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September 10, 2008
The woman in red says: Break the rules
Do you use posters in your communication efforts? Then you might be familiar with these tried-and-true rules:
- Always use a strong visual
- Severely limit the number of words (headlines should be fewer than 7 words)
- Hang posters in a variety of high-traffic areas
- Keep posters up long enough to register, but not so long that they become wallpaper
But you know that thing about rules: Sometimes it’s more effective to break them. That’s why I found this blog from marketing guru Drew McLellan so inspiring. Mr. McLellan’s post is about outdoor advertising—but many of the same principles apply to using communication (like posters and bulletin boards) in the work environment.
In any case, Mr. McLellan maintains that “the most brilliant outdoor campaign ever” (created in 1989 for a pub in Buffalo, N.Y.) broke all the rules. And yet it was memorable and effective.
The (fictional) premise? A guy named William rents a billboard to send a note to a mysterious woman he saw in a bar: “Angel in Red: Saw you at Garcia’s Irish Pub. Love to meet you. - William”
The story continues for nine weeks, with nine different billboards, in which we see “notes” from an increasingly desperate William, another woman interested in William, and even the woman in red’s jealous boyfriend. The continuing element is, of course, Garcia’s Irish Pub. And the billboards make you want to go to see what all the fuss is about. (See the photos on Mr. McLellan's blog.)
Can you break some rules to make yourposters more compelling?
Posted by Alison Davis at September 10, 2008 11:16 AM