Ads That Leverage Technology The Right Way

Nearly all form of marketing is now technology-driven. But not all marketing technology strategies are successful. Here we discuss 10 campaigns where marketing and technology were intertwined seamlessly to meet the business objectives. 

1. Apolosophy by Apotek

The ad was made to introduce a new line of hair products by Apotek, a Swedish pharmacy brand. Place: Stockholm subway platform Ad: A woman with gorgeous hair. Wait! What’s so unique about it? Well, in this ad not only the woman has luscious mane, her hair starts moving when the train enters the station. And when the train leaves she smiles and arranges her hair back into place! How was it done? Digital screens at the platform were equipped with ultra sonic sensors. “We needed to build a device that could be calibrated to sense the arrival of the train and not react to passing passengers,” the production company Stopp Family, which designed the ad, wrote on its website. “Using an ultra sonic sensor, connected to a Raspberry Pi and a local network socket, we connected our device to the screens computer where the film could be activated by the passing trains.” The ad fits the tagline to a T – make your hair come alive.

2. Look Up By British Airways 

Place: London’s Piccadilly Circus Ad: A video ad where a boy points to the sky. Not every time though! He points above every time a British Airways plane flies and billboard displays the flight’s number and origin. 

How was it done?  According to Drum – Developed by Ogilvy 12th Floor, the ads use custom built surveillance technology which tracks the aircraft and interrupts the digital display just as it passes over the site, revealing the image of a child pointing at the plane overhead accompanied by its flight number and destination it’s arriving from. This was accompanied by a relevant message to the flight, such as ‘Fly the new A380 to Los Angeles. ba.com/lookup’, or details such as the lowest fare available or the temperature at the destination.

3. Makeup Genius by L’Oreal Paris

Place : Your Mobile Device App:  It’s like a personal makeup artist on your smartphone. All you’ve to do is hold the phone like a mirror and virtually try 4,500 L’Oreal cosmetics. From scanning a makeup ad in a magazine to a product barcode in the supermarket –  you can use this app in a zillion ways. The app is loaded with a number of powerful features. Well, to start with, the virtual make up stays in place as you move around & it works in different lighting conditions. You can try out different products, click a selfie, post it on social media and purchase the cosmetics you like through the app. 

4. Only For Children by The Anar Foundation 

Place: Streets of Spain Ad: A poster that says”Sometimes child abuse is only visible to the child suffering it.”Sounds simple, but it isn’t. This outdoor ad from the ANAR Foundation, a Spanish child-advocacy organization,used lenticular printing to send different messages to children and adults. Anyone under about 4-foot-3 sees a child’s face with bruises in the poster, plus ANAR’s hotline number and this message”If somebody hurts you, phone us and we’ll help you.” People taller than that— like most adults—simply see a kid without bruises and the message “Sometimes child abuse is only visible to the child suffering it.

5. Chalkbot by Nike 

Place: The route of the Tour de FranceCampaign : Chalkbot, an interactive campaign, was created as part of Nike’s involvement with Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong’s ‘Livestrong’ foundation, which works to support people affected by cancer. The Nike Chalkbot, a purpose-built machine, took messages from spectators via SMS, Twitter, and web banners. The machine then painted the messages of support in large yellow colour along the route of the Tour de France. The letters faced the riders so they could read them on their journey during the annual race. The machine took a picture of the messages and sent the images, along with GPS coordinates, to the person who submitted it. 

Chalkbot by Nike, Behind The Scenes 

6. Penny The Pirate by OPSM

Campaign: The children’s book and app by the optometry company OPSM, make it easier for parents to test their child’s eyesight as they read the story. The eye tests are disguised as images. The book helps to identify the most common eye issues among children, namely, distance vision, colour vision and depth perception. With the app, parents can check the result and, if needed, book an eye test.

OPSM Kids Book – Instructional Book.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/NuZff_Fm18M

7. Flight Tracking Tool by Red Roof Inn 

Campaign: The marketing team of Red Roof Inn developed a tool that tracked flight cancellations in real time and triggered ads that were shown to the stranded passengers. The ads were updated in real time showing them the exact distance they were from a Red Roof Inn. 

Watch How Red Roof Inn Turned Flight Cancellations Into Customers

8. Global Beer Fridge by Molson

Campaign: The red beer fridge is a popular marketing ploy by the Canadian beer company Molson. The first beer fridge stunt was in Europe where the marketing team of Molson built fridges that could be only opened by a Canadian passport & left them at random locations in Europe. For the next next stunt the fridge was installed with a software that could detect whether people could sing Canadian national anthem correctly. The fridge opens only after a successful rendition of “O Canada” is complete. Previous year the fridge powered by Google’s speech recognition technology opened when it recognized someone saying “I am Canadian” (Molson’s longtime marketing slogan) in 6 of at least 40 languages.  

Molson Canadian Beer Fridge – Scan Your Passport.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/8gper3YkzMg

9. VRoom Service & VR Postcards by Marriott 

Campaign:  Marriott introduced “VRoom Service,” where guests can order a Samsung Gear VR headset & headphones in their room for 24 hours. The devices, run on Samsung’s Milk VR platform, come pre-loaded with 3 immersive travel videos that users can experience in 360 degree 3D. Marriott calls these videos “VR postcards” , which were shot in the Andes Mountains in Chile, an ice cream shop in Rwanda, and on the packed streets of Beijing. Each of the three videos follows a traveller’s journey to these destinations, depicting their personal experiences.

VR Postcards, Behind The Scenes. 

10. Make A Friend by Coca Cola 

Place: Lahore & New Delhi shopping malls Campaign: Coca Cola set up vending machines in shopping centers in Pakistan & India. But they were not any ordinary vending machines; these machines provided a live communications portal linking people through a 3D touchscreen. Shoppers in New Dheli were asked to ‘make a friend in Pakistan’ while shoppers in Lahore were asked to ‘make a friend in Pakistan’ by engaging with the interactive vending machine and claim a can of coke. Shoppers from both the countries had to complete a friendly task such as wave, touch hands, draw a peace sign or dance to claim a can of coke.