So for my blog entry, I wanted to share with you a piece of ambient marketing that I thought was very clever indeed.
For as along as I can remember, I’ve always been a huge fan of ambient marketing. I love ideas that really capture the imagination of the viewer and make them look and feel something in a way they thought they would.
I especially love marketing that promotes a specific cause, advertising that supports charities spreading important and insightful messages about life and the vulnerabilities it can often involve, topics such as drink driving, smoking, health and well being. Now we all see adverts every day that give us the old ‘Don’t do this…’ and ‘Don’t do that…’ and to be honest, it just gets tiring and boring to watch and it’s no wonder people switch off and don’t listen.
Personally, I really feel that there is much more scope for ambient marketing when it comes to tackling issues such as the above and I feel that by taking that risk and doing something different and never seen before, it would really change a viewers perception and help them think about making a change.
What led me to talking about the above was a beautifully crafted campaign brought to us from Spain where the agency involved tackled the topic of skin cancer. Now this is obviously less of a problem here in the UK as exposure to the sun is very rare indeed but in Mediterranean countries such as Spain, this topic is very serious indeed.
None of us can deny that when the sun is shining, we all can’t wait to get out and enjoy it, many of us look forward to holidays abroad where we can relax and bath in it but the damage it can do is something people tend to overlook and don’t really think about as much as they should.
The agency involved here chose an ambient method to advertise this topic to the residents and tourists of Madrid. The figure stands at around 700 people losing their lives do to this disease each year, if people took care of their skin, this figure would be significantly reduced. The agency decided to sculpt 700 figures out of ice and place them in and around the city.
Obviously with the sun beating down, the ice melted and the statues disappeared signifying a loss of life.
When I saw this, I was truly inspired not just by the creativity and innovation involved in the campaign but the strength of the message and how it drew me in deeper, much more so than any leaflet or brochure would and think there should be much more of this around surrounding other health and well being issues.
Here is the big budget campaign that has been a huge success in Madrid capturing the attention of the public, radio and press.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WJ37d6kazTg]
What do you think of the campaign? Do you think there should be more ambient advertising around?
Whether tackling serious issues such as the above or simply wanting to promote your company/product in an innovative way, choose ambient marketing and choose Happy Creative to help you bring it to life!
Tom Fearon is a Designer and Guerrilla marketing expert at Happy Creative, a full service marketing agency based in Blackpool, Lancashire. To learn more or contact us please go to www.happy-creative.co.uk
