I stumbled on these pictures of an Ikea campaign they did in the Paris subway (hattip to @fjfonseca).
My initial reaction was a very positive oh well that’s cool and different. But then I remembered it wasn’t different. Ikea has done this in several cities before and really its a it old school. While it is a good little stunt to generate some PR and blog posts, how is it really elevating the brand or increasing brand sales?
The most obvious social additive would have been incorporating some QR codes on the physical items as well as the signage. A user could scan the item (or enter a code depending on the demo’s smart phone use). They would receive more information (price, dimensions, other colors), the actual catalogue or web page or immediately be able to order it from their local Ikea.
To make it more social Ikea could have used those special codes (either text or scannable) for use in Social Gaming. There are plenty of FB games that allow you to build and furnish your house, farm, etc and while I’m unsure of their popularity in France, I’m sure they have something similar.
Come on guys step it up…even just a little. Couches in the subway are cool but just not enough these days.
Outdoor is just not as creative as it should be. Very few brands take advantage the possibilities of outdoor which is why I appreciate the out of the box thinking on this campaign by Agency V out of Paris, France. But it falls short in execution.
Polo Match. An endless list of equipment.
What do you think? I don’t want to skew your opinion so I’ll let you know my thoughts after the jump…
Times are tough within the ad industry, not just for us agency folks vendors and reps are killing for a buy right now. Reps have started calling weekly to check in for updates and whoring out their rates just for a tiny bit of cash flow.
CBS Outdoor in England has taken a different approach to the recession. They utilized their network of signage within London’s tube’s to launch a campaign which demonstrates the effectiveness and value of their space. As much as I adore digital, out of home has so many opportunities to be creative and reach a mass of people without the constraints of electronic mass media. It is definitely not included enough in most campaigns, especially tied back to digital.
CBS Outdoor utilized their signage network within 35 Tube stations throughout London, placing controversial images that lead viewers to the site TimeToConsider.co.uk to vote, comment and engage with the campaign images.
The ad campaign ended on May 20th and generated millions visitors to the site, thousands of votes and 617 comments in total on the four images (shown below).
The Brand Republic had this quote from Mike Hemmings, CBS Outdoor’s London Underground brand manager in this article.
”Using a standard Underground pack, we’ve shown that Underground advertising can be central in leading opinion, debate and awareness, not just within London, but across the UK.Who knows how many conversations this has created over a pint in the pub, but the volume of online debate alone highlights how Tube ads are remembered, talked about and acted on far beyond this initial three-minute exposure.”
I only realized it was Shark Week on the Discovery Channel this week because it peaked on Google Trends…but do love Shark Week. Not as much as I love Cash Cab on the Discovery Channel, but its pretty close!
The Discovery Channel has turned out some pretty great creative to promote it in NYC this year.
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