FOCUS - OUTDOOR ADVERTISING: Ads for outdoor media require special creative skills

Outdoor ads should be simple yet compelling, advised Mr Steve Elrick, creative director of Bartle Bogle Hegarty. Speaking at the Asian Outdoor Advertising Seminar 2000 in Singapore recently, Mr Elrick said that outdoor in Asia is underated but likely to grow as an advertising medium, given what some markets are already doing. "It costs a lot of money to make TV ads, (so) I'm surprised people aren't using outdoor advertising more," he said. "Marketers often tend to think, 'If we don't have a TV ad, we're not producing a proper campaign'." Mr Elrick warned that outdoor ads, unlike TV ads, cannot be 'covered' by fantastic cinematography or other effects. "If an idea is weak, it will be obvious to everyone how unimpressive the idea is." But if done right, they can go a long way in reaching the audience, he suggested. The rule of thumb for a successful outdoor ad is; keep it simple. Present a very compelling thought that people cannot ignore. And always leave something for the audience to work at instead of giving the answer straight out, because "there's a much better chance of people remembering your ad if they have to work at it a bit", said Mr Elrick, adding that "outdoor space is the space inside someone's head that you're trying to get to." In Asia, where outdoor is treated as a support medium and media owners are, to some extent, under-selling the medium, outdoor has yet to reach its best. "There are a lot more options to make outdoor more interesting and it can be exponentially better," said Mr Elrick. He pointed out, however, that the markets are seeing more creative use of outdoor lately, and cited as an example Singapore's Comfort taxi tops where a potentially boring space has been creatively turned into a very interesting and effective advertising space. While he maintains that the use of outdoor is still conservative in Asia, on the whole Mr Elrick said he is "upbeat about outdoor" and believes it will one day become the most important mass communication broadcast medium.

Sign In

Trouble signing in?

Reset Password: Click here

Contact Customer Support at

Customerservice@campaignasia.com