Month: September 2017

Billboards aren’t always used to continue a previous ad campaign, but it can be a great idea. Also, billboards don’t usually insult or scare the customers watching them. Not only was that seen as impossible throughout most of advertising history, but it was also viewed as a bad idea to hurt the feelings of the people who you want to buy your product.

However, one well-known candy bar brand managed to do all of the above with their Snickers billboard, and it worked out well for them.

Marilyn Dafoe Scaring People

A digital Snickers billboard was set up on a street in New York City. The image showed the famous scene from the 1955 film Seven Year Itch when Marilyn Monroe was standing over a blowing subway grate in a white dress. But, when passersby stopped to look a little bit closer, something happened. Marilyn suddenly looked, well, different.

She would quickly change into the face of Willem Dafoe, but he was still wearing the white dress and recreating the scene. He’d be looking right into their face, and he’d have a big frown – quite different from the lovely smile worn by Marilyn. It may have freaked out quite a few pedestrians, but it certainly got people talking.

Part of a Bigger Snickers Campaign

This may sound like a bit of a random thing to have a billboard do, but it makes complete sense if you know the whole story. Snickers has had a long running campaign of famous people being angry in situations where they didn’t quite fit, and then someone around would give them one of the candy bars. After eating a bite, they’d turn back into someone who made complete sense in the situation.

The whole concept is that “You’re not you when you’re hungry,” but the Snickers bar can bring you back to life. So, the brand decided to use that concept to make that a Super Bowl commercial in 2016, and they went with the whole scene of Dafoe reenacting the iconic image before some tasty chocolate turned him back into Monroe. They made the billboard a few months later, and it served as a brilliant continuation of the ad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT-SAoTXNAs

The Snickers Billboard Was Watching

It may seem like this was just a random changing billboard, but that’s far from the truth. It actually had facial-recognition software built in, so it knew when people were stopping to look at it. If it didn’t have this capability, it wouldn’t have had such an impact because it wouldn’t have been able to startle people. But now, the timing was perfect, and the angry Dafoe was glaring right at the people who would soon subconsciously purchase a Snickers bar when in a bad mood.

Reaction in the Ad World

Both ads were created for Snickers by BBDO New York, and they got a lot of praise throughout the ad industry. Many were impressed at how they were able to resurrect a Super Bowl ad months later, and it’s used as a case study about the successful implementation of facial-recognition software in a billboard. It seems that’s something that people are going to see quite a bit more of.

Billboards Are Still Relevant

In a world where technology seems obsolete about a week after it’s introduced, many people think that billboards are an advertising form of the past. However, this is a perfect example of why they’re not. Most of the people walking by the billboard were interested in it just because it was digitally moving and recreating a famous movie scene where it would’ve taken place. The rest of the world took notice of the campaign because of what happened after that, but the people who saw it would have been interested even if it didn’t have Willem startling them in such a memorable way.

More Media is Better

Another big lesson to learn from this campaign is that you don’t have to limit your advertising to one type of media. Different ads can serve various purposes across multiple different platforms, and this can help to increase engagement and spread your message. This situation even shows that they don’t have to be made at the same time. The Super Bowl commercial came out months before the billboard, but it was brought back to life by the new sign that pushed its way into people’s lives.

Get Creative with Your Own Campaigns

Even if you’re not a producer of candy bars with a budget able to hire celebrity endorsers, putting some creativity into your advertisements can really help your bottom line. But, you don’t necessarily need to pay top dollar to an advertising agency to make it happen. If you have an idea you’d like to see turned into a reality, just get in touch with us for some help. Just make sure to grab a Snickers first, we prefer to deal with people in a happy mood!

Everyone needs a dentist at some point in their lives. That being said no matter where you live, odds are there are a large number to choose from. Dental advertising is a very tough and competitive space to try and get the message and brand across to potential customers. That being said, when the going gets tough, the tough get going, and some dental offices have used humor, creativity, and a number of other ways to utilize outdoor media to their advantage. Here are some of the best dental billboard advertising ideas we’ve seen around.

Whitlock Dental: Getting Some Work Done

Billboards which use dummies dressed up to look like people can be an incredibly effective tool at getting the attention of drivers. Most people are not very used to seeing crews working on installing a new billboard. This means that when a driver does indeed catch someone working on a billboard it catches them off guard, even more so when they realize that the person’s actions are actually in line with the billboard.

Here of course, the message is supposed to demonstrate that the whitening offered by Whitlock Dental is as easy and effective as painting over a billboard.

Coast Dental: Fill In The Gaps

Speaking of catching people off guard and making them feel uncomfortable, here is another billboard which aims to do just the same. When one looks at a billboard, they expect to see one continuous image. The gaps in this billboard defy the expectations of the viewer and thus catch their attention. More than that however, a desire to fix the gap in the billboard is created within the viewer. Those needing braces or who know others who need braces will ideally end up connecting these two thoughts together.

Excellence Dental: Monster Mash

Frankenstein’s monster is a classic and memorable pop culture icon. Regardless if one is familiar with the source material, it is highly unlikely that they aren’t familiar with this giant green abomination. By editing this well known character Excellence Dental is able to grab the attention of drivers who will recognize that something is off.

This is coupled with the clever play of words in the ad, “A great smile changes everything.” While in the context of the ad it is meant as, “a great smile can make you feel more confident,” it takes on a secondary meaning in that “this thing added to something else makes it look very different.”

Rhoads DDS: Scrubbing Away Filth

While many probably remember being told to color inside of the lines during kindergarten and elementary school, this isn’t always the case in the world of professional graphic design and advertising. Thinking outside the box, literally in some cases, will lead to gripping and visually interesting ad campaigns. This ad may not be as exciting as some of the other selections on this list, but in its subtlety lies its brilliance. Having the toothbrush just ever so slightly extend past the borders of the billboard adds a necessary level of dynamism to the ad.

In addition to this, the ad’s use of color is striking and does much to convey its message. The absolutely filthy yellow and the texture used on it creates a sense of unease in the viewer which is then contrasted with the beautiful pure white background that the company’s logo sits on.

Community Dental Care: Billboard Destruction

As previously demonstrated- breaking the “fourth wall” is an effective way of grabbing the attention of your audience. In this case we have a billboard which utilizes two different backgrounds to give the impression that a child is actually eating the billboard.

Given how seemingly bizarre and difficult this task would be, this advertisement is able to use this exaggeration in order to get across the idea that they help build strong teeth. The text goes out of it’s way however to make references to other services, of which are implied just to be as effective as the teeth strengthening.

Center For Dental Implants: Bite This

Perhaps one of the more unique examples here, this billboard actually doesn’t feature any images of teeth or dental products on it. Instead it attempts to paint a vivid mental image in the viewer’s mind of them biting into an apple.

It uses this as a sort of filter in order to connect with its target audience. Those that imagine biting into the apple and enjoying it are essentially disqualified from the offer. If the viewer however were to imagine going through pain or difficulty then the billboard has found someone who stands to benefit from their service. It reminds these viewers of the pain they experience and offers a personal and relevant solution to them.