Billboards Archives - Page 12 of 14 - Outdoor Advertising News

Outdoor Advertising Ideas

Posted on March 15, 2018 by admin

When done correctly outdoor advertising can be one of the most impactful forms of marketing there is. The right advertisement can act as a monument to your brand that exists in the physical space your clients live their lives in. Outdoor advertising is harder to ignore than many other forms of advertising, but to achieve the maximum impact, it should be creative. A basic billboard might get your message across, but if you really want people to stop and think about what you have to say, then you need to present you.

Consider the power of cross-promotion.

Outdoor advertising really takes off when it plays with people’s expectations. We’ve all seen two advertisements placed side by side, but they never interact. This unique ad from pizza brand Donatos plays with expectations to create a hilarious and eye-catching ad. It’s also worth noting that this sort of idea opens up all sorts of opportunities for cross-promotion. Creative companies can team up to create a billboard that delivers twice the punch at half the cost. That’s thinking outside the box.

Turn two billboards into one ad.

Here we have another advertisement that is created by combining two separate images. It takes full advantage of three-dimensional space to create an image that is impossible to ignore. It also presents a unique and vivid take on the subject matter, one look at that stretched out tongue is enough to tell you that it’s licking one cold candy bar.

Convert a vehicle into a moving billboard.

Drawing comparisons between your business and your competitor is always tricky, but FedEx found a brilliant way to turn their delivery trucks into ads with a cheeky message. A simple decal turns an average truck into a humorous and attention-grabbing jab at the company’s competition. Just putting your company’s logo on your vehicles might be fine for some, but there’s power in going beyond what’s expected of you.

Go beyond the flat image.

Take full advantage of the fact that outdoor advertisements don’t need to be completely flat! It might cost extra to add depth to a billboard, but if you’ve got a great idea, then the return on investment can be tremendous. People see flat ads all day long, give them something that comes out at them, literally!

Use electronic ads to tell a story.

Any one of these images would make a fine advertisement on its own, but when you see all three images in sequence, you get a message that is more than the sum of its parts. All too often people are content to purchase just one of three slots on a board like this and hope that they’ll stand apart from their competition. This ad shows that this sort of technology can be used to convey simple but powerful messages using sequential storytelling.

Build off of what’s already there.

When creating an outdoor advertisement, you don’t have to build everything from scratch! By working with whatever is already in place you can increase your impact without dramatically increasing your budget. Look at this ad and imagine how much more Hot Wheels would have had to pay if they wanted to put up an entire fake bridge. But instead, they used an existing structure and made a big point at a relatively low cost.

Put up ads that work with people around them.

This ad from Mini Cooper does a great idea of telling people that their vehicle is more spacious than it looks at first glance. It does this by taking advantage of the space it is in and the way people exist within that space. When planning your next outdoor ad, you need to think about how it will exist in the chosen space and how people will interact with it.

Use technology to remind people that it’s time for them to pay you a visit.

McDonald’s gets a lot of business by staying open around the clock, but not all of their locations is open around the clock. This is tricky to deal with, when people are up late at night they might be hungry but they don’t want to waste time visiting a restaurant that isn’t open. This sort of message encourages people to pay McDonalds a visit while assuring them that they’re open and ready for business.

For more outdoor advertising ideas check out our other article on the best outdoor advertising campaigns.

Spotify Funny Billboard Ads

Posted on February 20, 2018 by admin

Billboards are a popular advertising medium because they’re a great way to get a simple message to a lot of people quickly and affordably. They can target people based on the location where they will be viewed, and they often have a captive audience who has no choice but to notice the sign.

But, in the internet age, are they becoming less useful? Do we depend on electronic targeting and digital technology to get our point across?

No, not with a little creativity. In fact, one recent campaign of Spotify funny ads is a perfect example of how outdoor advertising can be even more successful than something posted online.

Thanks 2016, it’s been weird

In November of 2016, the online music streaming service Spotify launched a global campaign of funny ads using billboards. Each sign contained messages that were localized for the markets where they appeared. The messages were crafted using Spotify data to find what people were listening to, and they often matched with specific and memorable events that occurred that year. Then they added in a strong mix of humor to make sure they were entertaining, and splashed them proudly on billboards.

Some messages were specifically for the local audience, such as this one in the UK:

“Dear 3,749 people who streamed “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It” the day of the Brexit vote, Hang in there.”

