Writing ads? Get to the point, brother.

Driving down La Brea, there’s a sky-blue billboard that reads:

“We don’t do marketing. We deliver in fifteen minutes. Gopuff.”

No images, no pretty faces, no abstract shapes—just white, bold Poppins font.

And it’s one of the best billboards I’ve seen in recent memory. In my view, where most admen get hung up on creating adverts is how creative and eye-catching can they make it. The luster from these types of adverts, in this case billboards, are as forgettable as two-dollar bills and have departed your short-term memory by the next street light.

While I’ve never created a billboard, I think the fact that I remember this one, about three weeks later, is proof that their advertisement did half its job. I haven’t used them yet (the other half of its job), though I’d guess its done a far better job converting drive-byers than any other billboard in my area.

So, why does this ad work?

Because you and I both know what 15 minutes is.

Fast, quick, and everything and the kitchen sink (a recent headline written on Amazon vehicles) are all subjective. When your ad has wiggle room for interpretation, you allow the mind to drift and wander. With the infiniteness that is the mind, giving the reader responsibility to figure out what you mean leaves too much room for error.

Fifteen minutes is fifteen minutes is fifteen minutes.

Being as clear and concrete as possible is what makes this a killer ad.

To see if the billboard was effective—which is pretty difficult to track with OOH ads—I’d say omit the saying “We don’t do marketing” and replace it with “Use code ‘Eagles’ for 🆓📦.” A tagline relevant to the recent Super Bowl, plus you’ll be able to see how widespread the code gets used.

Otherwise, killer ad.

Be specific, remove guesswork and subjectivity, and effortlessly become memorable.

— George