An Avalanche of Ambient Ads
It may be hard to believe, but the average person sees 3,000 ads per day. They're everywhere – at the gas pumps, in a bathroom, in the movie theater, on a bus – advertising is impossible to avoid. But can you name at least 10 out of 3,000 that you've seen today? Probably not!
Ambient advertising refers to bold ads in public places that really push the envelope. With the cost of traditional media advertising skyrocketing and an overabundance of ads fighting for consumers' attention, marketers are aggressively seeking out new advertising vehicles. Cars, bicycles, taxis and buses have become moving commercials. Ambient ads appear on store floors, at gas pumps, in washrooms stalls, on elevator walls, park benches, telephones, and even pressed into the sand on beaches.Following are descriptions of a few of the best.
A Play on Words. To enforce their claims of less dropped calls, Cingular posted an in-your-face billboard in Times Square – at 45th and Broadway – which has visitors snapping away with their cell phone cameras. The billboard, with the words “Hate Dropped — ?” is placed high on the building, with a big hole where the word “calls” should be, A smaller billboard with the word “calls” is strategically placed on the ground to appear as if it had been dropped. Love it or hate it, you have to hand it to creators BBDO because they've really scored with this one.
Visualization. Regardless of attempts to be organized in the modern world, most of us continue to be ashamed of one or more junk drawers around the house – black holes filled with old receipts, pens, and random trinkets. But now you can flaunt your junk drawer with a simple yet brilliant under-the-staircase drawer solution. Ikea creates a great visual of this great product in their stores by placing pictures of meticulously-organized drawers containing clothing and other items on the top of each step on a staircase. At the bottom of the staircase is a message on the floor: “Create space. Organize.” It really makes the mind imagine all the great ways to use under-the-staircase storage drawers.
A star is born. Paparazzi obsession has flooded the advertising world, from fashion editorials to a Nikon D700 phone advertisement in Korea. The billboard ad is mounted in the passageway of a mall next to a red carpet. The ad features a huge crowd of paparazzi appearing to aggressively point their flashing cameras at you, the passerby. Clearly this Nikon D700 phone billboard targets the narcissist, and judging by the growing number of self-loving photographs we've seen, the campaign could very well connect with their target audience!
The benchmark. A bench is a bench – except when it's also a platform for a surprising, thought-provoking, memorable advertisement that sometimes even functions as urban art. The best bench ads turn ubiquitous public furniture into interactive displays that entreat the public to get fit, go on vacation, try a new product and even conserve. Nestle's Kit Kat bench ad includes brown slats of a bench partially enveloped in a Kit-Kat wrapper It's a perfect candy visual that undoubtedly has many onlookers suddenly craving chocolate-covered wafers.
An Avalanche of Ambient Ads
It may be hard to believe, but the average person sees 3,000 ads per day. They’re everywhere – at the gas pumps, in a bathroom, in the movie theater, on a bus – advertising is impossible to avoid. But can you name at least 10 out of 3,000 that you’ve seen today? Probably not!
Ambient advertising refers to bold ads in public places that really push the envelope. With the cost of traditional media advertising skyrocketing and an overabundance of ads fighting for consumers’ attention, marketers are aggressively seeking out new advertising vehicles. Cars, bicycles, taxis and buses have become moving commercials. Ambient ads appear on store floors, at gas pumps, in washrooms stalls, on elevator walls, park benches, telephones, and even pressed into the sand on beaches.Following are descriptions of a few of the best.
A Play on Words. To enforce their claims of less dropped calls, Cingular posted an in-your-face billboard in Times Square – at 45th and Broadway – which has visitors snapping away with their cell phone cameras. The billboard, with the words “Hate Dropped — ?” is placed high on the building, with a big hole where the word “calls” should be, A smaller billboard with the word “calls” is strategically placed on the ground to appear as if it had been dropped. Love it or hate it, you have to hand it to creators BBDO because they’ve really scored with this one.
Visualization. Regardless of attempts to be organized in the modern world, most of us continue to be ashamed of one or more junk drawers around the house – black holes filled with old receipts, pens, and random trinkets. But now you can flaunt your junk drawer with a simple yet brilliant under-the-staircase drawer solution. Ikea creates a great visual of this great product in their stores by placing pictures of meticulously-organized drawers containing clothing and other items on the top of each step on a staircase. At the bottom of the staircase is a message on the floor: “Create space. Organize.” It really makes the mind imagine all the great ways to use under-the-staircase storage drawers.
A star is born. Paparazzi obsession has flooded the advertising world, from fashion editorials to a Nikon D700 phone advertisement in Korea. The billboard ad is mounted in the passageway of a mall next to a red carpet. The ad features a huge crowd of paparazzi appearing to aggressively point their flashing cameras at you, the passerby. Clearly this Nikon D700 phone billboard targets the narcissist, and judging by the growing number of self-loving photographs we’ve seen, the campaign could very well connect with their target audience!
The benchmark. A bench is a bench – except when it’s also a platform for a surprising, thought-provoking, memorable advertisement that sometimes even functions as urban art. The best bench ads turn ubiquitous public furniture into interactive displays that entreat the public to get fit, go on vacation, try a new product and even conserve. Nestle’s Kit Kat bench ad includes brown slats of a bench partially enveloped in a Kit-Kat wrapper It’s a perfect candy visual that undoubtedly has many onlookers suddenly craving chocolate-covered wafers.