Others showed where the data came from, but still could work anywhere in the world, like:

“Dear person in L.A. who listened to the “Forever Alone” playlist for 4 hours on Valentine’s Day, you ok?”

Indirect Brand Advertising

One thing you’ll notice about these Spotify funny ads are that they don’t say anything specific about what Spotify does. They all refer to people listening to songs, so they imply that the company has something to do with playing music, but it doesn’t have any other information about why you would want to use the service. They assume that everyone who would use them to stream music already knows about their offering and how it works, or is smart enough to pop the name into a search engine.

This saves valuable real estate on the sign to show the new look of their brand, and it doesn’t distract from the humor.

Showing Their Fun Side

One of the biggest reasons that companies go with ads that deliver some sort of emotion is because they give personality to a brand. This works in the case of Spotify, because one of their main purposes is to offer entertainment. These signs weren’t music to your ears, but they probably caused you to laugh a little bit. This adds to an overall image of a company that will make you happy, and you’ll subconsciously remember that when choosing which website to get your music from.

Relevant to the Time

Another brilliant aspect of this campaign was how it was relevant to the time. 2016 was a busy year in the world, and there were many celebrity deaths, unexpected political situations, multiple international crises, and a lot of other difficult or surprising events. Social media users had become used to blaming everything on 2016, and this campaign played right into that – in a non-depressing way. It even managed to take all that distress and turn it into something funny.

Billboards Going Viral

One of the common concerns about billboards is that they’re not as likely to go viral as something that’s easy to share online. This campaign helped prove that not only are billboards not outdated, but the number of digital cameras out there may make them more likely to go viral than an image saved on a website. A campaign has to be made correctly, but physical objects can be less likely to get lost in the noise.

Big Data in a New Way

Speaking of going viral, this Spotify funny ads campaign used another buzzword that’s popular in the internet era: big data. Many companies are gathering and cataloging massive amounts of data from their customers, and most are still trying to figure out what to do with it. This information is a dream for marketers and advertisers (especially in the online space), but this is a creative use of it that many hadn’t thought of. Big data in an ironic way really stood out.

Grab Attention with Your Billboards!

This example with Spotify is just one of many recent campaigns where outdoor advertising was still going strong in the 21^st century. It’s often a good idea to balance it out with the other advertising media you use, but it can be a strong way to boost sales and build brands in many different industries.

Reach out to us if you have any ideas you’d like to discuss seeing on a sign, and we’ll be overjoyed if it’s a funny campaign like this that will spread the laughs around!

Billboard Technology

Posted on January 30, 2018 by admin

It is a common misconception held by many people that billboards are an “outdated” and “old school” form of advertisement. Oftentimes television ads, websites, or even social media platforms are pushed as the most current and relevant forms of advertising. Despite this, billboards have not gone away and have not become any less useful for spreading a message. Instead, the medium of physical billboards has advanced from new technology becoming available. We’ve gone ahead and compiled a list of billboard technology examples which show some of the options which are possible and how they can be used effectively.

Digital Screens And The Power Of Movement

Screen technology has changed the world. From televisions, to phones, to computers- screens are everywhere. High quality digital screens allow for moving, non-static video to be displayed virtually anywhere, and billboards are no exception.

The ability to have a short video play on a billboard gives advertisers so much more power when it comes to both grabbing an audience’s attention and sending a message.

Video billboards effectively manage to combine all of the strengths of a television ad with the benefits of physical billboards.

Static vs Dynamic Content

What’s more is that digital billboards also make it easy to display and change content. Instead of having to worry about the costs associated with the manual labor of actually putting up a billboard, the content can instead be sent directly to the billboard. Digital billboards are also capable of changing between multiple messages, allowing advertisers to alternate between different ads. This has allowed for digital billboards to completely change their pricing format given that such billboards can now host many more advertisement slots at once.

Individual ads are also able to display content which may be time sensitive or reliant upon outside data. While in a traditional billboard the message must be static and hold true at any time during all conditions, the message on a digital billboard can change depending on the time of day, weather conditions, or some other factor.

When messages are able to be tailored around certain fluctuating factors, many opportunities for very convincing marketing strategies open up.

