It always works, everyone knows it, it proves effective in every situation. A true star, hit, classic, and standard. An evergreen.
In every industry, there are texts and opinions that, when activated at any moment, start playing a familiar tune. In outdoor advertising discussions, evergreen topics include public space organization or the declining significance of outdoor advertising in the so-called advertising pie. I sometimes read statements from specialists, especially those in new media advertising, who, fascinated by the here and now, claim that outdoor advertising essentially no longer exists, and certainly won't exist tomorrow.

Meanwhile, a timeline drawn from antiquity to today, with all the media accompanying people arranged in sequence – from press, radio, cinema, television to the internet, including email marketing, social media, and every other form, shows two things. First – that communication and its special function, advertising, has always been simply necessary, and second – that outdoor advertising indeed shares its place with others, just as it will probably share even more in the future,
as new forms of communication appear on the timeline.

Outdoor advertising has about three thousand years of experience in sharing space. It has been operating continuously for a very long time. The first outdoor advertisement we know of was an announcement by an ancient Egyptian living near Thebes who was searching for a runaway slave. Irritated by the loss of property, he announced a reward for information about the fugitive's whereabouts. Signs and announcements on buildings – ancient murals or graffiti? – were also discovered by archaeologists in Pompeii.

No, I don't believe that everything old is good and everything new is bad.
I'm also far from making categorical statements about the future of media and advertising, because as it happens, I don't know the future, and predictions about it tend to be hit-or-miss, as history teaches us.
For example, at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, it was believed that in mid-20th century Paris, the biggest problem and challenge for city authorities would be dealing with the increasing amount of horse manure – because of all the horse carriages that would be there. And if three hundred thousand people had predicted the Swiss decision from a few days ago years ago, we wouldn't be arguing today about who was more foolish for taking out loans in Swiss francs.

I don't trivialize outdoor advertising evergreen topics. Like every professional outdoor advertising company, at Jet Line we care – both as a company and individually – about having advertisements displayed on legal, safe, and aesthetic media located
in optimal numbers and places. We care about campaigns being subject to reliable effectiveness studies, and materials used for advertising production being responsibly disposed of after the display period. We also care about ethical advertising and about advertisement designs being at least correct and professionally designed, and preferably also creative, interestingly conceived, using mental shortcuts, contextually integrated into the space...

There's a lot to be done, which makes me even happier because we have influence over many of these things.
Since it's our decision whether the media will be legal or not, and what we'll do with dismounted vinyl, it's rather clear what to do. It's harder to change others' desire to install illegal advertising
and consequently, we feel discomfort not only from the existence of illegal advertising,
but also from its inclusion in industry activities. In this context, outdoor advertising companies
become mere ad people – suddenly we stop being part of the advertising industry, we become mere advertisers, and it's clear what people should think about us.

What outdoor advertising critics point out is paradoxically one of its advantages
and most important characteristics distinguishing it from other media.
Outdoor is advertising in its purest form. It's not surrounded or sometimes burdened by surrounding information,
it doesn't need to be connected or conversely - be as far as possible from adjacent content, and its media are free from political or ideological connotations.

Outdoor is simply a message. A message that is present in the viewer's life as if by chance –
while traveling across the country or moving around the city, while walking, going to the cinema, shopping. It can't be turned off, closed, or have its page turned. It doesn't interrupt broadcasts
or distract from movie plots, unlike cinema advertising (which I've always loved)
it doesn't make you wait for something you actually came for.

Outdoor simply exists. And it works.
And referring to culinary metaphors with the cake - sometimes it's very good to be the cherry on top.

Text published in “Media Marketing Polska”, February-March 2015