Andréa Fernandes
10 Creative Methods of Advertising
by Andréa Fernandes - February 22, 2008 - 2:45 PM

Due to the ubiquity of advertisements, consumers have become accustomed to them and are able to tune them out. To combat this “problem,” advertisers are coming up with continually more creative ways to get their messages across. The new and unique methods some firms have devised are surely memorable. Of course, if they become as commonplace as scented perfume ads or product placement in TV shows and movies, they too will cease to be memorable.

The 10 most memorable new methods of advertising are…

1. Escalator: Rediffusion DY&R in Mumbai, India, chose to advertise Juice Salon on an escalator. On the bottom of the escalator is an image of a man’s head; on each step, a hairstyle. As the steps slide into the bottom of the escalator, the man’s hairstyle changes.

Juice.jpg

2. Moldy Cheese: The main competitor of Adobe InDesign (publishing software) is Quark, which has long dominated the publishing industry. “Quark,” in German, is also the name for “curd cheese,” a theme that Adobe played off of with a recent promotion for InDesign. Rapp Collins in Germany sent tubs of past-the-expiration-date Quark. Inside was a layer of “mould,” and then a recipe book-inspired flyer advertising InDesign and offering a free download of the program.

InDesign.jpg

3. Fruit: Klas and Maria Lindstrand’s new book, Tutti Frutti, is a fruits and berries resource with facts, recipes, and photographs for each fruit and berry. The advertisements? Fruit stickers. The stickers are the size of the brand stickers usually found on supermarket fruits, but bear the book’s name and instructions to purchase the book online at adlibris. The advertising strategy was conceived by Klas, who also thought to mail the book to critics in the mesh packaging in which fruits, apples, and other fruits are often bought.

Tutti.jpg

4. Dogs in the Park: Pedigree chose to time its adoption drive and the opening of its NYC Dogstore with the Westminster Dog Show. For the 21-year sponsor of the Westminster Dog Show, TBWA\Chiat\Day placed advertising dogs in Central Park. The orange, wooden dogs bore the message, “Wish I was here. But I’m not. Come visit me and other great shelter dogs at the PEDIGREE DOGSTORE on 46th and Broadway.”

Pedigree.jpg

5. Bubble: For the Latin American candy company Arcor, Leo Burnett created a bubble ad. When a magazine reader opens the spread containing the Arcor ad, a 3-D “gum bubble” pops up, creating the illusion that the person in the ad has blown a bubble with Arcor gum.

Arcor.jpg

6. Welcome Mat: BBDO New York produced limited edition welcome mats to promote Havaianas flip-flops. The mats contained flip-flops so, when leaving for the day, one can simply step onto the welcome mat to put on shoes. Upon return, the flip-flops pop right back into the mat.

Mats.jpg

7. Flowerbeds: Another three-dimensional ad created for Havaianas by BBDO New York were giant flip-flop flowerbeds. Located where Havaianas are sold, such as in malls, the flowerbeds were designed to “remind people of Havaianas’ unique aesthetic of color, design, and the brand’s connection to nature and the outdoors.”

Sandal.jpg

8. Codes: Several companies have employed this method in somewhat different ways. Google created a now-famous billboard that simply read, “{first 10-digit prime found in consecutive digits of e}.com”. The billboard was displayed in Silicon Valley, while banners in Harvard Square carried the same message. Those smart enough to solve the puzzle discovered a Web site with another puzzle. Eventually, those who solved all the puzzles were asked to submit a resume.

Google.jpg

When an expert typographer was needed at Lunar BBDO in London, the creative directors devised a similar plan. They created three coded advertisements. In one, the text was completely in Webdings, Wingdings, and Zapf Dingbats. The ads were placed at local design schools and ran in typographic publications. The campaign drew thirty responses.

Typog.jpg

9. Paint-by-Gum: Hubba Bubba chose to promote its product while fighting the gum-on-the-street problem. DDB designed paint-by-number posters for the company; the posters’ color palettes are comprised of different flavors of gum. Gum chewers are encouraged to fill the famous images (the Mona Lisa and Marilyn Monroe) with their used gum.

Hubba.jpg

10. Flavor Strips: Most magazine readers are well-acquainted with scented ads, usually for perfumes. Welch’s is making use of the new flavored-advertising technique developed by First Flavor. This month, issues of People magazine will contain Welch’s ads with flavored strips that resemble mint breath strips. Readers are instructed: “For a TASTY fact, remove & LICK.” The ads have sparked hygiene concerns, since magazines are often passed among readers. However, First Flavor assures that, due to the ad’s design, whether the strip has already been licked is immediately apparent.

Welchs.jpg
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Comments (27)

  1. Does anyone remember the Absolut ads? The bottle appeared within all the ads, although some subliminally. I also remember there was a special promotion with Vanity Fair magazine, in which thigh-high stockings were put in an envelope in each magazine, with crossword images with “Absolut Vodka” in the boxes.

