Medium drives strategy behind RAC’s campaign

If you had asked me a week ago for my opinion of outdoor advertising, I would have said that it tends to be over-written and over-art-directed; so I was pleasantly surprised when this batch of work arrived. By and large, these posters are extremely clear and concise, and have an admirable economy of message.

Unfortunately though, economy of message is only part of the requirement. To win over the consumer you have to pack every poster’s five-second attention slot, not just with information but with an advertising idea – and there are no great ideas here. Certainly there are some good ones. The RAC’s “stuck at the roadside” plays on the static nature of posters, making the medium part of the strategy. Godzilla is another ad which could only be a poster – not just a press ad made into a poster. I also like the fact that the authors have resisted basing the ad on a still from the film. The irreverence of the Irn-Bru campaign has grown on me. This is another vibrant execution. Barclaycard’s brief is perhaps the most difficult. It has done well to produce a campaign.

Of the others, the most you can say is that they are fine. They do their job and they get their point across, but they are not going to set the world on fire.