COP Research - Billboards and Advertising

For the advertising section of my essay, I started doing some research into advertising theory, the effect of adverting on consumption and more specifically billboards as that is something my research so far has focused on. ‘Billboard Art’ gave a historic overview of the billboard, one point of which talked about sunset boulevard which was an example I have previously looked at. It had a lot of good points about billboard advertising for musicians which applies well. 

‘Billboard Art on the Road’ focused more on artist billboards rather than billboards used for commercial adverting however it did offer some good points about the aesthetics of billboards, what effect having image and type on them, can have, and how specially they can grab viewers attention. 

Finally ‘The Effect of Advertising and Display’ was more theoretical in its content, and had some more intellectual discussions about the effect of advertisements open consumers. I will refer back to it when trying to find inform action out about theories and consumerism. 

Billboard Art - by Sally Henderson and Robert Landau

• ‘The whole idea of big signs came from the fact that people couldn’t read. The barber’s pole told you where the barber was. You didn’t have to be able to read the word ‘barber’. The pub that was called ‘The King’s Head’ had just a picture of a kings head. You didn’t have to be literate to know that it was the king’s head. These signs were decorative in a  nice way. They were made as attractively as possible.’ - David Hockney
• ‘The scale of a painting or a billboard depends upon where it’s seen from. If you put a billboard high up on Sunset Boulevard, the scale of it has to be quite big … The billboards along Sunset are designed to be seen from a distance. When you get close they look a bit crude, but from the street it all looks very effective.’ - David Hockney
• ‘The new ‘gigantisme’ in billboard art set the trend for the portrayal of products in larger and larger dimensions. Previously unnoticed details now make the image memorable and easier to see while driving at faster highway speeds ‘
• Gigantisme billboards occurred post war in the 50’s.
• ‘With a public made more receptive to pictures than text, graphic designers abandoned wordy message in favour of campaigns using more unusual visual techniques’ 
• ‘The shift toward a youth-orientated culture in the 1960’s was led by the Beatles’
• ‘The explosive popularity of certain film and recording stars, for example, sold far more than just record albums and movie tickets. T-shirts and jackets, posters, calendars, buttons and flags, even dolls, found plenty of buyers, as long as they bore the image of the latest idol.’
• ‘The same marketing strategy made the superstar phenomenon possible. Now an entertainer was promoted as if he were larger than life’
• ‘In major cities billboards helped create this kind of popularity for groups like the Beatles. The billboard become one of the most important vehicles for the international packaging and promotion of entertainment, and superstars in particular.’
• ‘Since the Sunset Strip billboards are some of the most expensive in the world for the length of time they are up and the number of people who see them, it might appear as though they are a marketing mistake. But this is not the case: these billboards are carefully considered marketing tools. They are the entertainment industry speaking to itself - the importance of the audience justifies the expenditure.’
• ‘The sunset boards are the pulse of the entertainment industry.’

Billboard Art on the Road - Laura Steward, Peggy Diggs, Joseph Thompson

• ‘Since most advertising billboards consist of images and words, one signal that something other than advertising is happening is the use of words (or images) alone. To attract attention and prompt the viewer to actually read a words-only message, artists often use unusual compositions.
• ‘if words alone are a difficult strategy, images alone are perhaps even more so. The idea of letting a valent image speak for itself may have its roots in Andy Warhol’s depictions of electric chairs and car crashes. But if the images is not familiar, the meaning may be misread or not register with the audience at all.’
• ‘billboard art often instigates a process, a questioning, or an argument about an issue or value that often goes unquestioned or unresolved in the public mind. This sort of public art has a slightly different life than the usual presentation of information and opinions. People expect the billboard to be a site for advertising products, lifestyles, or services. But if an artist I filtrates the banal billboard format with another kind of communication - the ‘wrong’ message appearing in a familiar context - then a glitch in the viewer’s assumptions might make her see this communication differently. This is how billboard art can cut through much of the white noise of our day.’

The Effect of Advertising and Display - Assessing the Evidence - Robert East

-‘the response to brands may be changed without the respondent being aware of the influences that produced the change. Unconscious processing of this sort may be responsible for a significant part of ad effect.’

• The first exposure of an ad is likely to secure more attention because we alert to unseal stimuli. People give more attention to objects that are novel, changing, incongruous, surprising, complex or indistinct.’ (Berlyne 1954)
• ‘The Web medium can be used to sell directly but also helps to build brand awareness in the same manner as conventional advertising. Online advertising can deliver widely different results so that improvements in copy and website placement offer large benefits.’