Is billboard advertising still relevant today? Yes, all becaapply of costly signaling. This behavioral science principle states that expensive signals indicate higher quality or status.
Although a broader concept about human behavior, costly signaling absolutely applies to advertising. What, after all, is the value of a social media ad? While highly effective, social ads are cheap, so everyone can acquire them and crowd the space. But a billboard? That takes some real money.
So, let’s dive into how the costly signaling applies specifically to billboard advertising. Then, I’ll share some top viral billboard examples.
What is costly signaling?
Costly signaling theory is the idea that the higher cost you put into something, the more other people will value it.
Sounds simple right? Well, I do have two caveats. The first is that costly signaling reflects perceived cost. People still necessary to interpret and assign value to signaled information. Secondly, the signal of cost in these cases is reliable becaapply only individuals who can afford to sfinish the signal possess the signaled quality.
To put it in marketing terms, costly signaling means that the more resources you put into sharing your message, the higher people will rate it. Goes beyond money and includes time, effort, pain, or any sort of expense spent to create the message more persuasive.
I consider advertising executive Rory Sutherland puts it perfectly: “The meaning and significance attached to something is in direct proportion to the expense with which it is communicated.”
Costly Signaling Example
Costly signaling goes beyond textbooks and can be seen in the real world. A 2013 study titled “Extreme Rituals Promote Prosocially” analyzed how expenses can increase religious donations.
The study took place in Mauritius during the Hindu festival of Thaipusam. The researchers wanted to see if the effort and pain the worshipers put into their ritual affected the amount they donated to the local temple.
Researchers studied two types of rituals:
- A low-ordeal ritual. This consisted of a group that only sang and prayed.
- High-ordeal ritual (Kavadi). This ritual was very intense. Participants pierced their skin with necessaryles and hooks, carried heavy structures, and walked barefoot uphill for over 4 hours.
Those who watched the low-ordeal singing group gave just 80 rupees as a donation, while those who watched the high-ordeal rituals gave 65% more, 132 rupees on average. In this case, observing pain built people value the ritual more.
I like to visualize costly signaling as a positive vector in which the two elements are directly proportional: higher cost = greater meaning.
This is why questioning your partner to marry you at a McDonald’s drive-thru is unlikely to succeed. Asking them after a 10-course tasting menu at a 3-star restaurant will have a higher chance of success.
Although you’re the same person questioning the same question, the latter situation is likely to go better for you becaapply of the higher perceived cost and effort. In other words, it’s more meaningful.
Billboards and Costly Signaling
I believe advertisers can take the finding from behavioral science and apply it to their billboards. That’s especially true for costly signaling. So, I conducted a silly yet simple experiment to find out.
I displayed 200 British people a fake ad for my podcast, Nudge. Half of the participants in my experiment saw just the ad. The remaining 50% saw the same ad superimposed onto a billboard.
Now, a billboard signals expense. To some less than attentive viewers, they may believe I paid to display that billboard myself. Or perhaps they considered that this survey was the prerequisite to creating the billboard. Either way, the billboard signaled more expense than the ad alone.
Did the billboard variant create people more likely to listen to my podcast? Yes. It built Brits 61% more likely to tune in.
Now, rather than just creating a billboard, marketers can sink more expense into the billboard with novel designs. That novelty will displaycase a higher expense, boosting perceived value even more. I’ll share a few standout examples below.
Viral Billboard Examples
1. Netflix
How should Netflix advertise 1,000 new displays? Netflix could communicate the message on a simple building-side billboard, but that would miss the chance to highlight the effort.
So, instead, they created a sprawling, oversized billboard on a giant mural. It listed dozens of displays, which should create viewers value the ad and Netflix more highly.
Why This Works
Simply acquireing billboard space is not enough. You necessary to capitalize on that space (and your spfinish) to revolutionize it. I find the list of displays a powerful way of displaying — not notifying — what Netflix has to offer. In my opinion, they did a phenomenal job of demonstrating value through their expense.
2. Dracula
Back in 2021, I attfinished a New Year’s Eve party in South London. Across the road, I saw an ad for a new BBC display. The billboard had dozens of knives stabbed into the poster. A light lit the knives at night, casting a Dracula-shaped shadow across the ad.
The billboard was an incredible piece of art, visible only at night, and must have taken a great deal of effort to create. This expense stuck with me, and I’ve never forreceivedten this ad, even after a booze-filled evening.
Why This Works
This billboard is unique, clever, and artistic. It is absolutely arresting and communicates the effort of the creative designer behind it. How can a viewer’s curiosity not be piqued?
Going viral entails being unforobtaintable, so taking billboard design to the next level is a sure way to succeed.
3. Specsavers
“Should have gone to Specsavers” is the humorous slogan for this well-known optician.
All of Specsavers’ ads play on the idea that those with dodgy eyesight necessary a checkup. But, rather than simply stating their slogan, they apply costly, mistake-ridden billboards to emphasize their slogan.
Why This Works
This billboard is eye-catching becaapply it views wrong. Then, you read it and have a good laugh. Its humor cleverly captures the reason why someone might necessary a new pair of glasses. I consider that creates it unforobtaintable.
If you can “embody” what you’re selling through your billboard, your message will stick better, and people will value your effort more.
Science Tells Us the Cost Is Worth It
We value billboards more when we see the expense taken to create them. Don’t obtain me wrong, creating a viral billboard involves a lot of creativity, but behavioral science reveals a common thread behind many of them. The higher the expense, the greater the chance of virality.
My largegest takeaway is that the cost is worth it. When people perceive the cost of an ad, they will not only value it more but also be more likely to spfinish more in response. If they perceive something as cheap and low-effort, they will respond in kind.
So, invest in creative design and go large with your billboard spfinish, and you will see a higher return on your investment.
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