    BTW the stockings ripped easily…a one use only kind of product.

    posted by Karyn on 2-22-2008 at 3:15 pm

  2. Yo my girlfriend tried to get me to lick that grape juice thing; sorry I’m not gonna lick a magazine insert. All the other ads are pretty cool though.

    posted by TMo on 2-22-2008 at 3:34 pm

  3. I love the first one. Very creative!

    posted by kate on 2-22-2008 at 3:37 pm

  4. for number 1… thats an escalator, not an elevator.
    sorry im just weird about stuff like that.

    posted by Blah on 2-22-2008 at 3:46 pm

  5. That first one is great. But Andrea, you “elevator”-ed when you should have “escalator”-ed.

    posted by Jenny M on 2-22-2008 at 3:48 pm

  6. I saw a pretty cool one last year at a mall in Utah. An auto insurance company had covered all of the lines in the parking lot with a reflective tape (looked pretty heavy duty) that had their logo and contact information on it. It wasn’t there a month later, though. I wonder if the tape stopped sticking or if their advertising time ran out.

    posted by jana-banana on 2-22-2008 at 4:01 pm

  7. I want that flip flop mat HARDCORE!

    posted by Emily on 2-22-2008 at 4:13 pm

  8. Jenny M: Thanks for catching that. I just fixed it.

    posted by Andréa on 2-22-2008 at 4:41 pm

  9. I hope I get so see some of these in real life soon!

    posted by Person on 2-22-2008 at 7:43 pm

  10. AirTran Airways did a really cool promo in Chicago last year. They planted huge fields of plastic yard flamingos downtown – down the middle of Michigan Ave and all along Grant Park. I think they were advertising their Florida routes.

    posted by Erin on 2-22-2008 at 8:11 pm

  11. I always appreciate creative ads, or ads that I don’t realize are advertising to me (subtle?)…in Austin, we have a nursery that plants flamingos in the front of it’s business…most folks forget the name of the place, they just call it ‘that pink flamingo place’ and everyone knows what they mean…Its a form of advertising and it helps make Austin Weird…good times…

    posted by donner on 2-22-2008 at 10:31 pm

  12. While clever, there is a certain saddness in the fact that most public space can only be used for “art” by those who can buy it (aka the companies that are advertising). It seems that artistic ingenuity is really only reinforced in the realm of buying shit.

    posted by omega on 2-23-2008 at 2:03 pm

  13. I know people who collect the Absolut Vodka adds because the are always different. I actually have one we use at christmas – it looks like a giant snow flake but when you look at it closely its made out of lots of Absolut Vodka bottles – and we got it out of a magazine.

    posted by Beth on 2-23-2008 at 5:54 pm

  14. Good collection!

    Find hundreds more ambient ideas here: adsoftheworld.com/taxonomy/media/ambient

    posted by ivan on 2-24-2008 at 5:28 pm

  15. Talking about Google, it has been about 14 years that Google started advertising in MENSA bulletin, asking for resumes, to whoever could solve the codes and questions. It gave me chuckle to find them in the monthly magazine.

    posted by thin air on 2-24-2008 at 9:43 pm

  16. awesome ads! really like the first one. so clever :)

    posted by Jo on 2-25-2008 at 7:38 am

  17. I love stuff like this! Let’s face it, most creative people don’t earn enough simply creating art. When those very creative types go to work for ad agencies, the result is some truly awesome advertising.

    I collect pop-up books, and over the years I’ve enjoyed adding several “pop-up ads” from magazines to my collection.

    Great job, Andréa!

    posted by Therese on 2-25-2008 at 2:01 pm

  18. Dole had Curious George stickers on the bananas when the movie came out.

    posted by jedwardcooper on 2-27-2008 at 11:44 am

  19. Any STL Cardinals fan living in St. Louis should remember when the cardinals were “stolen” from the billboards. It was literally a white billboard with the cardinal-sitting-on-a-bat logo, and suddenly it looked as though they were ripped violently from the background “Where’d the cardinals go?” was a question we heard all week. A week or two later they appeared stuck up on a billboard advertising a radio station, which would now be broadcasting the games, and all it says was “The cardinals have moved.” It was clever, and had everyone discussing conspiracy therories and so on!

    posted by Sabrina on 2-27-2008 at 4:23 pm

  20. The flip-flops were brilliant. I am always in awe of the juices of creativity.

    posted by Marney on 2-27-2008 at 4:53 pm

  21. These are all excellent and probably very effective, not so the Late January 2007 campaign of electronic light boards in Boston that sparked bomb scares.

    posted by John on 2-27-2008 at 6:18 pm

  22. Another unique style is the linear zoetrope, used here in the Atlanta rapid transit tunnel. A series of pictures on the wall outside the train appears to create a movie for the riders passing by. The story is at the spodek.net web page.

    Very cool effect.

    posted by Dave on 2-27-2008 at 9:17 pm

  23. Fantastic article.Some Useful information on advertising.Advertising is not only an essential part of multinationals but also helps to bring up small businesses in a significant and profitable way.
    Thanks for some great info.

    posted by Smith on 3-3-2008 at 10:07 am

  24. Was that Paint-By-Gum ad every completed? I would love to see what that would look like!

    posted by KayTee on 2-25-2010 at 12:47 pm

  25. @ Sabrina…yeah, also as a STLer, I recall that shock and confusion over those billboards. Good god, we thought…what were they gonna do next, sell Anheuser-Busch to some foreign company??!!

    BTW, the new electronic billboards are interesting. Saw one yesterday for a new radio station that told me what song they were playing at that moment. Of course, I turned to the station!!

    posted by Marty on 2-25-2010 at 1:00 pm

  26. This guys hand painting ads are always intriguing
    http://www.guidodaniele.com/?page_id=7

    posted by L. Ann on 9-22-2010 at 1:09 pm

  27. L. Ann: You’re right! I love his work.

    posted by Andréa Fernandes on 9-22-2010 at 6:52 pm

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