Brands are confidently disguising their logos in outdoor ads but is it effective?

Senior reporter at Drum, Amy Houston, caught up with Uncommon’s Nils Leonard and Pearlfisher’s Jonathan Ford to see how Heinz, Kellogg’s and Tesco have been able to mess with their logos, plus effectiveness experts give their verdict.

Published in The Drum, February 11,2025

While brands experimenting with logo placement is nothing new, a growing number of companies are embracing this approach. In recent months, Heinz, Kellogg’s, Tesco and McDonald’s have all deleted or disguised their logos in outdoor advertising campaigns.

In January, Heinz dropped its logo entirely in a billboard campaign centered around its slogan, ‘It Has to Be’. Instead of featuring the brand name, the ads showcase classic Heinz products alongside their most iconic pairings, such as soup with bread and ketchup with fries, creating a message that feels instantly recognizable.

Kellogg’s, meanwhile, launched a multi-million-pound campaign in January, bringing its iconic rooster mascot back into the spotlight. Set against the brand’s signature red, blue, and white palette, the outdoor posters prominently feature the tagline ‘The OG,’ which uses the same type as the Kellogg’s logo.

Tesco took a different approach, releasing limited-edition Bags for Life as part of an outdoor campaign that replaced its usual branding with words such as ‘Laugh’ and ‘Party’ instead of the standard logo. This followed their outdoor campaign in October 2024 which saw the Tesco logo replaced by food items.

As more brands adopt this playful, minimalist approach, does it risk becoming formulaic, or is this new wave of ads a triumph of art direction?

A canvas misused

Uncommon’s co-founder Nils Leonard believes that outdoor campaigns have been “lost of late” and that the medium has been “a canvas misused by many brands” attempting to make it do jobs it simply isn’t built for.

“That’s why we’ve ended up with a design salad of posters crammed with messages, different-sized type, codes and URLs. If brands approach outdoors with the right intentions, it can be very effective,” he says.

“Awareness, impact, fame and reach are all measurable effects of a good outdoor campaign, but the intangible outputs are just as precious. More than any other medium, outdoor done well is a statement of scale. Conviction. Intent. It says we are here. This message matters. Killer outdoor can invade other mediums – posters are the new social.”

The effectiveness of it all

In today’s media landscape, you have only a split second to capture someone’s attention. Time and time again, we’ve seen how simple, creative ideas with a clear message can quickly go viral on social media. It’s no surprise that many advertisers are adopting this approach, but how effective is it in the long run?

Data shared with The Drum by Andrew Tindall at System1 highlights this trend. Heinz’s ‘It Has to Be Toast’ poster, featuring a close-up of its iconic beans, scored well in the ‘fluency’ category, indicating strong brand recognition. Heinz Beans are arguably one of the company’s most recognizable products.

In contrast, ‘It Has to Be Fries,’ which spotlighted ketchup, received a lower fluency rating. Meanwhile, Kellogg’s ‘OG’ achieved an ‘exceptional’ rating in this category, reinforcing the power of clear, familiar branding.

“Each of these brands is very well established and has spent decades building awareness and recognition with consistent use of logo, brand colors and slogans,” says Scott Green, strategy director at Posterscope, an outdoor media agency. “This gives them a unique opportunity to play with their distinctive brand assets and brand associations in a creative way. The task of this advertising is awareness, recognition, and recall…mental availability.”

Brands need to stop ‘wallpapering’

The benefit of stripped-back communication for the right brand is that it forces the audience to focus on what is being presented in front of them. When hit with a barrage of messages – visual, verbal, sonic, and sensorial – clarity can get lost.

“A singular message can be very, very powerful. And I would say that in the nature we live in now, which is just the white noise of communication, ads that stand out clear and pure are probably nuggets of gold - they get you noticed,” adds Jonathan Ford, founding partner and group creative director at Pearlfisher.

“Advertising is so transient as well. It’s here today, gone tomorrow. To stand out from that white noise is a really difficult thing to do. So, if you can hold somebody’s attention and just make them think, spark their imagination, and get their brain kind of leaning into ‘What is the thing behind this?’ then you are engaging, rather than wallpapering.”

‘Wallpapering’ captures the imagination when you think of how the worst examples are covering up the cracks of a weak brand line or filling a feed with vague, uninspired posts.

In contrast, bold outdoor ads, like Heinz’s, exude confidence, the kind that only truly established brands can successfully pull off. In March 2024, as part of Uncommon’s ongoing ‘A British Original’ series for British Airways, outdoor ads featuring only a partial display of the airline’s logo garnered praise. As Leonard noted at the time, “Only truly iconic brands can say less.”

“While a return to simple, branded outdoor is very welcome, when very similar approaches occur at one time, it feels like a trend, which removes the impact and newness of an idea,” Leonard continues. “While the idea and execution of simple branded outdoor has existed in the past, its resurgence all at once in the last few months dulls the originality of the approach.”

Confidence from brands

Leonard states that Uncommon has become a secret outdoor studio over the last few years, viewing outdoor as a “home for powerful convictions, iconic visuals, surprise and provocation” and that its best client partners do too. “If you can agree from the first second that you are chasing the same stuff then it becomes a shared mission versus a battle,” he adds.

“When an approach as brutally simple as windows has been decided upon, every detail matters. Everything you add could destroy its purity. Every crop and detail could make it less original or more. Being ignored is the only real risk.”

A win for art direction?

Despite this, simple doesn’t necessarily mean interesting and doing less doesn’t make something great. “These crafts are a part of the approach, not the endpoint. The simplicity of any idea also needs to make room for a dash of smarts, some mischief, a magic trick or a moment of wonder,” continues Leonard.

“Overall, any trend pushing a medium to be purer and to make the most of its original USP is welcome. We need the next now, though. Unfollowable work. Divisive work. That’s how we know when we are making something special.”