Reduce your chances of wasting money on outdoor media

An incorrect design in your outdoor media advertising could be the same thing as flushing money down the toilet. A nice little trick to help you determine if the next billboard or bus shelter artwork has the impact and readability to meet your objectives is to apply the rule of thumb, literally.

If you have the artwork in your computer open the file and make sure to zoom it until it fits the screen (you should be able to see from top to bottom and left to right).

If you have a hard copy, tape it to a wall or ask someone to hold it for you. Now step back… keep walking getting away from it until you see the art is tiny enough to fit in your thumbnail. Now answer to yourself, how does it look? Can you read the text? If the layout looks like a tiny little mess and there is now way to read the copy you might be wasting your money. Notice I used the word "might".

The thing is the when most billboards and bus shelters are designed, clients still don't know the location in which they are going to be placed. If you're lucky to find the availability (and the budget) to place your ad on a traffic jam hot spot it is very likely that drivers will have time to read it and figure out its meaning. But if such piece ends up everywhere else, in which, under normal circumstances, cars are moving at least at 20 MPH, drivers and passengers will have only seconds to notice, appreciate and understand your message.

I know, using the thumbnail scale may sound extreme. It's ok if you want to find a new scale such as a whole finger or the hand, my recommendation is to get on the road with people that work in an unrelated field and identify which ads are only readable when they are “in your face". Also, count how many words you can read as you drive by. Did you catch the logo? Can you remember three specific details about the visual? Certainly, in outdoor media the old proverb “less is more” is a great guide to increase your chances of success.

The important thing is to keep yourself from letting the size fool you. You may have a 10 story building size mesh but if you fill the whole space with images and copy you will never get your message across.

The following are additional simple guides to help you create or approve the artwork for a potentially

STEAL THIS: Idea inspired by a real scientific challenge

I just read the CNN's report "MIT wins $40,000 prize in nationwide balloon-hunt contest" and it reminded me how much consumers love scavenger hunts. Marketers have known this fact for ages. We've seen many promotions aiming to engage a target in such a playful manner. In most cases, a big cash prize is the great incentive to participate in the hunt at any cost.

Well, the DARPA Network challenge quoted in the article and, more importantly, the web of incentives created the winning team can be used a source of inspiration to create an exciting opportunity for wireless companies, banks, beer brands and any other business willing and able to develop and leverage on social networks to build a brand and engage with consumers in Puerto Rico.

First, let’s summarize some details.

THE CHALLENGE
The DARPA Network Challenge, also known as the red balloon competition, offered $40,000 to the first one to report the exact location of 10 red, 8 foot, weather balloons placed across the continental USA.

THE WINNING STRATEGY
The MIT Team accomplished the mission in less than 9 hours with the help of over 4,600 people. No, they did not recruit 4,600 MIT students. The assistants were internet users that responded to an attractive invitation to share the big prize. The MIT Team created a web of incentives offering $2,000 (per balloon found) to the person that provided the exact location and lesser amount cash prizes to anyone in the chain that lead to inviting the person that provided the exact location.

Now, imagine this:

HYPOTHETICAL BRIEF:
- Client: a wireless company
- Main objective: generate increased use of text messaging, data downloads and wireless connection consumption for a period of 4 to 6 weeks
- Target: 18-49
- Budget: $100,000 (willing to leverage on co-marketing opportunities to maximize investment)

THE IDEA: A four to six weeks contest
1. Each week "x" number of items will be publicly “hidden” (accessible through main roads or avenues). These could be flags, inflatable items, billboards and/or bus shelter ads, you choose.

Fuel your power to innovate

Last week I was surfing the web for inspiration. The following are three places that really made me feel like a kid running wild at Disney World. They helped me reach my immediate goal but also took me into an inspiring journey for future projects.

Steve Shapiro's 24/7 Innovation blog

Jeffrey Phillips' Innovate on Purpose blog

Drew Boyd's Innovation in Practice blog. (This one really got my attention since the author firmly believes that "innovation is a skill not a gift, and can be learned by anyone." I don't disagree at all, but will read more about him to find how did he mastered the art of teaching innovation and better yet his criteria to measure innovative capabilities in a professional.

I hope you find them great sources of information and inspiration.

Come back soon for more introductions or links to refreshing “voices” in the world of innovation today. I look forward to your suggestions about other authors or bloggers worth watching.

PEPSI Ads, Connecting Big With Consumers

(A little over a month ago, Tactical Media Group shared with their Facebook friends the album Pepsi en Tactical Mesh. I really enjoyed viewing the executions all at once and feel compelled to write what I like about them.)

These Pepsi Ads are hard to miss. The use of simple, catchy phrases makes them easy to read even if you run fast by them. Personally, I don't know their specific strategy but considering Pepsi is a veteran brand in our market, my best guess is that they want to solidify their position in the consumers’ top-of-mind by reconnecting with them in a very personal level.

My appreciation is that what makes this campaign relevant to the consumer and the product as well, is their encouraging refreshing approach. Whether or not the reader believes in signs, anyone who’s having a hard time and sees one of these might feel they just received a dose of empowerment. Considering that "refresh everything" is an invitation the brand has been sending to consumers for a year now (at least), I wonder if my appreciation of the local campaign is too far from its original intention.

For me, these Ads are good examples of smart use of media space because....
1.They show a healthy balance between “white” space and number of words
2.Location, size, font type (also, the use of few words allow for bigger letters) and color palette represent a skillful combination to increase their chances of generating impact.
3.The color palette is also something worthy of compliments; it certainly communicates the refreshing benefits of the product.

To see more photos visit: PEPSI en Tactical Mesh.