Will billboard regulations in China improve standards?

Do traditional billboards still offer an effective way of reaching consumers in China?

JL: Yes, there is nothing wrong with traditional billboards as long as they are located in the right traffic areas with sufficient target audience, well-maintained and properly licensed. Billboard with its lower cost barriers and particularly its content exclusive nature is still often viewed as an attractive medium to reach consumers in China.

TB: Undeniably. China still offers the opportunity to get big formats and key locations, which cannot be said for many countries . The flexibility we find here is very appreciable. Yet the Chinese market is also subject to a constraint; a lack of exclusivity revealed by a significant concentration of billboards in a confined environment.

Which kind of brands work best on billboard? Which should steer clear of this type of advertising?

JL: Billboards require message simplicity and creative approach to arouse attention against low dwell time audience. In this sense, I think it is hard to generalise which brands work best on which formats of media because it really depend on a lot of other factors for a format to "work" for a particular brand.

TB: Big is beautiful, big is impacting, and outdoor billboards tend to be the hugest from their kind. Their location is particularly appealing to car makers, since the proximity it provides allow them to reach their consumers directly on the road.

Will urban regulations on outdoor fixtures in China clean up the industry or limit its reach?

JL: The regulations, if designed sensibly, will clean up the industry and drive standardisation and licensing transparency. If the post-cleanup rebuilding is correctly carried out, it will only improve its reach because the current way of outdoor fixture development is pretty much opportunity-driven rather than strategy-driven (or reach-driven).

TB: It reduces the number of billboard with a positive consequence for the remaining customers. Yet the dismantlement policy sees its efficiency reduced and slowed down by the very specificity of China's outdoor advertising market – when the significant number of small and independent media operators often leads to case by case negotiations.

What is the most memorable billboard campaign you can remember?

JL: Honestly, still the Marlboro campaign back in the early 90's. Simple and bold, inspirational and impactful, using outdoor to its best potentials.

TB: HSBC Group repeated campaigns on the entire set of Pudong Airport Airbridges - 45 total - have been quite impressive.

What is the worst?

JL: Most of the real estate billboards seen nowadays in China's cities, particularly in tier two markets. Boring, homogeneous, wordy and often tasteless designs.

TB: Once travelling in China I fell upon a billboard that was very impressive. Not for good reasons though. The quality of its fabric and structure was so poor it made it stand out, for the worst. In some provinces, you can find a lot of small independent operators that do not control the quality of the panel structures and the printing.

What billboard innovations have grabbed your attention?

JL: The McDonald's billboard that shows time of day by using a natural sundial. It's a pity it was executed in Europe, not here."

TB: Our efforts focus today on energy savings. Our Lightboxes are now working with the Backlite technology, a high capacity reflective system that reduces electrical power use.

This article was originally published in the 26 August 2010 issue of Media.