Executive Leader in Global Health, Program Development & Advocacy | Driving Strategic Communications and Sustainable Solutions
I came across this Sephora bus ad in Kirkland, and it got me thinking about the impact of outdoor advertising—particularly in a city where public transit plays such a significant role. While Sephora’s black-and-white stripes are typically unmistakable, the execution of this ad didn’t do the brand justice. From a distance, it appeared as a massive white ad, missing the opportunity to leverage Sephora’s distinctive visual identity. As someone with excellent distant vision and intimate knowledge of the brand, I didn’t know exactly what I was looking at until the bus was mere feet from me. Bus ads in Seattle are a prime advertising space, delivering between 50,000 to 100,000 impressions daily. With the city’s well-known traffic congestion, these ads stay visible longer, reaching a broad audience that includes drivers, pedestrians, and transit riders. Over a month, a single bus ad can accumulate 1.5 million to 3 million impressions according to the King Co. website, making the design execution critical to capturing attention. To maximize the effectiveness of a bus ad, scale needs to be considered to ensure brand elements are visible and recognizable from a distance. Unfortunately, this ad missed the mark by not considering scale to leverage Sephora’s iconic stripes, which would have made it instantly recognizable. High contrast and simplicity are also key—too much detail can easily get lost in the fast-paced urban environment. It had potential! This serves as a reminder that in outdoor advertising, especially in high-impression environments like Seattle’s transit system, design is everything. #Branding #OutdoorAdvertising #Marketing #Sephora
