy.
Here we have a billboard for KFC. Notice the layout and copy are very simple, only containing four words. The yellow makes it more appealing and the sans-serif font is easier for the viewer to read. Also the use of the cutout bucket of chicken makes it more dynamic. Next is an ad for a beverage company. What is interesting about this ad is the perspective of the bottles. This viewpoint instead of the upfront viewpoint makes it so much more interesting. And the next one is a 3-D installation billboard. These are not as common as the regular panel billboards so they are more appealing. And they even include a tail to make it more convincing.
And here we have more recent ads. The first one is for Pacific Airlines, this ad is definitely eye-catching and one of my favorites for originality and creativity. Next is an ad for Silberman’s Fitness Center, they were also creativity in their use of the billboard acting as a weight beam. And then is an ad for Ikea. They placed furniture on the billboard to create a dynamic 3-D installation.
Then next types of outdoor advertisements are street furniture. They are positioned in close proximity to pedestrians for eye-level viewing or at curbsides to influence vehicular traffic. Street furniture consists of bicycle racks, bus benches and shelters, kiosks, shopping malls and sidewalks.
Here is an ad for Nike, notice the bottom of the bench is missing, that is because they are encouraging you to keep running. Again it is a very simple ad but powerful at the same time. In outdoor advertising, simplicity sparks amusement and surprise. Next is an ad for Kit Kat. Isn’t this much more interesting than just putting the Kit Kat logo? And then we have an ad for Denver Water, “Use only what you need”. This ad definitely stands apart from the rest.
Here we have an ad for Pantene, the hand rails act as someone’s hair. Then we have an ad made during the Fifa World Cup. Imagine if you were on that street, wouldn’t you want to sit in that bus shelter, I know I would. And here is an ad for L.A Fitness, and it is exactly for that purpose, for people to take pictures pretending to lift the weights. It promotes the product in a fun way.
The next medium is transit advertising. These are ads placed on or inside moving vehicles. They are in airports, the inside or outside of buses, golf carts, trains, subways and taxicabs. Transit ads advertise toward the mobile population. People usually have more time to read transit ads than billboards and most people have repetitive travel patterns so they are frequently exposed to the message.
Here we have a couple of more fun ads.
Last we have alternative advertising. This is just about anything you could find outside. New techniques are continually being developed. The ones on the list right now are arena and stadium, beach, blimps, cartons and cups, cinema, trash receptacles, turnstiles, shopping bags and airborne. Alternative ads are strategically placed in areas of group congregation such as cafés, stoplights, parking garages and elevators.
So what’s next in the world of creative advertising? More digital. In an article in the Economist, it states the falling price and improving quality of flat-screen displays mean that static posters printed on paper are being replaced by snazzy digital commercials with moving pictures, sound and sometimes interactive features. So Times Square is a good look into the future.
