In an era of big-budget TV and digital advertising, it’s easy to forget just how effective a carefully considered print advertisement can be. However, many of the world’s leading advertising agencies continue to develop innovative print advertisements for their clients – some of which are truly eye-catching. Print advertisements remain a way to turn heads, improve brand awareness and influence purchase decisions, but what are our favourite print ads of 2015 so far? The team at PMG has picked five standout ads that have inspired us this year…
Glacial beer: The Beer Freeze Ad
This Brazilian ad for a brand of beer isn’t especially eye-catching, but it belongs to a new breed of print advertisements that are transforming the relationship between marketing and print. This is an interactive ad – the copy encourages users to cut out the ad from the pages of a magazine, moisten the page and wrap it around a bottle of beer to allow it to chill more quickly in the fridge. This is a ‘life hack’ many of us have heard of, but this ad takes the concept even further. The paper contains salt particles, which reduce the freezing temperature of water and allow your beer to chill more quickly. A truly original print ad.
Evans Cycles: Man
One of the obstacles marketing departments must overcome involves communicating an idea consumers have heard thousands of times before in a way that’s new and exciting. UK advertising agency Antidote faced this very challenge with Evans Cycles. The ad had to communicate that the company’s products were better value than those of their competitors – hardly an original USP – but Antidote were able to do so with aplomb. The ad is presented in an instantly recognisable 1950s style, showing a man in a button-down shirt and chinos and replete with Brylcreemed hair cycling past a lushly illustrated 1950s family car. The only new object in the image is the man’s bike, which is top of the line and reproduced photographically, rather than hand illustrated. The copy reads: ‘New Bikes at Old Fashioned Prices’. Simple, clever and effective.
Land Rover: Hurricane
Certain products and organisations are immediately recognisable, and therefore in need of a different approach to marketing. Both Land Rover and The Red Cross are more or less universally recognisable, which meant that South African ad agency Y&R Johannesburg could be more conceptual when it came to producing an ad for Land Rover that accentuated the brand’s relationship with the Red Cross. The print ad shows an image of devastation rendered in black and white: Mozambique in the aftermath of a hurricane in the year 2000. The only colour used in the image belongs to a group of four Land Rovers – they’re bright red and arranged in the shape of a cross. It’s a striking image that requires little in the way of copy to get its point across.
Nike: Zenit Reign Supreme
Nike are renowned for having produced some of the most memorable ads of recent years – the brand’s partnership with some of the world’s top sportsmen and women means they can effortlessly capture the imagination of fans. This print ad, created with Wieden & Kennedy, celebrates Nike-sponsored football team Zenit St Petersburg’s 2014/15 league success. The ad is essentially a team photo, but with a difference – the athletes and manager Andre Villas-Boas are dressed in courtly Russian garb, reclining in ornate furniture in a grand, palatial setting. The copy reads ‘Zenit Reign Supreme’, alluding to the royal attire and posture of the players. Seeing the athletes in such an unusual context is incredibly visually arresting, making the ad funny and memorable in equal measure.
Surfers Against Sewage: Sea Monsters
One of the most jaw-dropping viral videos of the year so far is undoubtedly Australian Surfer Mick Fanning’s encounter with a shark during the J-Bay Open. Fanning’s battle with the creature was broadcast on live television, and fortunately the surfer was able to escape without injury while landing a few punches on the shark’s back for good measure! Surfers Against Sewage have subverted the idea that sharks are the biggest killers in the ocean, however. This print ad shows a plastic carrier bag shaped to suggest the gaping, razor-toothed jaws of a shark. The message is clear, and needs little copy to tell its story: pollution is far more of a threat to the ocean environment than even the most deadly creatures are to us.
Each of these print ads show just how effective print marketing can be. If you’d like to invest in a print marketing campaign of your own, PMG can help. Our design studio can help you to create breathtaking print designs guaranteed to get people talking about your brand and products. Contact us today to learn more.
