Why Has Minimalism Become a Movement In advertising?

Long-copy ads have waxed and waned in fashion for years, but in today's time-poor and media-cluttered world, they are distinctly out of favour. Is less, indeed, more for modern advertisers?

Instead, we have seen major food, drink, and retail marketers turn to using small or understated - but highly distinctive - brand assets or cues in their advertising, particularly in outdoor campaigns where a picture is left to tell, not quite, 1,000 words.

Recent months have seen some of the most familiar brands in the UK - Tesco, McDonald's, Stella Artois, Häagen-Dazs and Müller create the trend or shying away from a reliance on branding.

To some, this might look counterintuitive - the antithesis of brand building. But maybe that doesn't really matter when their brands are already so well-established.

So what's the reason behind the current popularity of 'minimalist' ads - and is it a trend that will endure longer than those long-copy ads of the past?

Helen Rhodes, CCO, Grey

Since the first day of ad school I’ve been told “Simplify, simplify, simplify.”

Tony Cullingham drummed into us to have single-minded ideas that are both relevant and original.

However, it’s easy to veer from this when you’re faced with a six-page brief full of waffle and the client has a bucket load of benefits they want to convey, but the old adage is true “if you juggle too many balls, you’ll drop them”. The worst thing we can do is overwhelm the consumer and risk them taking in nothing at all.

So if more and more brands are adopting a minimalist approach to cut through the noise and create memorable campaigns then that can only be a good thing.

It makes brands look confident, self-assured in their own advertising skin, not having to bombard the viewer with multiple messages to get their point across.

And although it may be easier for big, blue chip brands to do this, especially in the OOH arena where they can play with their logo in an iconic way, such as Coca Cola’s ‘Recycle Me’ campaign and McDonalds do it all the time with their golden arches, I don’t think it should be mutually exclusive to them. I actually think it is even more important for the smaller brands to exhibit a similar, single-minded confidence in their advertising in order to punch above their weight and standout. The key is to find that compelling human truth that resonates with people and unite it with extraordinary creativity. The kind of work that seems so obvious in hindsight because the insight is so universal and the execution is so beautifully simple.

Mark Shanley, ECD, adam&eveDDB

While this is a contemporary trend, there’s nothing new about it. Minimalist posters are how they teach you to make a poster in art direction 101. Reduce. Reduce. Reduce. Take away superfluous elements until all that remains is what’s absolutely necessary to get your message across. But while it has long been considered the ideal solution to a poster brief it has always proved frustratingly elusive to most of us. The reason is of course pretty obvious - when you reduce that much you’re often left with the ability to say just one thing and more often than not, briefs demand you say a few more things than just one.

But it definitely is a trend now. And it’s a trend for a reason, mirroring a broader cultural shift toward elegance through understatement. Take fashion’s ‘quiet luxury’ trend for example. Big established fashion brands signalling prestige by eschewing the classic form of badging - their logos. Quiet luxury means no visible logos on the apparel. As with minimalist OOH, the power lies in restraint. It’s about confidence. And that’s what these posters are doing, confidently saying less but with a greater impact. Arguably a much, much greater impact. Luxury brands have always done this. Have a flick through the first 20 glossy pages of Vogue or GQ for the latest proof.

But alas, these beautiful, minimal, confident posters are not for everyone. And you only have to look at who’s doing it to understand why: British Airways, McDonald’s, Tesco, Heinz. These are big brands. Household names who don’t need to introduce themselves. We know who they are, what they stand for and more than likely what they want to say to us in the poster. One simple message,for example: we sell delicious breakfast food.

So maybe every billboard and every screen is shouting at us and in response some people are taking a different approach. Or maybe we’re just finally making posters the way we were always supposed to. One thing you can’t argue with is that in a cluttered visual landscape minimalist posters cut through the noise by saying less. But saying it better. They demand attention with a quiet confidence in their one message. Whispering to be heard above all of the shouting.

Emiliano De Pietri, CCO, McCann London, Global Creative Partner, Global Brands

Why has minimalism become such a popular strategy for major brands?

We live in the age of bottle service sparklers and Ferrari SUVs. That big fat wedding in Venice a few weeks ago is a prime example of the type of maximalism that rules the world today. In this context, quiet and minimal is the new Bolshevik revolution. Confidence versus try-hard. Conversational versus pompous. There’s still hope for humans.

Is a minimalist strategy something more brands can and should adopt – or is it restricted to blue chip brands that can afford it?

Any brand can do minimalism. You don’t need to be well-established or well-known. Coinbase was far from being mainstream when it won the Direct Grand Prix with the bouncing QR code in 2022. Volkswagen was the underdog when it launched Think Small in the U.S. in the 60s. You could say Think Small not only marked the birth of modern advertising, but also the birth of minimalism in advertising. The context in which it was published was similar to today’s: a nation ruled by V8 Pontiacs and Chevrolets with chrome everything that were only matched in excess by their ads.

Related to the above – how do/should creatives select what to include and what not to?

I apply the same rule I apply when I write. If I take this is out, does the sentence still make sense? And if I take this out, does the sentence get the idea across more precisely, more vividly, more memorably, more unexpectedly? Short is always better (unless you’re Marcel Proust) and today often countercultural.

