With the Shield or on the Shield

A fell, B was lost

Outdoor advertising did not work out. Being declared the chief enemies of the beauty of our capital, on building roofs in the central part of Moscow, firewalls, and hiding facades, banners and billboards on construction netting, advertising structures, etc., fell in an unequal battle.

“As an advertiser, of course, I regret the fact that we have been deprived of such an effective channel of communication with the consumer, but as a resident of Moscow, I can note the positive changes in the appearance of the city,” says Anna Shadrina, director of advertising at the Capital Group. “The banners were one of the most effective and rapid means of advertising communications. Their main advantage was that they were sold for periods from 10 days, and if an advertiser had to convey to the audience some concise information, being relevant for a short period of time, this was an invaluable channel.” According to the experts, after the disappearance of the banners, not only the choice of advertising media was restricted, but also the effectiveness of the outdoor advertising was reduced. Now there are not so many media in the outdoor advertising market. The remaining ones are billboards sized 3 x 6 meters, advertising on objects, on public transport and at bus stops, city-format.

Skimming the cream

Traditionally, the billboard is our most popular advertising medium. “A billboard, sized 3 x 6 meters, is the format limited in size for both the opportunities for creativity, and the possibilities of placing information,” says Vadim Vasiliev, director of the NewToday Agency. “However, the billboards of this format can be bought by so-called ‘specials’ (package offers, remaining surfaces). These are cheaper, but the effectiveness of the ‘specials’ is small – mostly these advertising surfaces are located in not very suitable places. The effectiveness is achieved through the numbers: if there are many billboards about one item all over Moscow, of course, people will read what they say sooner or later. If the number of the billboards is limited, you have to find those places to place the billboard where the advertising will be noticed by your target audience.” “The 3 x 6 format is effective; however, this cannot be a communications channel that is used constantly. Most likely, such campaigns are carried out by certain flights. The coverage and the placement strategy are very important in the 3 x 6 format. If we take several billboards, without any specific direction, to my mind, such a campaign is pointless,” says Anna Shadrina. According to Ms. Shadrina, the Capital Group has never used 3 x 6 billboards in the promotion of its objects. They practiced using billboards that covered an entire building. After the banning of this format, the company uses outdoor advertising virtually only as a navigation tool to their projects, for example, to the village of “Barvikha Hills” on Rublevo-Uspenskoye Highway or to shopping malls.

According to Vadim Vasiliev, a billboard, sized 10 x 15 m, provides more opportunities for placing information and for creative design; if necessary, even two slogans, primary and secondary, can be placed there – sometimes it is impossible to place even one slogan on a small billboard. The recommended size of the billboard depends on the level and the class of the item. The more prestigious and expensive the item, the bigger size of the billboard it needs. “Mainly, outdoor advertising works to promote the B2C products; in the real estate sector it is residential real estate and shopping centers. In the segments such as offices, warehouse real estate, the outdoor advertising can serve only as an additional source of promotion that creates a positive image of the item. It is more profitable to work with brokers in these segments. The hotel segment is also not promoted with the help of the outdoor advertising today, it is pointless, people look for hotels on the internet,” says Elena Rozanova, Director of Air Design Rus, representative office of Air Design. However, Anna Shadrina is sure that any channel will work effectively if the target audience is selected correctly. For example, advertising on public transport works equally good for shopping centers. “In promotion of an SC, it is effective to use the navigation in the district. That is how we promoted the Aventura SEC in Northern Chertanovo,” Ms. Shadrina shares her experience. “And it is obvious that such media will not be effective in the promotion of elite complexes.”

The simpler, the better

Minimalism is the style to be followed in the outdoor advertising, according to experts. Clive Woodger, the head and the founder of SCG-London, proposes to avoid too much information for messages with a limited time of exposure. “The main purpose of advertising, as a rule, is to raise the awareness of the audience and the degree of public interest to the company and its products. Unless the gradual disclosure of information is not a deliberate teaser, according to the strategy of the campaign, the messages and the images should be clear, concise and obvious. The key principle of the outdoor advertising is the simpler it is, the better,” says Woodger.

