Advertising boards – or “A-boards” – are an integral part of outdoor advertising. Chances are if you’ve ever run a physical marketing campaign you will have used them already! This is because ‘advertising boards’ is a generic term for rigid materials with sales or advertising printed graphics on them.
What type of advertising boards are there?
Walk down your local high street and you’ll be flooded with advertising board examples! Swing signs and board pavement board signs outside shops tempting you with new offers or services are one example. Look up and you may see a poster display or billboard advertisement – a larger scale example. Even your local garage forecourt signs are included. Here you will usually fine double sided sandwich board signs and poster frame signs.
We can go bigger though! At Octink we’re known for our hoardings. These printed panel barricades go around the perimeter of building sites and usually display imagery and sales messaging advertising the site to potential buyers. So these too are (mega-sized) advertising boards!
Why should I use advertising boards in my campaign?
The simple fact is advertising boards are a cost effective way to advertise your products and services – no matter the scale. According to the Social Science Research Network, 65% of us are visual learners. This means your advertising boards appeal to a larger demographic than auditory campaigns like radio or Spotify ads. In addition, using advertising boards is usually significantly cheaper than producing and running auditory adverts. This boosts your return on investment margin!
Let’s see some advertising boards
Below we’re going to talk through some different types of adverting boards Octink have produced. Why not see how they can be used to help your campaigns?
Advertising Boards
These examples show advertising boards in their pure and simplest forms. They are usually large and elevated. This is so they can be seen from the road-side and the information taken in quickly and safely by the road users.
The above is an example of ‘Commercial Spaces to Let’. These letting boards will often show the address, size of the office space, contact details, and an image or CGI of the space. Depending on the budget and subframe, we would usually print these on foamex, correx, or ACM panels.
This example at Southbank Place shows how to marry up informative advertising boards and a large graphic to give a ‘fuller picture’. Whilst the hoarding conveys all the necessary advertising messaging, the graphic is a CGI representation of the skyline once the development has been completed. This is just as important as the messaging in property marketing as the viewer often won’t have access to the building plans, so this acts as their first real taste of how the building will look once completed. The image entices people’s interest, whilst the messaging on the hoarding shows them how they can get in contact.
Hoardings
Speaking of hoardings, sometimes an advertising hoarding is all you need. As previously mentioned, these structures go around the perimeters of building sites. Their primary focus is public safety, dividing pedestrians and dangerous construction work. However, advertisers quickly realised that they can be used for so much more! The hoarding at Redrow’s Colindale Gardens development above is a great example. Like the boards discussed above, this hoarding is meant to be seen from the road, so the information is clear, concise and on brand. Painting the kicking and capping the same colour as the panels is a great aesthetic aid, making the hoarding look taller and more impressive whilst serving its structural purpose.
The Wardian hoarding we created for Ballymore goes a step further. Featuring CGIs of lush vegetation it provides a stark contrast to the concrete jungle of its setting. This hoarding also features a call to action, – a strong and clear instruction for people to follow. This hoarding features perimeter lighting allowing the messaging to be seen day or night.
We love advertising hoardings here at Octink, and we’ve spoken at length about them in the past! You can read our thoughts here.
Illuminated Advertising Boards
Its not just hoardings under the spotlight! Illumination is a great way to ensure your advertising works harder for you day or night, in any weather condition! In the above example we see a large backlit board on Fabrica’s Keybridge development in Vauxhall. Whilst the marketing suite itself is a powerful tool with its eye catching architecture and illuminated signage, it’s the backlit panel that grabs your attention first. Along with the usual sales information, the CGI includes aspirational messaging. We usually print backlit panels on acrylic, or clear vinyl if the client is likely to change their messaging regularly.
Building Wraps
Large format advertising doesn’t come much bigger than building wraps! These gigantic forms of advertising also serve a functional purpose of hiding unsightly construction works. There’s no doubting the impact of the huge advertising message able to seen from far off and clever use of lighting and CGI can further enhance this.
The Merano development building wrap for developer St James above shows this in practice – using a CGI of the finished building alongside contact information. Construction is usually from tensioned mesh or fabric instead of boards.
The Nova building wrap is an interesting one – it’s not technically advertising a product. This scaffold wrap is in fact a large format brand awareness campaign, leading people down the rabbit hole where they will find information about the development once they ‘follow’ Nova online. This can be a powerful tactic in the digital age! Once again, this wrap sits above a hoarding that features similar styling, working hand in hand to create a breathtaking building facade.
Here at Octink we produce our building wraps using PVC mesh that is tensioned using scaffold sub frames, creating the ‘board’ appearance.
Totems
Totems are tall, imposing structures which offer both advertising and wayfinding information as seen above. This example at Crest Nicholson site Blenheim Square shows a totem sign letting people know the next phase of buildings have been released for sale, as well as the contact information they need to register interest. This sign is working in tandem with the advertising hoarding behind and the branded flags on site!
A further example of this is seen above at Taylor Wimpey’s Chobham Manor development, where the totem is part of a broader campaign, again using flags and hoardings. Interestingly, this totem also features illumination to ensure it’s seen 24/7.
How can I get started?
Whether you know what you’re after or whether you need guidance, we can help. Our expert Octink project managers can discuss what has worked on other sites like yours, and even come and carry out a site survey! From here we can help guide and shape your project and create perfect advertising boards suited to your needs. After this, we’ll produce your advertising boards in house and even come and install them for you too! Contact us today to talk about your next project.
Who are Octink?
We are specialist producers of signage, display graphics, hoardings, exhibitions & events, and interior solutions. Our end-to-end service means that you’re always in safe hands from concept to completion. Our expert project managers, studio team, production staff and installation crews mean that you’re working with the best people in the industry to see your creative vision come to life. We produce all our advertising boards in-house at our production facility in Brentford and our award winning projects install nation-wide.