Billboard advertising provides an opportunity for businesses
to bring something unique to their campaigns. They are a chance to depart from
standard ad designs in other print mediums, such as magazines. Advertisers get
a large amount of space to work with, but they still need to keep it simple and
easy to read so as to not endanger anyone trying to read it while driving. It
seems like the perfect setting to place a unique idea that would otherwise not
do well in another medium.
Unfortunately, many companies fail to effectively take
advantage of their advertising space on billboards. But, there are some exceptions, and one of my
personal favorites came from the campaign surrounding the movie The Dark Knight Rises in the summer of 2012.
Of course, this advertisement only works effectively because
the brand already had many things going for it to begin with. The previous
movie in the trilogy, The Dark Knight, gained the franchise an enormous amount
of recognition. The batman symbol was already widely known, and the imagery on
the billboard is similar to that of other parts of the campaign. For example,
this is an early movie poster for the movie:
We see the same theme, with the surrounding destruction
forming the image of the Batman logo. The billboard is unique because of its
3-dimensional use of the space. The design almost looks as if the billboard
itself was heavily damaged, and it fits in perfectly with the visual themes of
the rest of the campaign. Also, the advertisement does not even include the
name of the movie itself, meaning that it is targeting people who are already
fans of the franchise. All it gives is the date of the premiere, with the
intention of generating hype within the community.
I LOVE THIS BILLBOARD! I knever saw it because I was out of the country during the summer but I believe this is advertising at its finest, a truly genius idea. I can't think of someone who is a fan of the trilogy and wouldn't recognize the batman symbol at a simple glance. To me, this is a great example of how brand recognition can be effective as long as the logo/symbol is established and widely known. Ever since the first Batman movie, we have been seeing the batman symbol on his belt, on the batmobile, and on the light reflector that shines on Gotham City at night. Adam, I think you make a good point when you say that billboards are meant to send a quick message, something that can be seen and instantly be recognized because cars can't stop to read a billboard ad. This billboard delivered the message instantly with just a quick glance. I believe this is an example for other brands to follow on how you need to have an established logo/symbol for people to identify. Brand recognition is a great for advertising in this medium but you will only get your money's worth if you know what to include in the billboard.
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