The power of unexpected Communication

A few days ago i read a story in the news about a student who had rented an outdoor billboard to complain about the difficult working environment in Ireland and how that was going to force him to emigrate. Obviously he wanted to call the attention of possible employers and eventually the trick payed off. Now, if instead of the billboard he would have bough a small insert in the local newspaper, the story would probably have been different and he would probably be still looking for a job...


What is the learning we can get out of this story?


Every single communication agency will tell you that you need to adapt your message to the medium. True.
But, they will also tell you that the selected medium will depend on the message you want to pass and the brand you are communicating. False.


The learning of the story is exactly that, an unexpected medium (billboard) has had a much higher impact than the standard and expected one (the insert).


Interestingly, this learning is not only applicable to the type of medium but also to the moment/place of communication. It is out of question that a pair of new skis will have better chances to sell if you do your communication in a ski resort during the winter season, than if you do it in the beach during the summer. My point is more that within a certain limits of reason, creative ways to deliver your message will often pay out better.


Here is another example. On my last vacation in the south of spain, while driving from Malaga to Granada on the highway, i saw one of the famous "toro de Osborne". It is an outdoor billboard, black and shaped in the form of a bull, an icon used by the famous spanish liquor brand Osborne.


Today these billboards are know by everyone in Spain and have even become a visual reference of spanish culture. Coming back to the point of unexpected communication, these billboards are placed in highways, not a place where you expect communication, neither a place where you would be encouraged to drink alcohol, but a genious communication idea that is today probably a keymilestone of the brands success story.



Posted by Ignacio Molins