The duration of a person’s exposure to outdoor advertising is measured in seconds, so placing of a great amount of information on the billboard is not effective, says Ekaterina Moskalenko, director for business development at the Practica Advertising Agency. The billboard as the medium is targeted to bring a simple and clear idea of the main advantages of the proposal to the consumer. Today the main goal of outdoor advertising is to create primary interest of consumers and to refer them to the website or the call-center of the company for detailed information. However, if a product has several advantages, and if the company’s situation is like the situation in the joke about the monkey “I am both intelligent, and beautiful”, it is better to make a series of models and to place them on different billboards. For example, in the M‑House project of the FSK Leader Company, says Ekaterina Moskalenko, the emphasis is laid on the major advantages of the residential complex – walking distance from the Subway, a well-developed infrastructure, and proximity to the park. The challenge was not to be “carried away” by Moscow lifestyle and to show how the M‑House SC (residential complex) makes life in the megapolis comfortable and convenient. The name of the project itself implies its proximity to the Subway and its “Moscow” character. The slogans support this theme and develop the subject of advantages offered by the complex: “To wake up half an hour before work and to be on time – that’s Moscow”, “To have a parking spot – that’s Moscow”.

Elena Rozanova notes that it is important to always place the company’s logo in one and the same place on all advertising models, it should not “float” – on one banner in the left corner, on the other in the right one. It is not necessary to try new formats and colors for the advertising modules every time – today we are yellowish and checked and tomorrow we are orange and flowered. In the viewer's perception, it only “blurs” the image of the brand. An interesting method is used in the advertising banners of the Metropolis – when one item, such as a fir-tree or a dress (figures vary depending on the season and the newsworthy event), consists of different horizontal fragments. The set of the fragments, moving from one advertising campaign to another, promotes the brand awareness.

Ms. Rozanova also draws attention to the fact that a person's attention is attracted by large digital screens with the moving, changing images. The banner is static, while the content of the digital technology can be changed when necessary. “The use of digital advertising and LED technologies expands the creativity and increases the degree of impact on the client,” agrees Clive Woodger. “The disadvantage of digital advertising is that the picture changes very quickly, and the person does not have time to read the necessary information.”

Additional special effects on the billboards – extenders, lighting, etc. – increase the effectiveness of the media, especially in large metropolitan areas, where the information competition is high and every company is fighting for attention to its proposal on the billboard. The disadvantage is that such construction requires individual installation, and so the cost of the billboard can be increased by several times. “The architecture of the building works well in the advertising of elite residential or commercial real estate,” says Moskalenko. “An interesting architecture will ‘sell’ the object by itself. The task of advertising in this context is to open and to support this advantage. In one of our recent works on promotion of loft apartments, the Kadashevskie Palaty, we counted on the unique architecture.” The slogan “Handmade loft” stressed the attention that the architects of the project paid to the restoration of the estate.

In my opinion, a new object is emerging

The arrangement of a real estate object is one of the most effective types of outdoor advertising, which, unfortunately, is very seldom used in Russia. “However, in Europe, the arrangement of objects is traditionally well-developed,” says Vadim Vasiliev. “If the apartments in the building are for sale, this can be seen from far away, and very often this is done in a very creative way.”

“Almost all the presented models are typical and are not distinguished by creativity. Unfortunately, over the last 2–3 years, the outdoor advertising of real estate has become very monotonous. A picture of the item, the company name and the telephone number are usually used in the models of the advertising of objects. At best, an optimistically smiling person or a family with keys may be added to the picture for a change,” says Shadrina. “Talking about brand advertising, we can mention the company Morton. They widely use outdoor advertising in their advertising activities, and they often impress with their creative ideas, unfortunately, not always in a positive way.”

