For years, I have seen PowerPoint presentations filled with tiny text, and web ads that go for the “more is more” philosophy. This morning, I did a little experiment – how many seconds between when I can see a billboard, and when I can read it, and then, how long does it take to read?

One of them said, “4 Suns Tickets, Dinner, and a Gift Card, $120.” Nice! Short and sweet. I could read it from about 10 seconds away. One problem, though…. I have NO IDEA which grocery store it was, because the logo was so small that I couldn’t read it, even when I was right up on it.

Contrast the Pepsi and Coke ads. Pepsi has a new logo, just in case you’ve been living under a rock. They are plastering the world with it. I thought it was stupid until I saw the TV ads about changing the logo with each new generation. I still think it looks like a stomach, but whatever. Point is, though… I could recognize that sucker from at least 15 seconds away: “Delicioso!” using the new Pepsi logo for the o’s. To the point, and appropriate to Phoenix with it’s 30% spanish speaking population.

Here’s a scary truth for you: people don’t read your ads. If you’re lucky, they scan – so keep the contrast up, the words few and large. If they want more info, they’ll get it from Google like everyone else.

I saw a Rattlers billboard recently. “Half Price Tickets,” with a phone number and URL. Awesome. Too bad I don’t give a crap about arena football, which is probably their problem to begin with.