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 has used and endorses Callaham’s services.

East Tennessee Fishing Show

Rating: 3 (average)   

• The billboard does a fairly good job of attracting the eye. The teal background stands out against both cloudy and clear skies. The large fish logo reinforces the text to tell the target audience what the ad is about.
• The date needs to be larger to drive the point home and complete the selling message.
• The URL is too small and easily missed due to lack of contrast.
• The physical address is useless because it’s too small to read from the interstate the ad is aimed at.
• The parade of tiny logos across the bottom of the ad do what such arrangements have done since the very first one: make sponsors happy at contract signing, but do little or nothing to inform the target audience the sponsors are going after.  This ad earns a 3 (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:

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