Posted by admin | Posted in Elements, advertising | Posted on 16-01-2009
The Billboard.
Much like the business card, a billboard is “one-shot” advertising. You hope to catch the attention of a driver speeding by. The message must be clear enough to comprehend quickly, but powerful enough to stick in the mind.
Recently a project came across my desk for new billboard. The previous designer had included a whopping total of 22 words in their design. 22?!?!?! How am I possibly going to take in that much information while driving down the road? Is the designer responsible for any auto accidents that may occur because drivers had to hit their brakes to take in all the information?
In case you didn’t get the point, 22 words on a billboard is a bit excessive. So how do you determine HOW much information to include on there?
Well, generally the rule of thumb is no more than 8 words. That’s about all driver can comfortably take in. Obviously, that’s an average. You will see billboards ranging in content numbers from 5-15, but keep in mind that 8 is the “perfect” number according to researchers and professional marketers.
That in mind, what do you “leave out”. Well, chances are there is absolutely NO reason to include an actual telephone number on a billboard these days. Web sites are prevalent. And most can just as easily surf the web from their phone as they can make a phone call.
On the other hand if you are struggling to decide what TO put on there, here are some vast ideas (some better than others!):
Contact Information:
Name of the Organization
Web Site Address (url)
Telephone Number (easy to remember format 1-800-FLOWERS, etc.)
Physical Location
Slogan or Motto
Tagline
Niche Information
Visual:
Logo
Color Scheme
Person of Interest (or the POC)
As I mentioned earlier, you should be careful not to “overload” the reader with an exorbitant amount of information.
Some pitfalls to avoid:
Be wary of certain colors . . . For instance, you might want to be careful of sky blue unless you really want your billboard to “blend” in with it’s surroundings.
Know where your billboard will be displayed, be familiar with trees/buildings that could obstruct the view.
As with everything else, billboard design will be subjective. You may be loved or hated. But hopefully, you will get read.
“Is the designer responsible for any auto accidents that may occur because drivers had to hit their brakes to take in all the information?”
Hahaha, that’s good stuff. We have a billboard down the road that not only has an overwhelming amount of information for a driver (Who’s eyes SHOULD be on the road anyway), but it’s also white and typically stands against a cloudy, white sky. It’s usually almost lost entirely. I drove the road that this billboard was on everyday for over a year before I actually noticed it and the only reason I noticed was because someone had mentioned to me how it’s almost impossible to see while driving by. I was purposely looking for it when I DID finally see it. Seems like a pretty massive waste of money. =(
If you’ve ever seen Church At BattleCreek’s billboards, they usually fill the background with an attention grabbing image, have a couple words to convey their SIMPLE message, and include their logo/church name and URL to their Web site. I’ve always noticed their billboards and I always remember what they say.
Anyway, great post.