Billboard Analysis

When I was researching billboards I found that magazines are not widely advertised on billboards so I decided to pick 3 that I thought were exciting and analyse them so that I gain knowledge for when I create my own. 

This billboard from Apple is very unique and portrays what point they are trying to make simply but excellently (that the iPod is capable of holding all of these things that are coming out of the image). It is exciting, eye-catching, and extremely modern (something Apple strongly represent), this means this billboard will do its job to its full potential. This billboard does not follow common conventions as if it did it would not be seen as unique. A few examples of conventions it does not follow are that it doesn't have a tag line, any additional text other than the products it is advertising even though it does not necessarily even have to have this text as Apple is so widely known the audience would know exactly what this product is anyway but if it didn't they wouldn't have a chance at attracting new customers as they wouldn't know what it is (which is the point of advertising). The most obvious convention this billboard does not follow is the generic shape of a landscape rectangle that a billboard usually is. This usually would not be a feature that would be considered changing when creating a billboard as the landscape shape is seen as working more effectively as you can fit more content on it, but Apple decided to go against this convention and were effective in doing so as they did not need the extra space they would have got if this billboard was landscape as well as creating a new modern take on this style of advertising. This may suggest that the type of audience that they want to attract are people who do not see themselves as 'mainstream' and are also willing to take risks, put unique twists on things and enjoy the modern slant that products have on them these days (such as Apple products being touchscreen etc). 

The target audience for this advert is any gender of any age as Apple products do not have a specific age range and they take pride in targeting their products to all ages. This is seen on the colours used in the items that are coming out of the iPod as they are bright and vibrant which is usually linked to children. A few factors that goes against this though is the background colour of black and the text colour of white. Dark colours are more linked to males as is technology in general and white is a neutral colour not linked to either gender but if this was aimed at women there would more likely be a stereotypical colour such as pink or purple so just by this advert alone I would connote that the target audience is Western males of around 24-35 in social grade A-C who have a disposable income to spend on luxury items such as this. The type of personality this billboard is likely to attract is aspirers. These are people who look to the media to define themselves so they must only use the most relevant and 'cool' media products else they will not feel good about themselves and feel as though people think they are not relevant and cool. 

This billboard implies that the company does not actually need to attract new customers, and that they have just used this advertising space to prove to the public that they are a modern company in all fields not just technology and are capable of taking the 'top spot' in advertising as well as technology. It also implies that they have enough money to waste on expensive advertising; it is a waste as it has minimal advertising on it and only really appeals to audiences that already know of this product because there is no information on this billboard explaining to new customers what the product is.

Stereotypically electronic products, such as the items produced by Apple, attract teenagers and young people aged 13 - 24. This means that Apple would have to make sure their advert appeals to young people. One way they have done this is by using bright colours. By doing this they support Stanley Hall's theory (1904) that young people need a constant source of excitement (represented on this billboard as bright colours) else they will not pay attention to it and will seek it in other forms such as violence and alcohol. 

This billboard advertising BBC World news channel takes full advantage of the space they were given, which would have otherwise been very ineffective. The image for this billboard has been carefully selected so that one side of the image implies a certain connotation until you get to the other side of the billboard which shows the whole image and the truth of it. The image is of one of the most controversial topics in the world at the moment and it causes the audience to stop and think about it which they are not likely to do on a daily basis as it is likely to be placed in a busy city such as New York or London, where people generally do not have to deal with any situations like the one happening in this image. This is good because the BBC would be wasting money if they advertised without having another aim (similar to the previous Apple billboard I analysed) as the BBC is the most well known broadcasting company in the world and therefore do not need to advertise as almost everyone knows of them anyway. As well as making you think about the topic shown on the billboard, it also makes you think about billboards in general and how they work. This is because usual billboards show the company using their space to solely advertise their product/company which means that this challenges the usual conventions of a billboard. 

The lack of colour on this billboard suggests that the target audience will not be young people (around the ages of 13 - 24) (Stanley Hall's theory of young people needing everything to have bright colours and images etc else they will not be interested). The lack of colour on this billboard suggests it will appeal to older generations and these generations are also stereotypically the ones who keep up with the news and enjoy it. Young people stereotypically do not enjoy the news and do not keep up with it. Another reason why this is not likely to be aimed at young people is because none of the people in the main image of the billboard are young which means there is nothing for a young audience to relate to (one of the most effective ways of getting a young audience to be interested in your product is to include aspects or personalities that they can relate to). 

This billboard challenges the generic conventions of a usual billboard. The main convention that does this is the lack of images on the advert. This is so your eyes are drawn completely to the text and even more so, the man on the top of the billboard as if this was not noticed the advert would not make much sense and the advert would not be effective. Every convention of this billboard leads to seeing the model sitting on the top as the text is implying this is speech from the model which then implies that the BMW garage is very close to this billboard making passers by turn around and see where it is which may result in BMW getting more customers which is the ultimate aim of an advert. 

This whole billboard suggests the target audience. The first feature to do this is that there is minimal text which accommodates drivers passing buy, the most likely audience of this ad as if you can not drive you will not be buying a car which is the sole item that BMW sell. The dulled colours on this billboard suggests it is not aimed at young people however the dulled colours could also be because it does not want to distract drivers who drive past it as this will take their eyes off the road and potentially cause an accident and also because the bright colours will take away the focus from the man sitting on the top, which is one of the two things that needs to be seen on this billboard. Because of what this billboard is advertising, it can not be aimed at very young people anyway as the legal driving age is 17 in the UK and 16 in America. Stereotypically, males are the gender that are interested in cars so the dulled colours may also suggest that it is mainly aimed at males as if it were to be stereotypically aimed at females it would be bright colours of pinks and purples. 

As I am creating a regional magazine that is directed more towards to fashion side of Cornwall I thought it would be important to analyse a fashion billboard as well. The reason this billboard is interesting is because it is 3D, exactly like the bottle of the perfume it is advertising. Also the background is made to look like 3D grass which is because the perfume is called Daisy and these are found in grass and also so it makes the 3D daisies and the billboard in general look even more effective. 

The location of this billboard is interesting as it is not in the area where the target audience of this perfume would be. It seems like it is on a busy road with road works etc taking place which is not glamorous or fashionable, which are strong connotations of this perfume and brand. However as it is on  a busy road it is likely to be viewed by many more people than if it was in a less built up area. Another reason for it being on the side of a road is because the target audience is likely to be in social grade A-C as this is a high end perfume by a high end fashion designer which means they are highly likely to own a car.

The colours used on this billboard symbolise what the perfume is likely to smell like; bright, girly and florally. This is clever as you obviously can not smell the actual perfume on a billboard so this gives the audience a slight indication as to what it smells like and without this people would be less likely to go to a shop and try it as they would have no idea what it smells like and would not know just by looking at this advert if it would appeal to them. These added flowers also connote what type of person this perfume is most likely to appeal to. For instance, it is obvious by looking at this that it is not a fragrance for men as the whole billboard is very girly. It also seems as though it does not appeal to tom-boyish types and only the girly-girls because of the flowers. As I mentioned before, it is likely to appeal to social grade A-C because they will have a disposable income to spend on things such as perfume, especially a high-end one like this.