The seductive power of simplicity
I have a habit of rewriting billboards as I drive around. Actually, it’s more of a tic. I would probably do it regardless of my occupation.
The goal is always the same: mentally remove as many needless words as possible. Given the cost, creative effort, and rounds of approvals that go into these roadside attractions, it’s surprising how much fluff I’m able to cut as I blow past.
A billboard doesn’t have to be a major offender either. In most cases, I’m only removing a word or two. This Subway board is a good example. Because the logo is already doing the work of identifying the brand, it can be trimmed down to “Our iconic footlooooooong sub” and none of the meaning is lost. Removing needless language also makes room for new ideas, like: “Footloooooong overdue” or some other twist.
Simplicity is seductive. Mostly because it’s so rare. Attempt to cram too much information onto a billboard and it becomes visually and cognitively overwhelming. Readers will opt out in a fraction of a second.
This is because we all have an internal clock that governs how much time we will devote to a given piece of content. For billboards, the clock is calibrated down to the split second. It’s ruthless out there.
Marketers can either ignore this fact or dangle the least possible expenditure of energy before our eyes. This explains the industry standard of eight words or fewer for a billboard. Each added word makes the message that much less enticing.
McDonald’s does a good job following this math. Here, the overarching thought is “Coke tastes like a million dollars, but only costs one.” Losing the noun (clearly pictured) along with “but” gives the billboard room to breathe, while not impacting the idea. One thing I’m not lovin’ is the tagline. This would work better without it.
The need for concision isn’t limited to billboards. If you want someone to take the time to read something, well, spit it out. This example from the Vows section of the Times makes me wonder why the editors chose a Yoda-like formulation rather than simply saying, “There Is No Debating This Love.”
But why stop there? The same attention-deficit rules apply to banners, social posts, and websites. Heck, even this article is divided into bite-sized paragraphs to help string you along.
As the editors at Get Me Rewrite point out: “The easier something is to read, the more deeply readers will engage with it. The less energy they expend on your prose, the more they'll have left for your ideas.”
The key is to say more with less. As a copywriter, this is where craft comes in. Maybe that’s why I spend my highway time rethinking the messages that fly by at 80 miles-per-hour.