A poster does not have much time to explain its idea. Audiences most often see it while passing by, from a vehicle or from across the street, so the message must attract attention and become understandable almost simultaneously. These precise demands of outdoor advertising are the focus of a new free online course from Bauer Media Outdoor.
Powerful Posters University is intended primarily for people with less than three years of experience in advertising and media. The course was developed as a practical introduction to the principles behind memorable and effective OOH campaigns, from the initial visual solution to the way an advertisement fits into its surroundings and the media plan.
The programme begins with the fundamentals of good poster design before examining the science behind the processes through which brand memories are formed. A separate section is dedicated to inclusive media planning, as well as special executions that allow brands to move beyond the standard format of an advertising surface.
The course is a continuation of Bauer’s Powerful Posters series, launched to help advertisers and creatives better understand the possibilities of outdoor media. The new educational platform turns the existing insights into structured modules that young professionals can follow online and apply in their own work.
The content is presented by experts from Bauer Media Outdoor, while the introductory section is led by Ben Hope, the company’s marketing director, and Dan Dawson, global chief creative officer at Empirical and one of the hosts of the Behind the Billboard podcast.
According to Hope, the project aims to make knowledge available to people at the beginning of their careers that will help them develop OOH ideas with greater confidence, challenge established solutions and better understand the possibilities of the medium. Dawson emphasises that strong outdoor work should not only be visually striking, but also immediately clear, emotionally engaging and powerful enough to remain in people’s memories after they have walked past it.
Powerful Posters University is open for enrolment, and all modules are available free of charge through the programme’s website.
