Today, digital advertising is dominating all other forms of advertising, and it looks like that trend is only going to continue. Traditional advertising continues to remain an important aspect of the advertising landscape, though, and that’s because traditional advertising is able to reach people in ways that digital advertisements can’t.

Traditional advertising is falling away and making room for digital advertising. Digital advertisements have become an increasingly popular form of advertising, because they are able to reach many people, in a shorter period of time.

While traditional advertising is falling away, that doesn’t mean that traditional advertising is dead. Far from it, in fact, since billboards not only remain popular, but advertisers are spending even more money on the medium then they were decades ago.

To understand the billboard industry it’s important to understand what makes billboards a unique and distinct advertising medium, as well as how the current advertising landscape has transformed billboards. bMedia is answering a question we often receive: why is billboard advertising important?

What Is Billboard Advertising?

Billboard advertisements are large advertisements that are found outdoors. In these advertisements, there tends to be a combination of words and images. Words and images are some of the most powerful tools in an advertiser’s arsenal, and when you combine the two, you are able to create advertisements that are engaging and compelling.

If you go back to the middle of the 19th-century, you’ll find billboards. There weren’t very many of them, but the medium did exist, and advertisers were experimenting with variations and its effectiveness. It wasn’t until the 20th-century that billboards became one of the most popular advertising mediums available.

In the 20th-century, the Ford Model T became available. Many people purchased their own Model T, and began driving it across the cities and around the country. As the number of automobiles on the road increased, highways were created.

When these highways were created, billboard advertising really took off. Nobody likes driving for hours and hours, with nothing to see or do. This being the case, and since there was just so much space that could be used to house billboard advertisements, billboard advertisements became a very common fixture of highway roads.

As the years passed, though, the regulations for billboards tightened, and fewer billboards could be placed along those roads and highways. However, these regulations didn’t lessen the presence of billboard advertisements, though, and the medium remained popular throughout the twentieth century and continues to remain popular

What made billboards unique, was their large size, and the way that they merged visuals and words. What made billboards important, was the fact that they engaged audiences. Visuals and words naturally lead to something that is distinct and unique.

When you combine those qualities with the fact that billboards are placed on highways and roads, and that the automobile continues to be the primary medium of transportation, you get an advertising medium that is able to reach large amounts of people with ease.

What Is Digital Advertising?

As the digital world continues to develop and expand, digital advertising has become omnipresent. Today, advertisers often invest a significant amount of money in digital advertising. Social media advertisements, to name just one example, are extremely popular and they tap into a vast set of people who are engaged in those social media applications. But, while these digital technologies are certainly useful, they aren’t always effective when it comes to advertising

We live in a digital age. Our lives have become increasingly dominated by digital technologies and digital media. As this transformation has occurred, advertisers have realized just how powerful and effective these digital technologies are, and the myriad of ways they can be turned into advertising tools.

If you go online and visit Google or Facebook – or any other digital application/website – you’ll be surrounded by advertisements. But, there’s a good chance that you won’t click on any of them, or even read what the advertisement has to offer. And that’s the problem.

While digital technology is certainly pervasive, advertising isn’t engaged with as much as it is within traditional mediums. Many people either ignore the advertisements, and focus on the content that they are looking for, or they simply install and ad blocker.  If you look at another digital medium, such as television, you’ll see something similar: when there’s a commercial break, most people get up and do something else until their show comes back on.

As a result of how people engage with digital technologies, digital advertising isn’t always effective. But, it is very expensive, which leads to a lot of wasted funds.

• Digital technologies are pervasive, and they serve as powerful tools for advertising
• Most people engage with digital advertisements that are different from how they engage with traditional advertisements
• As a result of this, digital advertising isn’t always effective, but it is very expensive

Why Is Billboard Advertising Important?

While many people consider traditional advertising to be antiquated, it is still exceptionally effective. Billboards are a large part of that traditional advertising market, and they continue to engage potential customers.

Today, billboard advertising is as important as it’s ever been. As a form of advertising, it remains very effective, and it continues to engage customers and spread awareness.

As an advertising medium, billboards are obviously quite expressive. They’re large, so a lot of people are able to see them, and they combine visuals and words in a manner that is engaging and fun.

Setting up a billboard isn’t always cheap, but they work; they engage audiences, and they spread awareness of what it is that you are offering. People will be driving and they’ll see your billboard, and they’ll take of note it and be enticed to check out what it is that you’re offering.

It is for those reasons, that billboard advertising remains not only relevant but an important and effective advertising medium. So, why is billboard advertising important? It still remains one of the most effective mediums and proven strategies to help businesses scale. Contact bMedia for billboard advertising in Puerto Rico.

It can be difficult to come up with unique and creative ideas for outdoor media ads as over time many of the ideas have been used.  The key to setting yourself apart is to think out side of the box – literally!

You can see what I mean by taking a look at these 15 creative billboard ads. These savvy marketing professionals didn’t let the boxed-boundaries of a billboard canvas dictate their service or product’s message. However, just envisioning something different won’t always lead to success.  To create a truly successful and exceptional billboard you must first think of your product/service and what need it fills.

This understanding of the message will be the foundation  you need to build some very innovative ideas on. I have found no better example of a “fresh” take on billboard marketing that promotes the product’s message then in this Glad advertisement for their outdoor billboard campaign!

