A Creative Review: Louis C.K.
Welcome back to A Creative Review with James Cooper. Today Coop digs into a billboard for Louis C.K.
Wouldn’t it be great to be in a position where you could say, ‘You know what, I don’t need this whole billboard. Let’s just use the bottom 20%’? This particular example breaks all the rules for normal outdoor. We are always told six words or less, big striking image and use the real estate.
Photo credit: ADstruc
But Louis C.K. is a guy who breaks the rules. I am a huge proponent of brands (and Mr C.K. is now most definitely a brand) staying true to themselves, no matter what media they are in. Every time you interact with the brand it should feel consistent. Especially these days where there are myriad ways to connect with a brand.
So this slightly unusual billboard - in a way that you can’t quite put your finger on - feels spot on. I’m even prepared to forgive the art director for the crime against punctuation and typography where the period after the K and the colon collide.
Colon Collide. That’s going to be the name of my new band.
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That’s all folks! Want to get involved? Send us shots of the best [or worst] outdoor advertising you’ve seen, and we’ll choose one every week. Just email coop@adstruc.com.
A Creative Review: Old Navy & The Gap
Welcome back to A Creative Review with James Cooper. Today Coop compares two spectacular executions for sister fashion retailers Old Navy and The Gap.
Do, Don’t Say
There is a rule we creatives like to tell ourselves - actually for a profession that is supposed to be more like art, there are a ton of rules we try to live by - anyway, I digress, the rule is that any ad should do or be what you want to say rather than say it. There is nothing less cool than saying ‘hey, I’m cool’. You should just be cool. And so here we are with two billboards about brightness.
Photo credit: Gelatobaby, via Flickr
The Gap board says, ‘Be Bright’. I guess it is quite bright and there is a slim play on words as bright can mean clever. I quite like the use of the t-shirts, it’s a good product demonstration - remember the product! – but, I’m just left a little underwhelmed by it. I do worry ever so about the dirt on those nice pastels.
When a Billboard Is Not a Billboard
Photo credit: BoweryBoogie
If literal brightness is the goal, then this Old Navy billboard takes the cake. But when does a billboard cease to be a billboard? When it’s a sign. To some this is just a glorified sign - and an over-illuminated one at that. In previous posts we have talked about getting people to comment in billboards and share content. People are talking about this one alright, but perhaps not in the best light. ‘Borderline blinding’ was one comment, ‘spewing out copy’ was another.
Clearly our job is to sell, and to do that we need to get noticed. This billboard certainly does that, but at what cost?
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That’s all folks! Want to get involved? Send us the best or worst billboards you’ve seen and we’ll choose one every week. Just email coop@adstruc.com.
A Creative Review: The Dark Knight Rises
Welcome back to A Creative Review with James Cooper. Today Coop critiques one of the fantastic promo billboards for Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises.
Photo credit: Rob Sheridan, via Instagram
Talkability
Will people talk about this billboard? Of course they will. Ok, you have a rabid fan base that is just waiting for any Batman related content - but still there is an epicness (if that’s a word, spellcheck seems to think not) about this that would work even if people weren’t nuts for the Dark Knight.
Six characters
Holy editing Batman! We talked about trying to keep text to a minimum with the mini ad last time. This does that brilliantly. Six words? Nah, try six characters.
Destruction
There have been a lot of billboards destroyed for effect so this is nothing new, but I like the bat shape. It draws you in and is not gratuitous. There is a reason for the destruction. It’s always great to see a bit of sky in the middle of a billboard. I just think it makes people do a double take.
Energy
This is an ad for a film. A moving image, a highly polished moving image that is super-fast high-paced adrenaline pumping non-stop! It’s hard to capture that on a flat piece of board. Yet this has all of that energy. In your mind you visualize a giant bat ripping this board to shreds and streaming down the highway. Crap, I really need to go see this movie!
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That’s all folks! Want to get involved? Send us the best or worst billboards you’ve seen and we’ll choose one every week. Just email coop@adstruc.com.
A Creative Review: Mini
Today we’re introducing our new weekly feature, “A Creative Review” by longtime friend and advisor James Cooper. ‘Coop’ enthusiastically volunteered to share his thoughts on some of the most innovative and effective Out of Home ads he’s seen around the world.
Based in New York, James has spent over 15 years leading creative projects for several top agencies including Anomaly, Saatchi, and JWT where he was the Chief Creative Innovation officer. He recently won a Gold Lion for Mobile at Cannes for the Band-Aid app featuring the Muppets. James is now pursuing consulting, tech start-ups and entrepreneurial projects in the retail, film and music industry.
Photo credit: Coloribus Creative Advertising Archive
Can A Billboard Go Viral?
Pretty much every client I have worked with over the last 10 years has wanted a viral. What they mean by that is that they want to do something that will reach a ton of people without spending any money. Of course it doesn’t work like that. Who could ever predict that a cat playing a keyboard would turn into a cultural phenomenon? The more you try to force that the more obvious everything becomes.
So really the only thing left is to create a piece of work – it can be a film, a billboard, a postcard – it doesn’t matter, but it needs to be so simple and interesting that people feel compelled to share it. If people want to share something they will find a way of doing it. I don’t think this piece is the strongest in terms of sharability but it does have a simple strong message that a lot of people would have found engaging. I would assume some people shared it with their friends.
Is Your Piece True To The Product?
It seems simple to say this but a lot of billboards just don’t feel like they belong to the product. They don’t ring true. However, this one does. The best thing about it is that although it’s a static image, everything about it implies movement. The ropes and the copy are all about speed and trajectory. How many times have we seen billboards with tire tracks in an attempt to do the same thing. This works so much better. It also leaves a little to the imagnation which is great. The consumer creates in their head what would happen if the catapult was released. Anything where the consumer fills in the last part of the story is also great – as everyone will have their own version.
Just Two Words
The general rule of thumb was that if your billboard uses more than seven words then it’s too complicated. Maybe now that’s not as true, as people are more used to deciphering messages at speed, but for me it still makes a huge amount of sense. And two words is better than seven. Of course everyone knows what a mini is so there is no need to waste any time explaining the product – this is pure branding but it’s still brilliantly economical. If your billboard is purely visual then I would suggest that a visual that can be summed up in seven words or less will also work much better than an intricate piece of layered art.
It’s Intriguing
Not only is the visual intriguing, the copy is too. Agrippez Vous? What the hell does that mean? The literal translation in French is ‘Hold on Tight’ – which obviously works in this context. This was posted in France, so it makes sense, but even if you didn’t understand French this works. It has a cheekiness about it that feels spot on for a European brand.
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On to the next one. Want to get involved? Email your favorite or worst billboards you’ve seen and I’ll choose one a week to critique. Just email them to coop@adstruc.com
