Advertising is one of the most prominent methods of sending your message to the target consumers. It is divided into many formats one among which is outdoor advertising. Also known as Out of home advertising it caters to grabbing your consumer’s attention when he is outside. Though these days it is very tough to let people notice as social media campaigns has takeover the competition, but if you are able to plan your campaign well there is no end to the returns you can get out of it. With this thought, many companies dabbled into outdoor marketing and produced some memorable ideas which helped them get the kind of response they expected.
1) Billboard
Example, Reebok – are u fast enough
In February 2016 Reebok put up an interesting billboard which would measure the speed of the passers-by. In case anyone of them ran past the billboard at a speed of 17 kilometres per hour he would get a brand new pair of Z pump 2.0 shoes.
An interesting method of outdoor advertising the billboard was provided with an inbuilt speed camera and tracking technology to measure the pace of the people.
2) Portrait
Example, Next Rembrandt
JWT Amsterdam and ING bank took the brand’s association with fine arts to an absolutely new level. The creative team at the agency taught a computer how to make a painting just like the masterpiece painter Rembrandt.
As a result, a new portrait was created which was extremely similar to the style of the painter. Though not particularly related to the brand the ad definitely helped in grabbing the kind of eyeballs it required.
3) Directional billboard
Example- Mc Donald’s
To take over its competitor Mc Donald, Burger King placed an innovative billboard in the countryside of France. A small billboard mentioned that the nearest Mc drive was only 5 kilometres away.
Along with there was a bigger billboard which showed that Burger King was 258 kilometre away and also mentioned the directions to the same. A hilarious attempt to get back to one of its closest competitors.
4) Multiple Billboards
Example- Burger King
Not to be left behind Burger King on Halloween played a prank on competitor Mc Donald’s. They picked up a billboard in New York and dressed it as Mc Donald’s Ghost.
Using flowy white sheets the sign said “Boooooo! Just kidding, we still flame grill our burgers. Happy Halloween. With many people noticing the innovation Burger King surely left Mc Donald’s stumped.
5) Augmented reality
Example- NHS Blood and Transplant’ Virtual Blood donation’
This campaign used augmented reality to let the users donate blood using an iPhone app. On a large billboard, you could see a patient in need of blood. An app on the mobile was connected to the image of this patient.
The app used visual recognition to show a needle and sticker on the user’s arm. This led to the empty blood bag getting filled and the appearance of the patient changing accordingly. A highly successful campaign it picked up a bronze at Media’s week awards.
6) Digital billboards
Example- Sainsbury’s supercharged
To celebrate the Paralympic players Sainsbury from the onset of the games set up digital out of home advertising campaigns to cheer all of them through messages.
They showed the different stages of the players from being kids to the level they are now at. While this campaign ran for two hours from 07am-09am on 700 screens it was interesting trivia being provided to the consumers.
7) Object display
Example- MS – This bike has multiple sclerosis.
Designed by Agency Grey worldwide for a non-profit organisation, it build a bike which had the same symptoms as a patient of MS has. The gears were unpredictable, brakes numb and the frame off balance.
It was created by a cycling Paralympian and was the perfect way to show to the people how the initial stages of that ailment felt like.
8) Social displays
Example- Ikea 25 Square metres
When Syria was facing war like situations and mass destruction Ikea built replicas of Syrian homes near their stores in Norway. This was done with the plain intention of getting people to understand the suffering and donate to Red Cross.
The company had a lot of footage from Syria but none of it was intriguing enough for people to notice and get affected. A brave endeavor this one surely got people’s hearts affected by the pain of living there.
9) Wifi Jack
Example- Audi
In March 2016 Audi entered the New York Auto with a very clever trick in mind. Taking on its rival the BMW 328i it set up free Wi-Fi networks which users could access. However, the catch was that these Wi-Fi networks had names which would be used as future advertising commercial ideas for the Audi A4.
Some of them were also names which would be attacking the profile of the BMW 328i. The networks did get attention and on one time at least 10 of them were in use so as to get the maximum amount of exposure for the brand.
10) Interactive billboards
Example- National Geographic – Endangered species day
To mark Endangered species day the National Geographic Society and Outdoor Advertising Association of America launched the #SaveTogether outdoor campaign. Started on May 19th, 2017 this one overtook the Times Square billboard for one hour. During that time people were asked to locate endangered species posters and take a selfie with them.
They were then asked to share that selfie on Instagram or Twitter under the #SaveTogether outdoor campaign. In return, these people got their share of the limelight by being featured on certain digital outdoor advertisements. This campaign is still on and hopes that people would start paying attention to respecting wildlife and providing them care.
Outdoor advertising has always been there but the attention span of the consumers has shown a decline. But one can simply not ignore advertising as there can be suffering on spending less on it. To get them to notice your brand or social effort you have to think of ideas which are a class apart. Not to forget they should be clear enough to get the point across. The above brands used digital outdoor advertising and tried to do something different. They even managed to make an impact. Out of home marketing efforts are successful only if the marketers are able to think out of the box and its time they understand that.