SCHWARTZ CROSSROADS

The power of simplicity

Take a look at the billboard below. Do you think this is effective communications or not?

I took a photo of this billboard as I was driving through Connecticut. I was convinced this was one of the worst billboards I had seen in my life.

Yes, the message was simple. If you are injured, you should get Carter.

I love simplicity, and frequently point out that a simple message delivered with a 10 lbs. sledgehammer can be very effective.

But sometimes simplicity goes a bit too far.

Carter who?
Most importantly, how do I “Get Carter?”

There is no phone, no email, no twitter, no address, no Website. The full name is in tiny print that is tough to see as you are speeding by.

I knew who to get (but not why), but had no way of getting him.

I was pretty set on writing a fairly critical post about the billboard. But then I did what millions of people do. I Googled it. The search was simple – Injury Carter.

The results are below:

So in this case, a simple message, tied into an effective search engine marketing program – makes the billboard actually work to an extent.

Mind you, it loses folks that don’t have internet access or think to search – but it communicated very effectively in a time- and space-limited medium. One of my colleagues, Laura Kempke has written a great whitepaper on how to blend inbound marketing with communications.