Call to actions. They are those pesky things that designers hate because the client always wants them bigger… and the designer wants it to be tucked away so the masterpiece he/she has created won’t be ruined by commercialism. But what if the advert itself was the call to action… and by simply taking a picture of the advert you can automatically be connected to a website where you can get more information or call a number where you can give your details and more information.

Sound daft? Well believe it or not those clever people at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology have developed a mobile phone app for iPhone and Android that turns a multitude of items; from DVD and CD covers to Film Posters and Adverts into call to actions… so the design is the response device! Designers rejoice!

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An Amber Alert in action

At the end of October 2008 I found myself with quite a few hours to spare as I waited in Chicago’s O’Hare Airport for a connecting flight. Having never been to Chicago, I hopped on a train that was heading for the city. On the journey I stared out the window and among the many sites I saw was a billboard displaying what is known as an AMBER Alert™.

The AMBER Alert Program is a voluntary partnership between law-enforcement agencies, broadcasters, transportation agencies, and the wireless industry, to activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious child-abduction cases. The goal of an AMBER Alert™ is to instantly galvanize the entire community to assist in the search for and the safe recovery of a child.

This creative use of a billboard got me thinking about how the Billboard medium is evolving, and how with the help of technology, the Billboard is becoming an effective Direct Response channel. Here are a few examples of how technology is breathing new life into the Billboard:

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Back in the 80s the tobacco company Phillip Morris famously paid $25,000 to have Superman thrown into a Marlboro branded truck in the movie Superman II. At the time, having a cigarette advertisement in what was largely a kids’ movie was not deemed to be one of the wisest decisions made by the film’s Producers. To change the branding, even with today’s technology, would cost a large amount. But what if there was a piece of software that allowed you to place a new piece of branding or advertising message onto the vehicle quickly and easily! A piece of technology that was so easy to use that anyone could now place an advert or marketing message in any piece of digital video in a matter of minutes!

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