JCDecaux

JCDecaux 'vox-pops' research proves that people connect outdoor and TV ads

24 September 2001

Research conducted by JCDecaux has identified an unexpected trend in TV campaign content. It appears that the new 'must-have' feature to give a brand's TV advertising on-street credibility is… a billboard!

Outdoor is a streetwise, 'young' medium, and more and more creative agencies appear to be recognising this fact. Outdoor reaches the young and upmarket, with TV more likely to get the message across to an older, more sedentary audience. It is also a highly effective way of broadcasting a message to a large number of people, which could be why, in these TV ads, it is the billboard that usually summarises the brand's key message.

Recent ads that have used this fashionable accessory include NatWest, who used not one but three separate billboards in last year's campaign to broadcast its new range of services. The recent Capital FM ad showed a woman dancing wildly at a bus stop to the music of 'your capital'; in complete contrast, the Bounty ad had a man so relaxed he was literally horizontal against a bus shelter 6-sheet of an idyllic tropical beach scene. Royal Bank of Scotland ran an ad that shows outdoor's potential as a direct response medium: the 'billposter' makes a phone call to check the poster's information, using the number printed on it.

Commenting on the phenomenon, JCDecaux Marketing Director David McEvoy said: With all of the recent headlines around the question of effective creative executions for posters, the number of unique poster executions featured in TV ads show that creatives can and will design for the medium given the right circumstances. We have never had so many phone calls from creative agencies asking permission to shoot our billboards and street furniture in their TV ads. It proves that creatives can design brilliant and impactful posters that really work on the outdoor medium itself.