People Looking At Billboards, Billboards Looking At People

While billboards are things to be looked at, what if a billboard were to do some looking of its own? Technology these days does not stop when it comes to displaying dynamic information, as digital cameras and pattern recognition make it possible for billboards to identify trends within a crowd and change their information accordingly.

While this type of functionality might sound far fetched, one such example of it includes the Picadilly Lights display in London. On top of having a huge display space, with the ad’s 4K LED screen being the size of two professional basketball courts, the ad is able to detect ages, emotions, and vehicles in order to adjust the content it shows.

As digital ads online have taught us, the best advertisements are targeted. Being able to leverage ad targeting with billboard technology continues to escalate the strength of billboards as an advertising medium.

Big Screens For Big Events

The huge size and quality of new digital screens allow them to be incredibly versatile and multi-purposed. In addition to displaying ads with dynamic content on them, it is also possible to leverage the space in order to display important or popular events, such as a baseball game or concert. Those wanting to draw people to a public space with their event will find their efforts greatly enhanced by making use of such digital billboard technology.

Toyota Billboard – A Climbable Billboard

Posted on December 30, 2017 by admin

A good advertisement is not just about pushing a product- it’s about solving a problem. After all, at the core of strong businesses is the desire to change the world in some fashion, not just to make money. When an advertisement comes along and is able to challenge the way its audience sees the world, it promotes the vision of its company. An example of such an ad can be found in the form of an innovative campaign run by Toyota some time back.

The Climbable Billboard – What Is It?

There are multiple layers to this advertisement. First, an incredibly large amount of billboard space was bought depicting the vehicle in front of a cliff face. This works on a traditional billboard level, as the car in front of the cliff is supposed to evoke a feeling of wonder and adventure- all normal stuff for a car ad.

You know those artificial rock walls that can be found inside of recreational sports centers? Something similar to that was created for a billboard advertising the new Toyota RAV4 Hybrid.

While parts of this advertisement indeed resemble your average billboard, don’t be so easily fooled. Unlike your usual billboard with faux 3D elements, the rocks on this billboard are designed to handle the weight of a human body and are fully climbable. The height of this artificial rock wall clocks in at a dizzying a 120ft.

Three professional rock climbers and one brave amatuer climber took on the trial to scale the side of this wall, surrounded on all sides by the towering skyscrapers of New York’s Time Square. Each of the climbers demonstrated their climbing technique to amazed onlookers in real time, encouraging them to go out and seek adventures of their own.

Who’s Behind The Ad?

The ad agency responsible for this campaign is none other than the LA branch of the famed Saatchi & Saatchi. Despite being based out of Los Angeles, they decided the best spot for such a large and innovative campaign would be New York’s Time Square, which has been home to some of the most creative (and expensive) physical media ads over the years.

It was here in Times Square that Saatchi LA were not only able to capture the attention of the denizens of New York, but the entire world as reports of the impressive campaign spread across the internet through articles such as this one.

What Were The Results?

The ad itself stood as the largest outdoor climbing wall ever built in New York city, earning itself a record which will certainly give New Yorkers and record buffs a reason to remember it for quite some time. However in terms of pure fiscal results- the sales of the Toyota RAV4 hybrid in 2016 and 2017 have shot up in comparison to previous years. It’s annual sales figures for 2016, the year in which the ad aired, were the highest in the vehicle’s history.

The campaign was bold enough that famed advertising publication, Adweek, suggested that such an ad may have “redefined the billboard.”

Toyota’s commitment to the message behind their lines of outdoor SUVs was conveyed through the passion that was put into this ad. Given the increased sales figures, it’s only safe to assume that this passion was properly conveyed and inspired many to go on adventures of their own.

For More Outside the Box Marketing Ideas Click Here.

Snickers Billboard

Posted on September 29, 2017 by admin

Billboards aren’t always used to continue a previous ad campaign, but it can be a great idea. Also, billboards don’t usually insult or scare the customers watching them. Not only was that seen as impossible throughout most of advertising history, but it was also viewed as a bad idea to hurt the feelings of the people who you want to buy your product.

However, one well-known candy bar brand managed to do all of the above with their Snickers billboard, and it worked out well for them.

Marilyn Dafoe Scaring People

A digital Snickers billboard was set up on a street in New York City. The image showed the famous scene from the 1955 film Seven Year Itch when Marilyn Monroe was standing over a blowing subway grate in a white dress. But, when passersby stopped to look a little bit closer, something happened. Marilyn suddenly looked, well, different.

