Clever Outdoor Advertising: Which Is Your Favorite and Why?
A lot of companies have gone away from traditional advertising. It seems like there is a race for creativity and being different. Consumers are okay with this and probably enjoy when companies are really out there with their advertising.
Bic Razors
Outdoor Bridge for Adidas Soccer
Dropped Calls - Cingular
Fed Ex Shirt
Karate School Ad
Mr. Clean on a New York Street
I think all of them are very clever but for me my favorite is Cingular, having just returned from Boston where I wish I had a dollar for every dropped call I experienced. To me, most people use a cell phone every day and some of us every three minutes. Therefore, we experience dropped calls fairly often. Although a pain – a way of life right now and clearly Cingular is playing off that in their campaign.
The Bic razor advertising is unique, but to me I think of Lady Bic so that doesn’t resonate with me. I think the Adidas Bridge Ad is dynamic, eye-catching and probably very dangerous. I wonder how many accidents have occurred because of this ad? The Karate School ad is very clever but I think people will see the ad and might not see the cracks in the pavement. Fedex’s doesn’t standout as much as the others and the Mr. Clean ad is cute but the way it’s positioned, lots of people won’t see it.
So which is your favorite?
- Is it Bic razor?
- Adidas Soccer?
- Cingular?
- Fedex?
- Karate School Ad?
- Mr. Clean?
I look forward to hearing your favorite and why.
August 13th, 2007 at 10:20 am
i like the Mr. Clean and think a lot more people will see it than expected because it is a walking city; plus, i would assume they did it in more than one street.
In Atlanta there is the “cow campaign” for Chick-fil-a where they say, “ear mor chikin”. all of the billboards feature life sizes cows painting the billboards.
http://www.chickfilapressroom.com/eatmorchikin.asp
Another good one was the Cartoon Network campaign. For weeks they just had the phrases on the billboards, like “Shinny Shinny, Pretty Pretty” or “I have buggers” or “I pooted”. it was really funny and everyone was talking about them. Then a month later they put up the cartoon characters to go with it. The buggers one was a cartoon character with a blender up his nose… not sure if the campaign made me want to watch cartoon network, but it caught my eye!
August 13th, 2007 at 10:28 am
My favorite is the Bic razor for its simplicity…and dare I say “clean” lines?
August 13th, 2007 at 10:32 am
They are all pretty clever. The FedEx one wanes in comaprison to the others–definitely last in the list.
I would have to say that my favorite is the Adidas one. Really bloes you away. The Cingular one comes in 2nd place and the Karate one 3rd.
August 13th, 2007 at 10:38 am
I like the razor and Mr. Clean. Both reference or demonstrate the key benefit offered by the brand/product. I would say Mr. Clean wins, as the logo on the Bic is not obvious enough.
August 13th, 2007 at 10:40 am
Mr. Clean.
Knowing not only how dirty NYC streets can be and that it is a walking city, I loved the message here.
August 13th, 2007 at 10:42 am
BIC Razors is cute and my guess is that Mr.Clean is the most effective … a clean white stripe (or anything clean!) would stand out in NY.
Cingular is certainly the most dramatic/eye-catching but could be a double-edged sword. If you were to do a :04 T-Scope on it (which is quite appropriate for a billboard), I suspect we’d get a fair number of respondents saying Cingular had a broken billboard … might impact brand perceptions by inference.
I would offer that your preference for the Cingular ad is driven more by the message than the execution.
Agree with you on the Adidas … too distracting … such ads should not be allowed.
August 13th, 2007 at 10:50 am
I believe I like the BIC ad the most. It’s essentially environmental sculpture and I find that appealing. Cingular also has a sculptural component and is runner-up. FedEx is last on my list.
August 13th, 2007 at 11:25 am
They’re all really clever, and it’s a bit of a toss-up, but I would pick the Adidas. It accomplishes several things at once:
• Excitement: Infuses passion for the sport
• Creativity: Dynamic use of space
• Interactivity: Integrates the experience of driving with the advertisement the goalie is reaching over us to make the save
• Brand Recall/Selling Impact – Multiple product identifiers in one advertisement (as clever as the Cingular add is, you may forget that it’s Cingular. – Also the Cingular focuses heavily on what you don’t want, rather than on what you want)
August 13th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
I like the Mr. Clean ad. It’s subtle, but has the potential to be reproduced many times. Imagine having your ad on every street corner.
August 13th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
I like the Bic ad for it’s simplicity. The Adidas is too “in your face”. And I think the FedEx shirt is cute.
August 13th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
My favorite is the Adidas Soccer ad. Definitely catches your attention, would remember and tell others about.
August 13th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Mr. Clean is my favorite because of its simplicity and could be reproduced on anything dirty for more impressions throughout the city.
The Bic ad is easy to understand and makes a point fast. Very clever. However the locations of the billboards seems limited.
The Adidas ad doesn’t make a point fast enough - the logos are hard to find and with it being over a road, I agree that it’s likely to cause an accident. At first I thought it was an ad for the local soccer team.
August 13th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
My vote is for Mr. Clean. Several of the others are great, but more limited in how many they may be able to put up due to space or cost reasons. I assume the Mr. Clean campaign is relatively inexpensive and could be used many times in any city with heavy foot traffic or in areas with heavy foot traffic in non-walking cities such as sports venues and the like.
August 13th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
I like the Mr. Clean ad - simple but eye-catching. I don’t like the Adidas ad, it’s a little too obnoxious for me. The karate add is cute, but I don’t know how many people would actually notice the crack in the street.
August 13th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
I like the Cingular ad, by far the most dramatic. Great Ad.
August 13th, 2007 at 2:06 pm
Where did you find these images? I would love to see more of them.
August 13th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
Nate,
Thanks for your email. A number of them were sent to me by industry contacts.
I just googled creative advertising pictures and a number of sites came up with pot’s of great creative pictures - many of which i have never seen.
I hope that helps.
Merrill
August 13th, 2007 at 2:36 pm
I like the Bic razor the best. There is something very “conceptual art” about it that I like. But, as someone else mentioned, the Bic logo should be more apparent.
My second choice would be the Adidas Soccer ad- hard to miss, very creative.
My third choice is the Mr. Clean- having spent a little time walking in NYC, I think this would make a positive impression again and again.
August 13th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
I would love to know where that Mr. Clean ad is in NYC — I don’t think I have ever seen so few people in a cross walk in NYC during the day. And speaking from experience, I don’t think enough people would see this ad in NYC — though might do well in other cities and it is clever.
I agree with Jennifer — soccer ad much too “in your face”. Cingular ad gets my vote. I like the Bic ad, but from what we see, can’t tell who’s product it is.
August 13th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
Merrill - what a fun post! Add my vote for Cingular. As for the Adidas ad, I wonder how many accidents it caused.
Stephanie - Love the Chickfila ads too. For those not from Atlanta there are supporting radio ads. Wonderful campaign that is a great example of something that has worked for years.
August 14th, 2007 at 10:36 am
The one that hits me first is the Cingular Ad. The design of the billboard causes me to follow the “calls” down to the ground. It very simply gets it’s point across - we all “get” the dropped calls theory!
The company name is clear. And the size makes it visible to a large number of folks (as long as it’s on a busy street I suppose!).
August 14th, 2007 at 11:43 am
Mr. Clean
I think its funny that they have an advertisement for a cleaning product on a dirty NY street.
I like the soccer on because it is bold. I agree with Kristy, that the adidas doesn’t jump out enough.
October 3rd, 2007 at 3:33 pm
Saw this unique ad and thought it kind of cool.
http://video.mediapost.com/index.cfm?clientfile=otlcheese.jpg