History
The history of billboard advertising goes back as far as the
late 1790’s. The person behind the idea found that was easy to mass produce
posters and other forms of announcements in order to advertise his business.
However there way one major limitation of using this in that time. This was due
to the low quality of printing which would wear easily when exposed to bright
sunlight, rain and other forms of weather. Circuses were along the first
businesses to use this form of mass advertising, causing outdoor advertising to
undergo certain developments in order to reach the modern billboard advertising
which we know today. Billboard advertising used by circuses date as far back as
1835. However, in these times before the invention of lithography, billboards
could only be produced on a very small scale making the advertising much less
effective.
Billboard advertising started to become an industry in the
mid 1960’s, when it became possible to buy space for a billboard by outdoor
advertising companies. Then in 1972, the International Billboards Poster
Association of North America was formed.
The 1900’s was a great period for billboard advertising
mainly due to the introduction of the Ford Model T. This affordable vehicle
brought a whole new mobile audience to the billboard industry as more people
were now seeing the billboards. Since then billboard advertising has evolved to
meet the needs of the audience and a sophisticated and regulated marketplace.
The evolution of billboard advertising has let to them increasing in the size
of billboards, changes in the materials used to produce them making them
cheaper to produce and last longer, as well as the advances in technology
allowing them to make scrolling billboards and digital billboards which pique
the interest of the audience in modern society.
The development of other industries has led to changes
within the billboard advertising industry. Lighting companies are able to
produce lights which use less power at a cheaper cost than they used to meaning
the billboards can be displayed at night where previously they would not have
been seen. Also the expansion of some industries has led to competition in
products making advertising vital to a company in order for the audience to
choose their products over rival company’s products. This has meant that
advertising such as billboard advertising has become vital to some companies
surviving.
Despite the development of other forms of advertising such
as TV, radio and internet advertising the billboard industry have remained
stronger than it has ever been outlining its importance to companies. This is
leading to competition within the billboard advertising industry.
Systems of production
There are many ways in which billboards are produced. Some
companies still choose to produce their billboards by hand and are painted onto
the canvas which is being used which with this method of production is
generally plywood boards. Other companies will use lithography to produce the
billboard where the advert is printed onto large vinyl sheet before being hung
up in the required advertising space. One final method of production is for
digital billboards. To produce these graphic software and then possibly
animation software is used to produce them. The graphic package can be
something as simple as Photoshop which can be used to arrange and edit images
alongside text which can be used to produce the final billboard. This is then
displayed digitally on the billboard. Animation can be used in order to make
the advert more interesting to the audience and attract their interest, but is
displayed in a similar way to a still form of digital advertising; however this
is in the form of a moving image.
This billboard for Grand Theft Auto 5 was very successful.
In fact Grand Theft Auto 5 has become the fastest-selling and one of the
best-selling video games of all time. There have been over 52 million copies of
the game sold worldwide and made $800 million on its first day of release and
made $1bn within three days of its release. The game is aimed at young adults
aged between 18 and 25 but also appeals to those younger than 18. This is
because the game itself is full of excitement. This excitement is displayed in
the billboard as the characters are shown to be dangerous which make the game
seem exciting. This may explain why this video game was such a success. This
links into Stanley Halls 1904 theories about youths, which are the target
audience for this game. Halls firstly says “youth must have excitement”. This
game provides them with excitement which will appeal to them and encourage them
to buy the game. They can get the impression that the game is exciting because
of the images used on the billboard. Hall also says “ Adolescence is inherently
a time of storm & stress when ‘all’ young people go through some degree of
emotional and behavioural upheaval”. This game allows them to have this thrill
but in a legal way which explains why this game appeals to young people. Again
they can infer this from the billboard as the images show the characters
performing some form of illegal activity including burning down a house.
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