She would quickly change into the face of Willem Dafoe, but he was still wearing the white dress and recreating the scene. He’d be looking right into their face, and he’d have a big frown – quite different from the lovely smile worn by Marilyn. It may have freaked out quite a few pedestrians, but it certainly got people talking.

Part of a Bigger Snickers Campaign

This may sound like a bit of a random thing to have a billboard do, but it makes complete sense if you know the whole story. Snickers has had a long running campaign of famous people being angry in situations where they didn’t quite fit, and then someone around would give them one of the candy bars. After eating a bite, they’d turn back into someone who made complete sense in the situation.

The whole concept is that “You’re not you when you’re hungry,” but the Snickers bar can bring you back to life. So, the brand decided to use that concept to make that a Super Bowl commercial in 2016, and they went with the whole scene of Dafoe reenacting the iconic image before some tasty chocolate turned him back into Monroe. They made the billboard a few months later, and it served as a brilliant continuation of the ad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT-SAoTXNAs

The Snickers Billboard Was Watching

It may seem like this was just a random changing billboard, but that’s far from the truth. It actually had facial-recognition software built in, so it knew when people were stopping to look at it. If it didn’t have this capability, it wouldn’t have had such an impact because it wouldn’t have been able to startle people. But now, the timing was perfect, and the angry Dafoe was glaring right at the people who would soon subconsciously purchase a Snickers bar when in a bad mood.

Reaction in the Ad World

Both ads were created for Snickers by BBDO New York, and they got a lot of praise throughout the ad industry. Many were impressed at how they were able to resurrect a Super Bowl ad months later, and it’s used as a case study about the successful implementation of facial-recognition software in a billboard. It seems that’s something that people are going to see quite a bit more of.

Billboards Are Still Relevant

In a world where technology seems obsolete about a week after it’s introduced, many people think that billboards are an advertising form of the past. However, this is a perfect example of why they’re not. Most of the people walking by the billboard were interested in it just because it was digitally moving and recreating a famous movie scene where it would’ve taken place. The rest of the world took notice of the campaign because of what happened after that, but the people who saw it would have been interested even if it didn’t have Willem startling them in such a memorable way.

More Media is Better

Another big lesson to learn from this campaign is that you don’t have to limit your advertising to one type of media. Different ads can serve various purposes across multiple different platforms, and this can help to increase engagement and spread your message. This situation even shows that they don’t have to be made at the same time. The Super Bowl commercial came out months before the billboard, but it was brought back to life by the new sign that pushed its way into people’s lives.

Get Creative with Your Own Campaigns

Even if you’re not a producer of candy bars with a budget able to hire celebrity endorsers, putting some creativity into your advertisements can really help your bottom line. But, you don’t necessarily need to pay top dollar to an advertising agency to make it happen. If you have an idea you’d like to see turned into a reality, just get in touch with us for some help. Just make sure to grab a Snickers first, we prefer to deal with people in a happy mood!

The Best Dental Billboard Advertising Ideas

Posted on September 18, 2017 by admin

Everyone needs a dentist at some point in their lives. That being said no matter where you live, odds are there are a large number to choose from. Dental advertising is a very tough and competitive space to try and get the message and brand across to potential customers. That being said, when the going gets tough, the tough get going, and some dental offices have used humor, creativity, and a number of other ways to utilize outdoor media to their advantage. Here are some of the best dental billboard advertising ideas we’ve seen around.

Whitlock Dental: Getting Some Work Done

Billboards which use dummies dressed up to look like people can be an incredibly effective tool at getting the attention of drivers. Most people are not very used to seeing crews working on installing a new billboard. This means that when a driver does indeed catch someone working on a billboard it catches them off guard, even more so when they realize that the person’s actions are actually in line with the billboard.

Here of course, the message is supposed to demonstrate that the whitening offered by Whitlock Dental is as easy and effective as painting over a billboard.

Coast Dental: Fill In The Gaps

Speaking of catching people off guard and making them feel uncomfortable, here is another billboard which aims to do just the same. When one looks at a billboard, they expect to see one continuous image. The gaps in this billboard defy the expectations of the viewer and thus catch their attention. More than that however, a desire to fix the gap in the billboard is created within the viewer. Those needing braces or who know others who need braces will ideally end up connecting these two thoughts together.

