Ah, a billboard designed by someone who understood the medium. Short, direct message that could be read and understood a few seconds while driving by.
Yesterday I drove by 30 billboards on the I-10. There were 3 that had such a clear message... the rest too much text or too "busy" to read.
I listened the other day to some 70's CHR unedited airchecks. What amazed me was the number of entertaining commercials, either jingles that were catchy or rather fun dialogue. Today it seems they are all "If you have been abused by persons of authority.... dial 1-800-Sue-Them." I wonder if much of the annoyance with commercials today is due to the horribly un-creative use of audio.
Both industries have lost sight of what works. Billboards are "your business in big flaming letters alongside the road." It's like the sign outside your business, only bigger. If you owned a restaurant, you wouldn't put the entire menu on the sign...just the name/slogan and the "hook."
Radio? One of the smarter people in the business described good content (including imaging and spots) like this: "You need to make them stop and look at their radio." Catchy, creative, outrageous, or just
different. Now it seems that it's all by "beat them over the head until they buy your product."
I think a lot of that has to do with numbers-driven "just get the business on the books" management. Coming up with a catchy, creative, outrageous or different ad campaign takes talent (of course), but it also takes time. Time to craft the message. Time for it to work. A good sales person sold not just "I can get you X number of spots for X dollars next week," but "trust us to come up with something that will make your business memorable and build it for the long term."
It was always a struggle to get the good stuff on the air, but when you did, it worked. Now the sales teams seem to be driven by "you've got how much money? Great. Send us your spots where you shout at the audience and we'll get them played as often as possible."
Then the client eventually leaves because "radio doesn't work."
Anyway, I stepped on that time capsule many times walking into 840. Glad to see at least someone still cared enough to open it up.