When I say cars let's include SUVs, pick-up trucks and vans.
That means the main target for bill board advertisements are vehicle drivers.
Those people might be sipping the coffee that they just picked up at the drive-through. They might be stressing about the other guy who just cut them off. They might be lost in the tunes blasting from their CD player. They might be engrossed in the talk show on their radio. They might be arguing with their spouse or lecturing the kids in the back seat.
Hopefully they might be checking their sight-lines (front, back and sides) for other vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians.
Unfortunately, too many will be engaged in phone calls or texting.
We know one thing for sure - they are not searching for the next bill board.
Yet, it seems to me that many bill board advertisers ignore reality in favour of their own sense of self importance. They create or accept an advertisement that was created to talk to a buyer relaxing in the easy chair with nothing else to think about except your ad.
Look at the above bill board advertisement for three seconds. What do you see? Where did your eyes go? What message did you capture?
A bill board needs to first grab attention, offer a solution and then direct the action - all in about 3 to 5 seconds.
Grab Attention?
What might grab your attention on this sign? The word "Fighting". Who might be attracted to the word "Fighting"? The first thing that came to my mind was Mixed Martial Arts. The next thing was people who are angry.
The image on the right side is a suit of armour but it is difficult to see. The image is made more difficult because there is no head. Why is there no head on this knight? My eyes bounced between the word Fighting and the image a few times while trying to distinguish the message.
Once I realised that it was a suit of armour I wondered if the advertisement was for the dinner jousting program. You watch armoured knights on horseback enact a medieval joust while you enjoy a sumptuous meal. I've heard of it.
By the time the five seconds elapsed the impact was lost.
I later walked past this sign to take this photo and I had time to study this bill board. I think the ad is for a law firm. I think the target audience is accident victims. The text reads "Fighting honourably for accident victims. I wonder if accident victims really care about how honourably the law firm acts. I think they want their money.
In the Olympic spirit, on a scale of 0 to 10 I would give this bill board advertisement a two.
George Torok Keynote Marketing Speaker Co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing
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