Excellence Dental: Monster Mash

Frankenstein’s monster is a classic and memorable pop culture icon. Regardless if one is familiar with the source material, it is highly unlikely that they aren’t familiar with this giant green abomination. By editing this well known character Excellence Dental is able to grab the attention of drivers who will recognize that something is off.

This is coupled with the clever play of words in the ad, “A great smile changes everything.” While in the context of the ad it is meant as, “a great smile can make you feel more confident,” it takes on a secondary meaning in that “this thing added to something else makes it look very different.”

Rhoads DDS: Scrubbing Away Filth

While many probably remember being told to color inside of the lines during kindergarten and elementary school, this isn’t always the case in the world of professional graphic design and advertising. Thinking outside the box, literally in some cases, will lead to gripping and visually interesting ad campaigns. This ad may not be as exciting as some of the other selections on this list, but in its subtlety lies its brilliance. Having the toothbrush just ever so slightly extend past the borders of the billboard adds a necessary level of dynamism to the ad.

In addition to this, the ad’s use of color is striking and does much to convey its message. The absolutely filthy yellow and the texture used on it creates a sense of unease in the viewer which is then contrasted with the beautiful pure white background that the company’s logo sits on.

Community Dental Care: Billboard Destruction

As previously demonstrated- breaking the “fourth wall” is an effective way of grabbing the attention of your audience. In this case we have a billboard which utilizes two different backgrounds to give the impression that a child is actually eating the billboard.

Given how seemingly bizarre and difficult this task would be, this advertisement is able to use this exaggeration in order to get across the idea that they help build strong teeth. The text goes out of it’s way however to make references to other services, of which are implied just to be as effective as the teeth strengthening.

Center For Dental Implants: Bite This

Perhaps one of the more unique examples here, this billboard actually doesn’t feature any images of teeth or dental products on it. Instead it attempts to paint a vivid mental image in the viewer’s mind of them biting into an apple.

It uses this as a sort of filter in order to connect with its target audience. Those that imagine biting into the apple and enjoying it are essentially disqualified from the offer. If the viewer however were to imagine going through pain or difficulty then the billboard has found someone who stands to benefit from their service. It reminds these viewers of the pain they experience and offers a personal and relevant solution to them.

The Best 3D Billboards

Posted on August 30, 2017 by admin

Especially in our era of digital media, advertisements which utilizes real-life 3D space are often overlooked by creative agencies. Billboards offer advantages and freedom that other mediums such as banner ads won’t be able to compete with. Here are some of the best and most creative examples of 3D billboards from a variety of companies and industries.

Donatos Pizza

The most impressive part of this billboard is the fact that they’ve actually teamed up with another advertisement. Consumers are used to advertisements competing with each other, each in their own little separate pieces of the world. When two advertisements end up crossing paths like this the result is an unusual but unique synergy which ends up benefitting.

It doesn’t stop here though, Donatos has actually teamed up to do similar ads for their pizza with other brands. The fact that they were able to coordinate this level of cross promotion not just once, but multiple times, is astounding.

Hairclub

Compared to some of the other selections on our list, this ad doesn’t necessarily push the boundaries of what can be done with 3D billboards. Compared to lavish and impressive set pieces on some of the other billboards, this ad’s simplicity shows that creating an effective 3D billboard doesn’t necessarily require a huge budget.

Quitplan

If one were to take a moment to really look at the actual graphics of the billboard, they would quickly realize that it is comprised entirely of some plain text on top of a colored background. It seems like a lot more is going on here thanks to the 3D cigarette butt under the sign, but this billboard is the picture of simplicity. The majority of the ad is actually in the cigarette butt itself- the sign conveys the information it needs to convey but the eye is naturally drawn to the cigarette due to the contrasting light color compared to the billboard.

Galavant

Cars and planes “breaking through” the billboard are a commonly recurring theme when you look at many 3D billboards. A horse however is a new spin on the old formula. While the visual interest and excitement of something approaching the audience is still there, the horse, night, and fantasy environment aren’t something people are as used to seeing and make it stand out.

