We see advertisements every day, but few of them are creative or shocking enough to make us stop and take notice. These brilliant campaigns not only look impressive, but also grab the viewer’s attention long enough to let the message sink in. While you might not care about the product or cause being advertised in these ads, it’s hard to deny the genius involved with designing something so eye-catching.
100+ Unique Uses of Traditional Advertising Media
One of the most difficult challenges an advertiser faces is getting someone to pay attention to something they see every day. Making mundane billboards, benches, escalators, stairs, elevators and buses into interesting advertising spaces isn’t easy, but with a clever idea, even the most boring canvas can come alive.
16 Creative Billboards (and 15 More, and Yet 18 More): There are those that see billboards as distracting obstructions in city skylines and there are those that see potential greatness in these sky-high blank slates. These billboards show just how cool the space can be when the design involves just a little bit of creative insight.
15 Clever Bench Ads: When most people see an advertisement on a bench, they just plop down, but with inspired ads like these, people find it hard to just sit there, and instead take pictures and tell their friends.
15 Great Escalator& Stair Ads (and 15 Elevator Ads): Rather than just applying pictures or words to stairs, escalators and elevators, these creative ad campaigns play with the tiers, doors and movements, placing them at the top of their game when it comes to elevated advertising.
Transportation With Style: Bus ads are seen by pedestrians and drivers alike, but whereas most of these ads are forgotten almost immediately, the playful messages on these buses stick with viewers throughout the day.
Over 100 Great Guerrilla Marketing Movements
Guerrilla marketing is one of the most innovative forms of advertising. These playful and thought-provoking installations make the viewer feel strong emotions about what they are seeing, even if it revolves around a corporate message instead of a work of art.
What is guerrilla marketing?: For a better understanding of guerrilla marketing, and to enjoy some brilliant campaigns, this WebUrbanist exclusive, eight-part series is a must see. It covers the origins, corporations, nuances, social uses, types, and future of guerrilla marketing, along with answering that difficult question, “is guerrilla marketing right for you?”
22 Ads From Bizarre to Brilliant: Everyone from bookstores to condom manufacturers to laundry detergent companies, is in on the guerrilla marketing bandwagon these days, but that doesn’t make these ads any less entertaining.
14 Fun Urban Street Ads: These ads, often created by professional artists, tip toe the line between marketing and artwork. The result is visually-stunning ads that actually get people to stop and take note.
12 Extremely Effective Guerrilla Marketing Stunts (and 13 More): Unlike most forms of advertising, guerrilla marketing isn’t limited to traditional mediums and can even interact directly with the viewer. These galleries are filled with 25 effective guerrilla marketing campaigns that were attention-grabbing enough to get people to stop in the street.
10 Intense Public Guerrilla Marketing Posters: Marketers have used posters for centuries, but these 10 shocking ads use their specific installation locations to make a much more powerful statement than any picture could on its own.
15 Cool, Crazy and Innovative Guerrilla Marketing Campaigns (and 15 More): These guerrilla campaigns show just how varied the mediums can be when it comes to the art of advertising. With everything from shopping bags, billboards, subway installations, crosswalks and more, these ads get attention in almost every way possible.
Over 100 Effective Advertisements For Great Causes
Public service announcements, political organizations and charities often have small ad budgets and end up with less memorable marketing campaigns as a result. These campaigns show that a well-presented powerful message can get plenty of attention, even without a huge investment.
15 Great Green Ads (and 11 More, and Yet 29 More): These days, everyone knows the environment needs help. The trick is to move viewers from the realm of knowledge and inspire them to actually take action. These ads did just that.
15 Ingenious Humanitarian Subvertisements: The environment isn’t the only cause worthy of attention. These 15 ads inspire the average shopper to take action to help their fellow man, whether that means donating blood, food, money or time.
18 Creative And Bizarre Safe Sex Ads (and 20 More): With some schools still teaching abstinence only programs, safe sex ads are an important social contribution, helping to reduce unplanned pregnancies, and the spread of dangerous and deadly diseases.
20 Brave and Bold Advertisements
Advertisers have to carefully toe the line of socially acceptable messages and imagery, but sometimes they find a company willing to break the rules. These 20 ads crossed boundaries, in some cases resulting in effective communication with the audience, but not all of the advertisers were so lucky.
15 Cool and Crazy Controversial Advertisements: It takes guts for a company to use revolting imagery, graphic content or pro-drug messages to promote their message, but these 15 ads successfully pushed boundaries and came out ahead.
5 Examples of Guerrilla Marketing Gone Wrong: Of course, not all daring moves pay off. These 5 attempts at guerrilla ads not only failed miserably, but resulted in everything from resentment to bomb scares.
