Minds On
Advertisements
Advertisements convince the viewer or the audience to buy an item or service.
Print advertisements use any combination of images, colour, words, font, frame, size, and placement. The audience might notice the print advertisement for a few seconds. The audience does that while flipping a page in a magazine, newspaper, or while walking, or driving by a billboard. So, the advertisement and message must be short and simple. This helps to catch the audience's attention.
Print advertisements come in different sizes. They can have the shape of business cards, flyers, posters, or billboards.
Audio advertisements use tone, volume, variation, emphasis, and speed to convey their message. The advertisement and message must be short and simple. This helps to catch the audience's attention.
Compare and contrast
Compare these two billboard versions and how the message is displayed. Which version do you think will capture the audience’s attention more effectively? Why?
Version 1
Version 2
Questions:
- How does the use of capitals, font size, font contrast, and image help to communicate the message?
- How does the use of text connect to the environmental message?
- Who is the target audience for this billboard?
- Where could this billboard be placed to have the biggest impact?
Action
Advertising in the sky
Billboards are called “out of home advertisements” (OOH). This means that they are outside of the audience’s home. Billboards can be found on the side of highways and main roads. They are also found on the sides, or on top of tall office buildings. Buildings on the corners of busy downtown intersections have print ads as well. Yonge and Dundas in downtown Toronto and Times Square New York are examples of busy downtown intersections. Print ads can also be mounted on a tall frame standing on the ground.
Billboards use features such as images, sounds, colour, text, frames, and size to convey their message. Placement is also an important part of designing a billboard.
Task 1
Student Success
Think-Pair-Share
Explore the description below for a billboard design. If possible, discuss (and share) your thinking with a partner or record your thoughts.
Questions:
- How does the font size, font contrast, and background help to communicate the message?
- Where do you think this billboard should be placed to be the most effective?
- How would you create an audio version of this ad to bring about the same effect?
- Who is the target audience for this billboard? Why do you think that?
Note to teachers: See your teacher guide for collaboration tools, ideas and suggestions.
Task 2
Compare the two versions of descriptions for billboard designs.
Version 1
Description
This is a billboard showing two people canoeing across a still lake, with mountains in the background. There is a short message that is direct and to the point. The message reads “Be Keen. Think Green” and it is written in large font size, so people can read it clearly. The word "Green" is bolded.
Version 2
Description
This is a billboard showing a beach littered with pieces of plastic, a broken chair, empty bottles and garbage. A seagull stands next to the messy area. At the bottom of the billboard there is a short message that is direct and to the point. The message reads "Be Keen, Think Green." The words are bolded and written in a large font size so that people can read it clearly.
Student Success
Think-Pair-Share
If possible, work with a partner to discuss the following questions:
- Who is the target audience for each description? What evidence did you use to draw this conclusion?
- Do you think the different backgrounds change the target audience?
- How does changing the billboard elements affect the message?
- How do you think the two versions of descriptions would make the target audience feel?
Note to teachers: See your teacher guide for collaboration tools, ideas and suggestions.
Task 3
Interactive billboards
So far, we have explored some typical descriptions of billboards. To create more interest, some billboards are interactive. For example, a popular iced-tea brand created an interactive billboard in the summer. The billboard encouraged people to press a button. Once pressed, the billboard would spray the person with a cool, refreshing mist.
An advertisement team is creating an advertisement for the Big Top Academy Fan Day. Explore the following information about the event.
What kind of features are used in the Big Top Academy billboard? Record your ideas orally, digitally, in print, or in a method of your choice.
How could you help the Advertisement team make this an interactive billboard? Record your ideas orally, digitally, in print, or in a method of your choice.
Consolidation
Ad agency
An ad agency is designing advertisements for different products. How could they design an ad for one of the following products?
- An eco-friendly road salt replacement. Why is this product important? The salt used to make icy roads and sidewalks less slippery in the winter is bad for the environment. This product dissolves and acts as a fertilizer.
- An eco-friendly alternative to plastic wrap. Why is this product important? Plastic wrap is a single-use plastic, which means we can only use it once before it goes to a landfill. Using an eco-friendly (and reusable) alternative helps keep plastic out of the landfill.
Brainstorm
Brainstorm
Once you have selected a product, it’s time to plan the design of the advertisement. You can include different elements in your design. You may also choose to include an interactive element, or a digital advertisement. These will provide written or audio information. Use the following questions to help guide your design.
- Who is the target audience for this product?
- What words, images, or sounds will help convey the meaning of the ad?
- Will my ad be a billboard, an interactive billboard, or a digital ad, which includes written and audio information?
- Where will I place the ad so that it reaches the target audience? On a website, a city location, newspaper (digital/print), etc.
- What words or text will I use? What fonts and size?
Describe
Use your plan to create your advertisment. You may create a picture, write a description, record an audio recording or use another method of your choice.
Reflection
As you read through these descriptions, which sentence best describes how you are feeling about your understanding of this learning activity? Press the button that is beside this sentence.
I feel...
Now, record your ideas using a voice recorder, speech-to-text, or writing tool.