Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Outdoor Advertising: The King of Impact?



Simply looking at the photo posted above, I challenge you to consider whether you get this kind of impact with another form of advertising outside of outdoor? 


Keep thinking...


Anything? Digital? Print? Possibly television, however that is becoming harder and harder to pull off these days with reduced attention spans.


This FedEx campaign truly signifies what outdoor advertising and more succinctly what 'experiential advertising' can do when done right. For those of you, not immersed in the world of advertising, 'experiential advertising' refers to allowing customers to engage and interact with brands, products, and services in sensory ways. It's the difference between telling people about features of a product or service and letting them experience the benefits for themselves. It is often used to drive sales and increase brand image and awareness. 


In this FedEx campaign, they used Wimbledon’s Tennis Championships main commuter station, Southfields, and transformed it into a lawn tennis court for the duration of the games.
 
This complete hijacking of a major station has certainly allowed FedEx to effectively connect the brand much more prominently with sport just ahead of the Olympics. They have also done it in such a way that it undoubtedly captures the attention and imagination of people. 

What is even more clever I feel, is that when something like this is done right, it also has the potential to become a viral geographical play. WIth a global brand such as FedEx and an assumed strategic objective of turning something like this into a viral spread, one can really see the value this offers to their brand. Good content as we know, is endlessly posted and shared via tweets, blogs and videos and something like this certainly fits those parameters of good posting/re-posting material for many. 

So to come back around, I challenge you to think of another form of media which can not only 'pull' people towards the brand in fun and engaging methods,  but also naturally fit into our newly developed habits of sharing and spreading of good content. 

 

No comments:

Post a Comment