MOJEBILLBOARDY.CZ Outdoor Advertising

BEFORE YOU WATCH1. What kinds of billboards catch your attention? Where are

they typically located? Which billboards do you still remember?

2. Think of all of the kinds of billboards you have seen. What kinds of products and services do they represent? Why do people use billboards instead of other forms of advertising? What purposes do they have?

3. For what kinds of companies or services are billboards an effective way of advertising?

4. Do you think it is a good idea to place billboards next to roads and highways? Explain your opinion.

Exercise 1

1. Mojebillboardy.cz works on the same principle as Heureka.cz.

2. The speaker was afraid to start his own company because he had no knowledge of programming.

3. The speaker always meets the people who work for him.

4. His part-time assistant has a fixed salary.

5. The speaker needed to have a video animation done for an entrepreneur competition.

6. The speaker originally intended to provide services to small companies.

7. Big companies are less interested in prices and costs of billboards than small companies.

8. The speaker believes that selling advertising through a website is more successful when your customers are big companies.

WHILE YOU WATCHExercise 2

Are these statements TRUE or FALSE?

Listen and fill in the gaps

At Mojebillboardy.cz you can in one place…you can compare the prices and the locations of billboards of many different agencies which have outdoor advertising in your city, you don’t have to call one by one and then negotiate on price...At the beginning, I was (a) little bit afraid of starting my own company because I didn’t know anything about programming, website design, I didn’t have all the time to do all the jobs that are necessary for the business, but it surprised me that you can easily buy or easily team up with people who know this…I have a part-time assistant for the data entry for the website who lives in Přerov and she…I have never seen her, but she is working and I reward her based on the results of her work. For the entrepreneur competition I was in…I needed to do a video animation. And I said I don’t know anything about video animation, but I went to a different website and I put there an add asking for an animator.At first, I thought I will be helping big companies with huge budgets and I will become millionaire in a few months. But it proved that it was tougher, tougher than I thought and the big companies didn’t even want to talk to me. So, instead of big companies, a lot of small companies wanted to talk to me about outdoor advertising and wanted to buy billboards from me. In the big companies, the buyers are not the owners of the companies, so they are not the most interested in the company’s profit and the prices, but they are more interested the benefits for themselves such as getting a free lunch, getting some kick-backs from the company or just saving time, just having a salesman do everything and give them (a) whole package.

Exercise 3

Match the English expressions with their Czech equivalent

AFTER YOU WATCHExercise 4

GROUP WORK1. Consider the kinds of billboards you have witnessed or know about that

you felt were offensive or could be considered racist, sexist, or violent. Divide the class into three groups according to the opinions of the students on the following question: “Which of the following billboards do you find the most harmful? Add your ideas to this list:

A) Billboards placed near roads and highways.

B) Billboards promoting alcohol and cigarettes in the vicinity of schools.

C) Billboards promoting their products through exaggerated sexuality and objectification of the female body.

D) Billboards promoting violence against others.

E) Political billboards denouncing other parties or candidates.

2. Prepare arguments within the groups in order to persuade the others about which kinds of advertisements on billboards you believe should be more strictly regulated.

3. Present your argument and listen to those of your classmates. How did their ideas influence your opinions?

Exercise 5

DISCUSSIn small groups, consider what kinds of companies or services use billboards. Make a list. Besides billboards, what other kinds of advertising channels may be better for different kinds of products or services? Brainstorm kinds of advertising channels and the products or services you find there. Which advertising channel is best for what kind of company or service and what they are offering to the public? Compare an make a chart of your distinctions.

REFLECT: When designing an ad for a product or service, what kinds of considerations do companies and groups need to consider? What kinds of regulations do you think should be in place for advertising in your region that may not be there now?

Exercise 5