The unique feature of this type of promotion is that the construction object is the bearer and the hero of the advertising story, says Clive Woodger. This type of advertising is so widely developed that every building may be an “advertising message”. In some cities, such as Istanbul, the arrangement of buildings has resulted in the congestion of the urban environment with advertising messages. Then another problem has to be solved – how to stand out from the crowd.

This type of the outdoor advertising should support the object from the very beginning. “If the building is already being built, and the fence has been set up, it is necessary to arrange the item. Even a trivial poster with the seller’s phone number, placed on the building, will work,” says Vadim Vasiliev. “When potential buyers go past the building under construction, the developer must say to them that the apartments are available for purchase – and it is even better, if the billboard is made in a creative way.” For example, to arrange the Mirax Plaza Office Center that was under construction at the time, several interesting stories were invented, recalled the expert. One of the billboards covering almost the entire facade of the building showed blinds. A hand was moving the blinds apart, opening the top of a man's face, staring at the sky. “Look into the Future” – offered the advertising slogan. Another advertising construction was done in the shape of a pulsating heart, which was inside the building under construction.

Ms. Moskalenko draws attention to the fact that in the primary real estate sector, it is important that the advertising show the dynamics of the construction to consumers, and not just broadcast the same message on billboards throughout the year. Such communication will cause a continued interest to the object. A person passing the same billboard every day will, sooner or later, follow the construction news. Several years ago, the construction company M–Industry of St. Petersburg, conducted a promotion with a raffle for a car among the future buyers of apartments in the complex, says Ekaterina Moskalenko. A bright red car was placed on the 10th floor of the building under construction and was well lit. The promotion was supported by banners and billboards. The unit became a kind of an attraction to the residents of the neighborhood, and this promoted the sales.

How to knock down prices with one look

These days, city streets seem to have so much outdoor advertising that its creativity must now become its most important quality. To catch people’s eyes, an advertisement must be outstanding, says Anna Shadrina. Otherwise, it fails to attract sufficient attention and gets lost in a thousand similar messages.

Clive Woodger emphasizes that an advertising design should be calculated to arouse positive emotions and be likable. “The concept for promotion of the Schuka SEC was based on the idea of local identity of the district residents. Most of the center’s traffic is generated by people residing nearby, so the task of outdoor advertising was to strengthen the people’s interest in the shopping center and give the object a “friendly” feeling, as perceived by the local residents,” comments Ekaterina Moskalenko. “Happy boys and girls shown on advertising panels were there to represent the people living in this district. Advertising slogans changed depending on promotional events organized by the SEC: “Schuka customers knock down prices with only one look” (February sales), “Schuka customers get to know about the new collection before it is made” (Spring & Summer catalogue), and so on. This comprehensive concept of Schuka customers helped improve identification and recognizability of the complex.”

For ‘premium class’ real estate advertising, the image-building element is very important, claims Vadim Vasiliev. A person driving a car worth $100,000 or more would not like being involved/associated with a botched product. For instance, a developer is constructing a building in Yakimanka with apartments starting from $2 million. Then for some reason he suddenly orders an advertising campaign for this project from a cheap freelance designer who makes a mess of the job (… quite predictably…).

To the contrary, the main criterion for sales of ‘economy class’ housing is the price. “If a customer, constructing ‘economy class’ objects, appears to have the best price in this district, it becomes his primary advantage,” say Mr. Vasiliev. “You may just write on your billboards: Apartments for sale from 1.5 million rubles, and you will definitely have many phone calls.” However, as soon as this developer’s apartments are no longer the cheapest offer in the market, he will have to invent something new.

As well as any other kind of advertising taken separately, outdoor advertising is no cure-all solution to promote a real estate object. This must be a complex, consisting of a set of tools. “It is important to remember that an advertising concept is only a picture,” warned Vadim Vasiliev. “There may be an ill-suited media plan: unsuitable mass media chosen for the object’s promotion, unfavorable locations for billboards, and all the efforts will go down the drain." In addition, good old common sense should never be forgotten. “It is crucially important not to overplay the creative component,” Clive Woodger reminds.