Outdoor creatives just don't get... less is more

Outdoor is a medium for time-starved and busy consumers who only have fleeting seconds to view your work of art on a billboard or other out-of-home canvas. There is no time for storytelling, no time for print-like editorial, just a single-minded message that conveys the very essence of the brand, quickly and concisely. The best thing about creating for outdoor, as David Bernstein once famously said, is "solve the creative brief on a poster and you'll have an idea that will work in virtually any medium". If done properly, outdoor creative can highlight to adland and the entire marketing community, the power of a simple, well chosen message and image. It can prove that you don't need a big media budget to get a lot of buzz, and that a carefully chosen message in one medium can quickly become a free message across multiple media platforms.

Simplicity is the key and remains the essence of great outdoor and is why it is often cited as such a pure test of a creative's skill. Actually, it is pretty simple: distil your thoughts down to a single idea that encapsulates the essence of the sales or brand message into a single, instantly understandable, affecting image; take out everything else, use bright colours, as few words as possible, make the product and logo bold and entice the consumer into trying or buying your brand.

Outdoor can generate far more value than just what was paid for the space; a clever execution creates hype, can generate massive PR and can get consumers talking. On the other hand, a poor execution will have consumers driving or walking passed your site without even knowing it's there. By way of illustration and at risk of annoying a few creative people and brand owners, I have taken pics of two executions which break all the guidelines for good outdoor and as a result, would have a very low recall rate amongst their target market.

Has anyone out there noticed the Roses Juices creative which, in my time spent driving around with binoculars, appeared to be a fairly big campaign. It is hard enough to make your product stand out from the crowd, but when you yourself clutter up your own board with too many messages, too many pack shots and colours that blend into each other, coupled with a payoff line that is not legible from more than a few metres, the result is a foregone conclusion: your message never had a chance before it even went up on the billboard and even if we left it up for 12 months, the noting levels would remain close to zero.

Next time you are driving on the N1 South, see if you notice the Shell billboard between William Nicol and Soweto. In fact, look as hard as you can without causing an accident, and I will lay odds that most of you will hit Bloemfontein without knowing where the site is: a huge big canvas with the world's smallest logo tucked right into the corner. The message regarding unleaded fuel may just as well have been left off as it is impossible to see unless you are about three metres away and standing next to the board. The sad reality is that potential consumers are driving, and often fast, and cannot get closer than about 15 metres away.

The above two brands may just as well have flushed their money down the toilet. Sadly, there are a huge number of brands that are standing behind Roses and Shell at the rest rooms waiting to flush their budget down the same toilet. All of this could be easily avoided if the creative people just spent a little time reading through some of the creative guidelines that are readily available on both local and international outdoor websites.

To this end, POP Outdoor are proud to announce the launch of their long-awaited Creative Division, dedicated 100% to the specialised art of Outdoor Advertising. Whether it be commissioned to “fix” or redesign existing creative disasters, or conceptualise and design new creative, our specialised services are offered to all agencies, clients and advertisers.

Furthermore, as a passionate out-of-home media owner, POP Outdoor would be happy to redo the creative for the respective brands mentioned above and to give them a free campaign each, so that they are able to see both the difference between good and bad creative and how effective good outdoor creative can be.

For more information, visit our website www.popoutdoor.co.za or call POP Outdoor on 011 467 3333.