Why does it seem to work best in OOH? Does it work more effectively elsewhere?

Outdoor is a great medium for minimalism. BA and McDonald’s have done a fantastic job lately. But it can work anywhere. There are some very good film examples. If you look at Apple’s ‘R.I.P. Leon’ — that film, in my book, is minimalist. The lizard is dead. Wait, it’s not dead. Unsend text. Adiós. That’s something Apple usually gets right. One simple product benefit explained epically. So epically, in fact, that it transcends product to become brand communication. All done with a minimalist strategy at the core. The best big ideas are usually simple. It’s a fact. An E.T gets stranded on Earth. He makes human friends. They help him get home. The end.

Lucas Peon, CCO, The Gate

Minimalism is a system where every element has earned its place. It forces precision. That’s why it’s powerful. And that’s why the best brands practice it

But for me, minimalism is not about cosmetic choices, it’s about decisions made at the foundational level of a brand. These decisions allow you to practice minimalism across your communication. Without them, you can’t. Because minimalism isn’t absence. It’s intent. It’s knowing exactly what you're after.

A lot of brands are trying to grow through work shaped by compromise and diplomatic concessions, or by a lack of confidence that leads to saying too much. But the best brands know what really matters and focus only on that. That’s why they stand out.

And that’s why it works so well in OOH (think McDonald’s “Follow the Arches” Campaign or "Shot on iPhone" by Apple), and just as well anywhere else. When everything is screaming, the right words, even if you whisper them, get you heard. And whatever brand you are, whether a blue chip or a local one, that's what you're after.

Practicing minimalism will lead any brand to better work.

Lindsay Gorton-Lee, brand strategy consultant, Kantar

Is minimalism as a creative strategy rising in popularity? Or is maximalism - creating chaotic, wtf effects to gain attention and create buzz - the new way to stand out?

Whether it is waxing or waning, minimalism is an effective creative device to grab attention, convey transparency, suggest a sense premium or convey a specific brand tone of voice.

Minimalism can put focal content centre stage, giving it prominence. Stella Artois uses minimalism to this effect.

Minimalism’s visual restraint can also cue a level of confidence, sophistication, and intention, often associated with high-end products. You don't have to be a premium brand to use it, but it won't be effective for all premium brands. Apple, Céline, and Bang & Olufsen have minimalism at their core, whereas Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci or Roberto Cavalli, often cue luxe through visual excess.

Minimalism also works well in beauty or food and drink where transparency, purity, and Marie Kondo inspired mindfulness continue to gain momentum.

But before you jump onto the minimalism bandwagon, it’s worth thinking about whether it’s right for your brand’s DNA and unique tone of voice. Will it reinforce your brand difference?

The semiotics of minimalism often conveys one of two distinct tones of voice.

The first is of order, refinement, and artistry. Visually it is understated, pared back, no frills. It is curated and composed, often using symmetry, repetitive pattern and clean lines, with strong use of neutral colours. Brands like Jo Malone, Audi, The Ordinary and Mint Velvet use this style across all touchpoints, including their instore experiences, to convey an elegance, expertise and progressiveness.

The second tone of voice conveys straight-forwardness and simplicity. Visually it is typically a zoomed-in look at the ordinary and the everyday, with cropped images and off-centre content which draw the viewer in. Limited colour palettes often include warm, summery colours in the mix. And shapes can be organic and irregular. Tesco’s and McDonald’s OOH campaigns are great examples of this style, using it to convey transparency and approachability.

Whatever your rationale for tapping into minimalism, make sure that you are using it a consistent, connected way so that each brand encounter reinforces the next. Kantar evidence shows that consistency gives your brand real

Guy Hobbs, ECD, FCB London

In 1960, DDB’s iconic 'Lemon' ad for VW had Mad Men gasping and dropping glasses of brown liquor in disbelief at its avant-garde minimalism. Here was an ad that looked like nothing else. A tiny photo. An ocean of white. A single-word headline that labelled the car defective. In an era when ads were basically overenthusiastic novellas, crowded with boasts, bullet points, and asterisked footnotes, it must have felt like a transmission from another planet.

But here’s the kicker. This famously minimalist ad had 217 words of body copy. Two hundred and seventeen! That’s basically a podcast transcript. You’d never get away with it now. No one would finish it. Or start it. Or even see it. Because I promise you the presentation where you try and jazz hands your way through 200+ words of body copy is not going to go well.

Today, attention is less of a commodity than a scarce and precious resource like cobalt. And like cobalt, it’s difficult and expensive to mine.

Which makes today’s minimalism different. Back in the day, minimalism was a provocation. A rebellion against clutter. Today, it’s a necessity. A survival mechanism. We don’t strip ads down to be bold. We strip them down to be seen. Because eight seconds is our attention span. Because the value of one second of true attention has increased 17x since 2010. Because our ideas need to show up just as clearly in AV as they do on a postage-stamp sized banner ad in a regional weather app. And because in 2025, the more confident the brand, the less it feels the need to explain itself.

So yes, 'Lemon' shocked the old guard with its restraint. But even its minimalism now feels maximal. And maybe that’s the real lesson: minimalism is never just about less. It’s about context. And in the attention economy, context is everything.