I really like this idea. To advertise their live coverage of the 21 days of the Tour De France, SBS created a live rotating billboard powered by a cyclist on a stationary bike. The cyclist pedaled from 8am to 4pmfor 21 days, with only 2 days of rest. Rain, wind, sun, hail, it didn’t matter - he kept pedaling.

This ad campaign did exactly what it was supposed to do - it got people to notice and it drove home its intended advertising message. The word-of-mouth marketing effect was likely huge, too (as I blog about it).

Thanks for the tip, Brandflakes.

Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com

Snickers has been touting their candy bar as a great solution to that hunger between real meals for a while now, and they’ve just taken a new, dramatic step toward building that brand. Their new ads are extremely effective in getting that message across without beating around the bush. That said, I am frightened. Check them out, via Adfreak:

On a side note - I want a Snickers. It really satisfies.

Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com

Thanks to Agency Spy for pointing me to this ad done by DraftFCB for Oreo.

It just goes to show you that sometimes design doesn’t even involve fancy graphics or effects. Sometimes it’s all about finding a creative way to use something existing (exposed elevator) to create drama around a product or service.

How sweet would it be, though, if there was a kiosk just around the corner that sold Oreos? Instant gratification…

Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com

With the rising popularity of social media and consumer generated media it’s not surprising that even advertisers are getting in on the fun.  A new campaign by life insurance giant New York Life has consumers writing their own ads.  The Blue Box Challenge encourages customers to go online and enter three short words that express their messages of love to their families (it’s supposed to be expressing what impact life insurance has has one their life).  If chosen, your ad will appear on newyorklife.com and you’ll win $100 for the charity of your choice. 

I really like the trend of involving consumers in marketing campaigns.  It’s an interesting way to forge an even stronger connection between a consumer and a brand.  It will be fun to watch this trend grown in the future - it makes me wonder whether at some point we’ll be able to define our own preferences and be served ads that talk to us the way we want to be talked to.  That would be stellar. 

What do you think? And what did your ad say? Via Adfreak.

Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com  

Check out this recent work by Leo Burnett Chicago for McDonalds. It’s a billboard shaped like an egg that opens gradually from 6:30am to 10:30am announcing that McDonalds serves “Fresh Eggs Daily” during that time period. When breakfast is over, the egg closes right back up.

It was put up just outside of a McDonalds location near Wrigley Field to invite hungry customers in for breakfast. My guess is that it met its advertising objective, which was to make people notice that McDonalds serves fresh eggs for Breakfast, but I wonder what the return on investment was? It looks like the ad may have been placed on their property, so they probably saved ad space dollars, but I wonder what the production costs were? Even still, this HAD to be more effective than a traditional billboard…

I think McDonalds needs to install these at every location just to remind me that breakfast ends at 10:30.  Better yet, how about a McDonalds that serves breakfast foods all day long?  Now that would be something…

Via Agency Spy.

Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com/

Adfreak (Adweek) alerted me to some pretty cool work that I hadn’t yet seen, and I think it’s worth passing along. Each has to do with climate change and the effect we’re having on the environment, and attempts to resonate with the emotions of the person interacting with the displays.

Here’s a cool promotion from the World Wildlife Fund encouraging people to save paper, and in doing so, save the planet:

And here’s some work from the National Resources Defense Council - These are all really interesting ways to make people take notice that things are changing and unless we do something about it, the planet is going to be in big trouble

Color changing coffee cup:

Water cooler jug graphics:

And a bus shelter that collects rain water (click for full size & to read headline):

Stunning work, and really innovative.

Garret Ohm
http://www.orange-element.com