Glad Fresh Billboard Advertisement

In this Glad advertisement campaign, the company uses its own product to show how much fresher it can keep your fruit then it would be without using Glad. It quite literally spells it out for you! This merger of creativity aligning with the purpose of the product creates for a truly outstanding outdoor media campaign.

Actually showing the use of a product for all the public to see is a great way to demonstrate it’s value and this Glad advertisement does a great job of doing that. They also chose a product that’s common and can be used by almost anyone so their billboard appeals to a wide audience. The ad needs little or no explanation behind it which is another key to a successful billboard ad, simplicity. People who see a billboard only have a few seconds to take in the message you are trying to portray so it’s crucial to get he message across in a quick and memorable way.

While these types of ads are undoubtedly very successful, not all of us have the ingenuity, resources, space or  wherewithal to complete such a marketing feat as the ones mentioned above. However to be successful, you don’t always have to break the mold. Even some simple creative properties can get you started to move you down tracks to a very successful and engaging billboard campaign!

The Fresh vs Rotten Glad Billboard Ad

If you follow these “Rules of Engagement” based on the foundation of promoting your product/services core message and spice it with some outside of the box creative thinking you have yourself the perfect recipe for success!

If you’re interested in creative outdoor media check out our article on outside the box marketing ideas for more inspiration.

Inspiration for effective marketing often comes from the most unexpected places, or fresh ways of looking at something. Even symbols one has seen their entire lives can take on a new meaning, or new technology can create ways to interact with the marketing world. Here are 5 examples of billboard design inspiration that came from unusual sources or clever re-imaginings.

Play-Doh: Open a Jar of Imagination

Annually every April, parent company Hasbro comes up with a new marketing technique just in time for Children’s Day. In 2018, the company announced the launch of the “Open a Jar of Imagination” Play-Doh campaign. This year, the company is championing encouraging children’s imagination and play. With this unique billboard structure, commonly featured in bus stops and eye-level billboards, the viewer is invited to use their own creativity to see beyond a basic can of play-doh to imagine what it could become. The limited-edition cans are surrounded by a clear plastic mold of children’s motifs like robots, airplanes and frogs.

The billboard is designed superbly well, and offers multiple levels of connection to the viewer. The clear plastic molds surrounding the vibrant can of Play-Doh showcase the product extremely effectively, while the sight of the can inspires nostalgia for adults and excitement for children. Finally the idealism behind it, in imagining what the product could be rather than just what it is, speaks to the hearts of clientele.

#BetterOff Billboard for Earth Day

Sometimes the most effective design for a billboard is the simplest. This was demonstrated over Earth Day, when Energy Upgrade California put together a campaign called #BetterOff. The concept of the campaign was simple and revolved around cutting down energy expenditure in the state. Accordingly, EUC asked McDonalds to turn the lights off in their billboards, which the burger chain complied with. During the day, a normal billboard featuring McDonalds products including a signature sandwich. However, as the sun set over California the board went dark and a special message was revealed on its surface, using glow in the dark tape. The message read, “This was an ad for McDonalds. Thanks to their partnership, it’s now an ad that saves energy.”

With low cost and maximum impact, this is a fantastic example of an outdoor advertising campaign. This approach in particular would work for a company with a special campaign or message. The gradual change captures viewer interest, and the simplistic glowing letters on a dark background grabs the eye and leaves room for thought.

“Follow the Arches” McDonalds

Canadian creative agency Cosette noticed that road signs for McDonalds all over Canada had inconsistent branding. While every sign incorporated the signature golden arches, the similarities ended there. In an effort to make branding more uniform and directions to each location more streamlined, McDonalds embraced providing directions with the golden arches themselves.

Using segments of the arches, such as the left bottom portion of the arch to directionally “point” to a McDonalds on the right, or the center of the arch to directionally signal to get off on the next exit, McDonald’s is able to simplify within their established branding and provide directions to their customers in a truly genius way. All it took was looking at the signature golden arches in a new way for some solid billboard design inspiration.

“The Mind Reading Billboard” Quebec City Magic Festival

Just in time for the Quebec City Magic Festival, agency Lg2 installed an interactive billboard in a popular bus stop to promote the event. Using recently developed technology that is being used in major retail and restaurant chains to glean marketing data, the agency is bringing smiles to Canadian citizens.

A person will move closer to the digital billboard and be prompted to pick a card and keep it in their mind’s eye. The billboard will then reveal the card you were thinking of, “reading your mind.” Of course, there is advanced eye tracking technology behind the screen that follows the users gaze in order to accomplish this, but it brings joy and entertainment nonetheless. This outdoor media is a perfect example of using cutting edge billboard technology as inspiration to capture and engage viewers.

“Fun Magnet” by Fallsview Casino

This past winter, Fallsview Casino and Resort in Niagara Falls commissioned an enormous billboard in Dundas Square. The enormous blue billboard towered 40 x 73 feet above the square and was entitled “Fun Magnet.” Installations of mannequins on parachutes, mannequins barely hanging onto full motorcycles and even a hot dog car were bolted onto the installation as though they had just been stuck to the board with a magnet. Prominently in the center was the logo for the casino.

The design for the billboard was truly incredible, with a high attention to detail and no expense spared to bolt full vehicles and mannequin fixtures to it. The attention to detail and 360 degree marketing experience didn’t end there. A local agency proceeded to make a supporting documentary for the making of the billboard, following three mannequin “celebrities” sharing their thoughts and respective journeys to Dundas Square.

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.