Billboards

I believe the reason outdoor advertising spending has increased while other venues have decreased is due to the ongoing poor economy/sluggish recovery.  Below I will list specific reasons that factor into this:

• High unemployment/underemployment: With people hitting the road in search of work in numbers unseen since the Great Depression, outdoor advertising has a larger than usual impact.

• Less discretionary income: Obviously goes with the employment figures to some degree.  People are being more cautious with their money.

• Increased company conservatism: Companies are obviously aware of the first two issues, and as such want to get the greatest ROI from their advertising dollars.

• Increased "getting out of the house" type day-trips: This is 100% theoretical, I have virtually no data to back it up.  It is my theory that given the sad state of our country's economy, people may be getting together with friends and family more; or else taking a "Bus-cation" (business vacation).  When everything on the TV, Radio, and Internet reflects a stagnant economy, who doesn't want to get away for a while?

  I am including three photos of billboards for my blog posting.  The first one obviously lacks an ad; however it touched upon something we were instructed to weigh when designing our billboards (background color for all seasons).  I was thinking of yellow, and since the sign company agrees with me I assume I am on the right track.

  I chose the Hollyrock's billboard because I thought it did a nice job of showcasing a succinct but memorable message.  No fancy pictures or designs; the one flaw I see personally is lack of an address or website.

Lastly I chose an institution of higher learning for some contrast for my own work.  Pretty standard stuff, if viewed closely the woman does not have the most photogenic appearance in this picture.....