Fallsview Casino

There’s a certain magic about big things that shouldn’t be big and small things that shouldn’t be small. When we end up seeing something that isn’t the size we’ve come to expect, it invokes a sense of wonder and giddy. This concept is used frequently in film and many amusement parks to great measure. Thus, the concept of making a giant ad out of a small commonplace object does well to capitalize on this idea.

The Peanuts Movie

While most other “crashing through the billboard” ads simply stick out the front of a thing, this one goes a step further and actually makes it appear to destroy the ad. Similar types of ads also don’t usually have a good reason for the subject of the ad to be coming out the front- what is it moving towards? Those familiar with The Peanuts series of comics and cartoon shorts though will recognize this billboard as a small recreation of one of the more famous strips. Even for those not familiar with the brand, it’s still visually interesting and does a good job of conveying a sense of excitement about the movie.

Absolut

Ever gone to a furniture store just to get inspiration from how they’ve set up their mockup living spaces? There’s something cool about seeing dioramas, how perfect and frozen in time they appear to be. This Absolut ad invokes the same spirit while also adding in a different layer of visual interest, the 90 degree angle of the furniture.

Much like a piece of art conceived by MC Escher, the rules of gravity just don’t seem to work the same way on this ad. Drivers will inevitably be drawn to the piece out of curiosity and wonder, thus inadvertently exposing themselves to the Absolut brand.

15 Most Creative Billboard Ads

Posted on August 24, 2017 by admin

Anyone who’s ever driven down the highway can tell you that not all outdoor media is created equally. Some fail to stand out, most are straightforward and simple. But there are a select few creative billboard ads that really make an impression – and those are the ones that we want to learn from. There has been much discourse in the past about what makes a “good” billboard. However, it might be easier to look at some of the most creative ones to see what really makes a billboard stand out from the rest.The first two ads we’ve got show the importance of utilizing the surrounding area. Sure, you could put a plain advertisement on a billboard just about anywhere. But if you’ve carefully chosen your location, you can make great, creative billboard ads like the ones below.

1. Berger’s “Sky” ad.

This outdoor media is optical illusions 101 – it uses careful framing to create a surreal image. In this case, it makes the viewer think a man is painting the sky. You might be too surprised the first time to absorb the brand, but you’ll look more closely the next time you pass.

Bergers Sky Creative Billboard Ads — (Image Source: Ads of the World)

2. Koleston Naturals’ Beachside ad.

Koleston uses a bit more of a straightforward approach here. The advertisement is clear to see, but the clever use of scenery and lighting makes it much more memorable.

In the vein of advertisements that make smart use of space around them, there are some ads which work almost exclusively due to the perspective they’re viewed from. Such ads can only be used in limited ways, but they’re doubly efficient for their specific placement.

Koleston Billboard Advertisement — (Image Source: Ads of the World)

3. Frontline’s Floor Tick ad.

This neat advertisement from Indonesia utilizes the pedestrians themselves as part of its advertisement. The pedestrians could probably look down for a moment and figure it out, but the true viewers are the ones looking from above. If you are one of those viewers, this ad will really stand out.

Frontline Floor Tick Billboard Ad — (Image Source: Adpressive)

4. Oltimer’s Tunnel ad.

A fairly unsettling billboard, depending on your sensibilities. But it’s no less effective or impactful: you definitely get the idea. This ad uses the cars as part of the advertisement, just like the tick one, but in a much more direct way.

Oldtimer Billboard Ad — (Image Source: Boredpanda)

5. Red Cross Earthquake Illusion series.

Not just a single ad like the others, this was part of a series of billboards made by the Red Cross to help advertise the importance of earthquake preparedness. Whether or not it greatly improved public safety is hard to say, but it was certainly a great stroke of advertising prowess.

For those who are willing to make it happen, you can find great success with adding special effects to your billboards. All the ones we’ve looked at so far were plain, but well-planned advertisements. Now let’s look at some that use extra effects to get the point across.

Red Cross Billboard — (Image Source: Moillusions)

6. Smoking Mustang ad.

It’s hard not to look when you see smoke in the air – something Ford knew all too well when they put out their smoking Mustang ad. This billboard uses periodic puffs of smoke from the wheel area to draw attention to a faux burnout– talk about an eye catcher!

Ford Mustang Billboard — (Image Source: JasonIRosenberg)

7. Avera’s Smoking Car ad.

In contrast to the Mustang ad, this billboard uses smoke to draw attention to the scene of a crash. This makes the idea of the Avera medical support seem extra dramatic. After all, car crashes are the exact kind of sudden occurrence that makes insurance so important.

