It is painful to see so many billboards on the side of the road that are illegible, confusing, or just plain boring. Here are a few tips that should keep your company out of the giant conflagration of cash burning on the sides of the world’s highways and byways. Continue reading →

• Words - Keep verbage brief. 7 words or less is fabulous, 9 is acceptable. Any more is highly discouraged.
• Use a picture - The picture must make the message more clear. If the picture does not specifically induce a response (its use is ambiguous), it should not be used.
• Attention getting phrases rather than complete sentences - People are passing the billboard at high speeds and are concentrating on the road, traffic, their coffee, their kids, other billboard advertisements, etc. Respect their time and we will get their attention.
• Bright, contrasting colors on billboard - support visibility during different times of the day. Yellow backgrounds mimic colors on caution signs. Notice that billboard companies tend to use a yellow background for their own messages.
• clear font - (no italics, cursive, etc)
• Billboard background - enhances the message rather than distracts from it

Mobile Outdoor Advertising in the form of billboards are gaining use from the largest “30 sheets” mounted onto a trailer or flatbed truck, down to those posted on tops of taxi cabs. In recent years greater creativity has produced a bevy of new opportunities to deliver a sponsor’s message via mobile outdoor adversiting.

• People - This is perhaps the oldest use of mobile advertising, where “flesh-pressers” deliver the advertiser’s message via leaflets, product samples, or vouchers. Some use the mobile billboard (sandwich board) or costume to attract attention.
• Blimps - We all remember the original “Goodyear Blimp,” and there are others showing up at the most popular outdoor events. Since those incur significant costs and have more restrictions as to their use, smaller, un-manned blimps are put in use for promotional purposes
• Wrap Advertising - Covering an entire vehicle in a “wrap” image.This is sometimes used in bus advertising, though it is more common to mount smaller “boards” on those vehicles.
• Bikes - In Europe, specially-modified bicycles are used to deliver the message.

Uses for Mobile Outdoor Advertising

Mobile Outdoor Advertising is particularly successful when implemented properly at the following:

• Sporting Events
• Grand Openings
• Special Event Marketing
• Spring Break
• Product Introduction
• eCommerce
• Conventions
• Movie Releases

Mobile Outdoor Advertising FAQ

Q) How much should a mobile billboard cost, and what does that include?
Mobile outdoor advertising cost - can run from $3,400 (USD) per week, but will certainly depend on location, length of event, time of year, etc. Read the agreement carefully and comparison shop.

Q) What should I look for in a Mobile Outdoor Advertising company?

• vehicle dedicated to outdoor advertising
• extra perks (like they hand out flyers

Q) What are the specs I should use for a Mobile Billboard?

• Image Quality for mobile billboards - For vinyl posters, use 300dpi seamless
• Poster Paper - use 70lb test. This should be strong enough and have enough opacity to prevent previous images from being seen through it (previous images should be taken down, but…)

More articles about Outdoor advertising

• Entrpreneur .com Business Start-Ups magazine, December 1999.

Copyright (c) OutdoorAdLabs.com
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled “GNU Free Documentation License”.

New billboards are being produced that are entirely digitized (using projection and similar techniques), allowing animations and completely rotating advertisements. Even holographic billboards are in use in some places.

Interaction is an emerging theme in electronic billboards, with Britain at the forefront: in Piccadilly Circus the Coca-Cola billboard responds to the weather and responds with an animated wave when passersby wave at it [1]. London movie theatres are experimenting with billboards which contain an embedded computer chip which can interact with the web browser found in many cell phones to provide more information on the subject of the advertisement. [2] In the spring of 2004 in Times Square in New York City, a Yahoo! Autos promotion displayed on an LED billboard allowed one to call a phone number with a cell phone and play a two-person racing game where the cars appeared on the billboard. [3] There are also upcoming billboard technologies that will synchronize with advertisements on radio stations. Shinjuku in Tokyo, Japan, is famous for its large digital billboards.

Copyright (c) OutdoorAdLabs.com Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled “GNU Free Documentation License”.

Some modern billboards use a technique called tri-faced (also known as rotating or multi-message billboards). These billboards show three separate adverts in rotation using a mechanical system. They are made up of a series of trilons (triangular prisms) arranged so that they can be rotated to present three separate flat display surfaces. The displays for these billboards are printed on strips of vinyl which are fixed to the faces of the triangular panels, with one strip from each of three different displays attached to each panel. In this way as the panels rotate and pause three unique signs can be displayed in the same space. These signs are thought to be more effective as the motion draws attention to the messages displayed.

Another popular form of mechanical billboard is the Scrolling billboard. These billboards are able to show up to 30 images per side using a roll-up, scrolling mechanism that is controlled by a computer. The images are printed on a special material that allows the images to be back lighted for night viewing. Many of these scrolling billboards are used on trucks for mobile applications and also mounted to fixed sign poles for permanent applicationsCopyright (c) OutdoorAdLabs.com Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled “GNU Free Documentation License”.

Billboards are typically large wooden signs, with the larger ones typically 14′x 48′ or 12′x 24′ (height x width). The display is painted or printed on a vinyl sheet which is glued onto the board. Smaller 22′x10′ and 20′6″x9′ billboards display a series of thirty or twenty four printed posters respectively to make up the sign. This format is cheaper to produce but has less visual impact.

Copyright (c) OutdoorAdLabs.com Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled “GNU Free Documentation License”.