TRACTA :: 4eyes

Here’s another selection of clever, creative and cunning executions from around the world.  Enjoy!

Outdoor

Outdoor advertising expanded beyond the standard billboard long ago.  We’ve all seen examples of billboards that visually depict the message as well as just saying it.  Here’s another one, for road safety from the Colorado State Patrol. Not all outdoor advertising needs a billboard site, as this pedestrian crossing for a McDonalds in Switzerland shows.  And sometimes it doesn’t matter where you put it, if the message is compelling, it will get noticed.  Clever copywriting in this poster for Dayton Boots from Canada.

Online Banners

Some recent reports have stated that banner advertising is dead, and social is king.  But banner advertising still provides excellent reach, and is a great support for campaigns in other media.  And with the merging of Flash and interactive technologies into display ads, there is still a lot of potential for increasing engagement and interactivity.  This banner for Orcon Internet (from Special Group in Auckland) shows what is possible with a strong, innovative idea and good investment in production.  It’s been getting good press locally and internationally!

And taking interactivity to the next level, this campaign for a men’s fragrance from Brazil developed a truly expanding banner!

Partnerships

Not necessarily advertising, but business partnerships can form a platform for marketing initiatives.  One example is this partnership between Payless Shoes and Office Max, for the back-to-school season in the US.  If you spend at one store, you get a discount voucher for the other.  Both stores should benefit from increased patronage, and the consumer gets to save a bit more.  It’s a win=win=win!

And while it’s not purely commercial, ASB supporting NZ Police with their Serial Number Action Project shows social responsibility and community support.  It could also potentially reduce insurance payouts. Hmmm… ASB offers insurance — maybe there is a commercial imperative behind it?

TV/Video

Just one… a new “moment of joy” from Cadbury’s Glass and a Half Full Productions.

Cheers,

Artistically driven, this press ad from MAF highlights the dangers of buying imported timber.

Here’s an excellent example of integrating real-time content (in this case, Twitter feeds) into an ambient experience, from Tourism Canada.

Car advertising taken to the next level, with a virtual test drive from Toyota in Germany.  A number of advertisers are incorporating “augmented reality” into their campaigns, such as 42 Below.  This sort of thing can definitely generate increased brand interaction within a loyal audience, and create interest while the technology is new and interesting.  There must be more potential than just delivering cool pictures on a screen though… that’s what I’m waiting to see!

Here’s the best collection of old NZ ads I’ve seen, from the Film Archive.  With classics such as Mr Dollar introducing decimal currency, Raro the instant breakfast drink, Cadbury Crunchie train and heaps more (did you know there were ads for bananas in the 1960s?  Maybe you do, if you were alive then..).

Finally, here’s another chance for you creative types to get something for free.  Design your own personal wrap for a new Mini Cabriolet, get it made and keep the car (for 4 months).

Cheers,

This year’s Superbowl Sunday, when the New Orleans Saints won their first ever NFL title, garnered the highest average audience for any television programme ever in America.  Within about 3.5 hours of game time, there were nearly 48 minutes of ads, which went for around $3million per 30-second spot.

You can see all of the ads here, thanks to YouTube aggregating them all together (superbowl ads are potentially talked about more than the game itself). This may even have been a deal with the broadcast network CBS, as you’ll see their programme promos also feature within YouTube’s selection. Direct links to the most popular ads:

Snickers Doritos Bud Light Budweiser And my favourite   Google

But it’s not all about TV ads this week, and it’s not all about America either.  Here are three examples of taking a campaign idea and extending it, to take advantage of the media environment and generate true consumer interaction.

We start with a simple, but striking, billboard execution from Kenya.  We have seen this before, carrying a billboard execution outside the boundaries of the 6×3 to make it fit with its environment/placement.  High concept but not high cost!

This (high concept, high cost) tactical project for Nokia in the UK takes billboard advertising to the next level.  I’ll let the video tell the story!

Another video, this time explaining how DDB put together an interactive (TV, radio, web) campaign for NZ Coastguard.  I’m not entirely sure if it reached the core target audience of irresponsible boaties, but hopefully the coverage will have resulted in a bit of financial support for the Coastguard.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this (and not wasted too much time or bandwith!!).  Would you like to see more creative ad executions from Four Eyes?  Do you have any favourite ads you’d like to share? Let me know with a comment below.

Yes it’s been nearly a month since there’s been a contribution from Four Eyes.

So it’s time for a catch up!  I know you’ve all been missing the little funnies and neat ads, so here are a few for y’all!

Another slide show to Fatboy Slim’s “Right Here Right Now” – THE SOCIAL MEDIA REVOLUTION

Zippo’s iPhone application – one of the most popular there is (demo)!

Online music store @ The Edge (and The Rock and Mai FM)

Steinlager Edge campaign – very clever alignment with content

The next episode in Stuff’s “consequences” campaign

Is it a car?  Is it an iPhone?  Nissan wants you to think it’s both!

Enjoy!  And watch out for more news updates next week…