Avera Creative Billboard Ads — (Image Source: Boredpanda)

8. Cannes Crying ad.

This ad uses two simple nozzles to create a crying effect on the billboard, in addition to the actual tears shown in the picture. It’s plain, and probably easy, but it has a charming effect once you notice it.

On the topic of the liquid using crying advertisements, there have been a few billboards from different companies that are set to react to the rain. These may or may not include actual liquids being used.

Cannes Crying Billboard — (Image Source: Ads of the World)

9. Calvin Klein Wet Nightie ad.

It’s no secret that sex sells. And what could be better for the rain-distracted driver than this sudden, titillating display? Disregarding any potential concerns of distraction, there’s no way this ad will go unnoticed when the rain comes down.

Calvein Klein Billboard Ad — (Image Source: Boredpanda)

10. Max Factor’s Running Mascara ad.

Max Factor isn’t here to sell you any big claims about waterproof mascara. This is normal mascara, plain and simple – the billboard is just there to get your attention once it rains. It works.

Max Factor Mascara Billboard — (Image Source: Boredpanda)

11. Papakura’s Bleeding ad.

Papakura’s district council in New Zealand has had enough of unsafe driving, and it shows. This hard-hitting (and questionably appropriate) advertisement puts the consequences of reckless rainy driving in perspective by leaking red fluid whenever it rains. Harsh, but effective.

Speaking of harsh, billboard advertising isn’t always fun and games. Sometimes, you can use the space of a billboard to address a really serious matter.

Papakura Bleeding Billboard — (Image Source: Boredpanda)

12. Escape Abuse ad.

The impact of this creative billboard ad makes it hard to add anything to the discussion – it really speaks for itself. Absolutely visceral through its simple presentation, with the addition of a bedsheet rope to accentuate the point.

Creative Billboard Ads — (Image Source: Ads of the World)

13. Speeding Consequence ad.

Almost everybody looks at the speed markers on the side of the road. Some of us, to adjust our speed, and others, to see how much more we can push it. But regardless of how you drive, this advertisement is sure to grab your eye.

The last surefire way to get eyes on your billboard is by investing in an additional prop. This might mean designing the board differently, or perhaps establishing a whole prop in front of it. Here are two great examples of the technique:

Consequences of Speeding Billboard — (Image Source: Ads of the World)

14. Formula Billboard Bite ad.

This billboard is another simple, effective one. You know exactly what it’s saying: Formula gives you strong teeth! All it takes is a little creative design on the billboard, and your ad can be just as concise.

Formula Bite Billboard — (Image Source: Ads of the World)

15. Backseat Ejector ad.

If you’re passing by this ad too quickly, you might miss it. But once you see it completely, it’s quite a powerful message. So powerful, in fact, that the Colorado Board of Transportation faced some flak after putting them up. Controversy means it worked, though; people definitely talked about it.

Backseat Ejector Billboard — (Image Source: Boredpanda)

The Best Creative Billboard Ads

As you can see from this list, the best billboards are those that escape the “extra-big, but otherwise normal advertisement” way of thinking. This can be done in a variety of ways: by using props, by using clever staging, or even just good design. If you think that putting water nozzles on your billboard will help, it can probably be done, and the interest you generate will often be more than the effort it took. Consider the location of your billboard and the nature of your brand; the possibilities are endless when it comes to billboard advertising.

Funny Billboard Mistakes

Posted on July 30, 2017 by admin

Outdoor media has always been an industry filled with creativity. We live in a world where most people witness thousands of advertisements every single day, so being different and cutting through the noise is crucial for anyone who wants to get their message across. Humor is often an angle advertisers take to reach potential customers. Sometimes it’s intentional and other times it’s not. We’ve put together a list of our favorite funny billboard mistakes.

A Senior Citizen Washing and Vacuuming Service

If this was an actual service someone was offering- we wouldn’t be too surprised. The price seems about right as well.

Bye Used Cars

This one stands out so much that we almost want to believe that it was done intentionally. Think about it- you’ve got a used car and you want to get rid of it, where do you go? Here I guess, because they’ll make that car go bye?? Even if it’s not a horrible misspelling, it’s a terribly forced pun and we aren’t sure which one is worse.

