Rate This Ad allows a billboard designer to rate a random piece of billboard artwork using the following scale: 1 (not good), 2 (below average), 3 (average), 4 (very good), 5 (great). Then the designer talks about what they may have done differently for outdoor advertising. This week’s rating is provided by Greg Callaham (www.gregcallaham.com) who has over 30 years of experience in outdoor advertising design. Insider uses and endorses Callaham’s services.

Puckett EMS

Rating 2 (below average)

• This digital billboard contains far too much information. A word count of 27 makes for too many words for the target audience to read and text too small to read, and that makes an ineffective billboard.
• More than likely the ad was the victim of advertiser art direction. The designer gave it good contrast but content prevented it from being as effective as it could have been.
• This ad earns a 2 (below average).

As always, I do not know the details of the art request or components of the campaign this ad may or may not have been part of. But looking at this challenge with the eye of an OOH graphic designer and through the lens of the target audience, I would have urged the advertiser to run the ad pictured below to promote the same message:

• A shortened selling message is much easier to read and still hits the highlights.
• The logo is larger and visually linked to the URL.
• A new photo from the advertiser’s web site is more visually interesting and exciting.
• Select italicized text echoes that excitement and the forward leaning logo.

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