Innovations in outdoor advertising

The traditional billboard display may be the staple of outdoor advertising campaigns, but like any industry – and particularly any advertising method – the medium is evolving all the time. New advances in outdoor advertising have not been technological marvels or major diversions from the norm, but have been logical evolutions of the standard method of putting a big message on a big billboard.

Some changes to outdoor advertising methods.

One of the major transformations in outdoor advertising came with the method of putting the ad on a moving vehicle.

This took the clever step of transporting the ad around a route – or around several routes – rather than having it static in one prominent position. The trick is very logical; a roadside billboard sits in one place and is seen by everyone it passes, whereas a moving vehicle – let’s take a bus as an example – moves from place to place, and the ad is therefore viewed not just by those who pass by it, but by those whom it passes in transit.

The concept opened the door for a variety of interpretations of the theme, with taxi cabs joining in the fun and becoming, in many cases, road going versions of the product that the ad is promoting.

Many companies – in particular one famous energy drinks manufacturer – have taken to supplying reps with cars that are built to look like the product, and thus make an impact by simply attending different locations. Incidentally, a well known importer of oranges took this to an extreme in the 1960’s by creating a car that was, in essence, an orange on wheels – it still exists and is a favourite at exhibitions.

Hi-tech solutions and simple approaches

Technology, has, of course, become involved in the area of outdoor advertising, and in many instances the billboard has become an ever changing device that can be used to show different ads in rotation. This is done by building the picture from revolving sections that – with three or four sides – change every few minutes to create a different advert in turn, thus bringing cost effectiveness to a standing billboard by multiplying its use.

Further up the technological ladder is the method of projection, and this has been used to devastating effect in a number of high profile cases where a brand or message has been projected onto the side of a prominent building at night, creating a very noticeable and practically un-missable message that will certainly make a major impact. One famous example of this involved a magazine sold to men that, for a very brief time, displayed a scantily clad model on the side of the Houses of Parliament, no less.

Keeping things simple the popular method of advertising on roadside bins has taken off in a surprisingly big way; given that associating a high-end product with a rubbish bin is not going to work it is no surprise that these have generally been used by local businesses, particularly those involved in cleaning or disposal. It must be said, however, that they have been successful, and serve to prove that outdoor advertising need not be the domain of the expensive and technologically advanced.