Eccept the Challenge

I’m hoping this was the result of “let our students change the marquee” day. If not then this elementary school has probably very few future spelling bee champions…

A Really Bad Billboard

Not only is there major issues with the grammar and spelling of this billboard, but it’s hard to understand the purpose at all? From a poor clipart design, to the irony of it all, we just don’t really know what to think about this one…

A Mistake on Pupose

One has to wonder whether the banner on the bottom was added after the fact or whether this was done intentionally. We missed it the first time too…

Stealing Letters

Imagine needing to update a marquee with a new discount or offer, only to find out that you don’t have the letters you need. Now imagine having that happen again and again.

S p a c e O u t F o n t s

Font spacing can be very important. This billboard looks a bit different from a distance…

Spelling Problems

This might not be the best school to go to…

Another Purposeful Mistake

Unless you’re bilingual in English and Chinese this playful billboard is a good example of a mistake on purpose.

The Fast Food Marquee

While the branding of the signs themselves are always carefully managed by corporate and contracted out to professional design firms, the marquees that go under them are left to the local management. This results in such gems as this Wendy’s marquee. Bonus points to the hiring request adding even further unintentional humor.

A Billboard of Coupons from Burts Bees

Posted on June 23, 2017 by admin

In October of 2012, personal care products company Burt’s Bees created a unique interactive billboard campaign for their new Intense Hydration line. The billboard is not your typical billboard; Burt’s Bees got creative, redefining billboards and how customers interact with them. As a result, the campaign was quite successful. What was the Burt’s Bees Intense Hydration billboard campaign all about, and what made it so successful?

Background

“Instead of showing a side by side comparison of the same woman before using the Intense Hydration skin line and after, this campaign gets a little more creative.” — Meghan Young, trendhunter.com

The campaign takes place along the busy street life of Minneapolis, where Burt’s Bees had decided to construct a billboard using thousands of coupons. This requires the team to attach each coupon to the board one by one; when put together, the coupons show the image of a woman with dry skin. After the billboard is done, the crew sets it up on a busy street.

Once the billboard is up, several curious passersby stop at it and peel off coupons over the course of the day. As the coupons come off, the billboard eventually reveals a different image of the same woman underneath, now smiling and with a more vibrant complexion, obviously happier than before, presumably in order to show the intended effect of using Intense Hydration products. Why did this campaign get such a positive response?

1. It takes a unique approach.

In the past, Burt’s Bees also worked with its agency Baldwin& to celebrate Earth Day with a unique “music video” that incorporated sounds of several common ingredients found in Burt’s Bees’ products.

For starters, Burt’s Bees reimagines the typical, run-of-the-mill advertising campaigns and gets creative, doing what other players in the industry haven’t done before. People tend to get desensitized to predictable, generic marketing strategies and tune out anything that’s ordinary. Burt’s Bees makes a memorable impression by taking the boring old “before and after” and adding a unique element by using detachable coupons to show a gradual transition from the “before” to the “after” stages instead of showcasing a simple static side-by-side comparison or something similar.

2. It engages and rewards other people.

Burt’s Bees uses their billboard to interact with actual people, helping to boost the campaign’s message.

Traditional billboards are rather passive and one-sided in their communication, expecting nothing but for people to stop and read the billboard. After Burt’s Bees’ team members put together the billboard in an interactive way (read: setting it up with a layer of detachable coupons), they get actual people to interact with their advertising, peeling off the coupons and eventually showing the result. Getting real, genuine people to interact with the billboard strengthens the campaign’s message as well as rewards these individuals with $3 discount coupons, in this case.

3. It shows, not tells.

Burt’s Bees lets their campaign show consumers the potential of their product instead of merely telling them about it.

Far too many brands market their products in a way that merely tells the audience how great their product is, instead of actually showing it. Burt’s Bees sets up a superb unique before-and-after demonstration that sends a powerful message effectively without needing to fill the billboard with superfluous information. Not to mention that the coupons Burt’s Bees used were printed on post-consumer recycled content and the billboard they used was printed on recyclable nylon. This eco-friendly position, even behind the scenes, sets a stellar example and aligns with Burt’s Bees’ dedication to using all-natural products.

After the campaign, Burt’s Bees released a video that shows the creation of the billboard and the actual campaign in action.