The Outdoor Media Centre, the representative of companies specialising in outdoor advertising, has found that Britons would love to see the whole country covered with advertisements. It's a really import part of people's information gathering process and an integral part of the customer journey on so many categories, according to the lobby group.

As per usual, the new national research can't be verified. Even so, it seems clear the study is yet another example of presenting a marketing exercise as science. For instance, one of the findings is that between 60 and 70% of respondents agreed that outdoor advertising can be clever, humorous and entertaining. The marketing trick here is to use the verb can. I mean, sitting in a dentist's waiting room can be humorous and entertaining. The finding doesn't tell us anything about how people feel about outdoor advertising in general.

Proper research into outdoor advertising would probably paint a mixed picture. There are many types of outdoor advertising, some of which are more agreeable than others. Personally, I don't have much of a problem with a poster on a bus shelter, provided it helps fund the structure. What I do object to are bill boards that benefit nobody apart from the advertiser. To give an example, the photos below show the Dereham Road / Heigham Road junction in Norwich. Pure cityscape pollution, if you ask me. There are no less than eleven bill boards…