Billboards sometimes blend into their surroundings. I bet you can probably pinpoint exactly where all the billboards are on your way to work, but I bet you would find it hard to name what brands are on these billboards. And these are images and ads that you could see up to 10 times a week or even more! So how to overcome this general disinterest? try making them interactive. Here’s a few examples.
Thorntons Chocolate
An edible chocolate billboard? I’d pretty much eat anything made of chocolate.
From late last year. This was on Wexford Street in the capital.
Nike Treadmill
This treadmill was set up in Mexico, those passing by were encouraged to stop and run on it with Nike donating money for every mile run.
The Economist
An old one, but a good one
Chevy Aveo
This billboard was made up entirely of 20,000 penny coins that passers by could take
Mcdonalds
McDonalds have pushed the boat out in terms of doing something different with their marketing in the past. This is a really good idea from McDonalds. Not only do people interact with the billboard, but a picture is taken and shared with all their mates on Facebook or Google Buzz or Twitter or… you get the idea. I like the steam one the best and this has made me hungry
Crème Egg
From last year’s Creme Egg campaign
Carnival
These guys run cruise ships in the US. The virtual aquarium gets passer’s by to interact via a mobile phone. You ring a number and make a sound to create your fish, then control the fish by pressing numbers.
Mini
In the US of A Mini sent out key fob’s to select mini owners, and everytime they passed a Mini billboard it would flash personalised messages. Surely theres an app somewhere for that?
Ecko Graffiti
From 2007, this interactive billboard allowed users to transform their mobile into a can of spray paint (using blutooth) that would allow them to ‘vandalise’ this digital display
Nivea
Those air bubbles we all like to pop. How about a Clearasil version?
It Happens When Nobody is Watching
A camera embedded into this poster display can pick up when the person is looking away, and the image changes
BBC America
From New York this billboard allowed people to vote on the involvement of American forces in Iraq.
Nike iD
Dial a number on the billboard for Nike in Times Square, up pops a customisable a show from their iD range that is completly customisable in real time using the phone’s keypad.
This and more Nike marketing
Adobe Cs3
To promote their CS3 product Adobe launched this interactive billboard that translated the movements of people passing by into an animated mural.
Adelaide FC
Not strictly what I had in mind when I looked for interactive billboards. This is from Australia and features a player interacting with the moon
United Nations Voice
A series of these appeared in Australia and passers by were encouraged to take a snap of the persons mouth and send it as a picture text to a number. A few minutes later the phone would ring with the person telling their own story.
Hand From Above
Hand From Above encourages us to question our normal routine when we often find ourselves rushing from one destination to another. This is from Liverpool and is a joint commission between FACT and the BBC.
Hand from Above from Chris O’Shea on Vimeo.
Toshiba Billboard Game
Again using mobile devices to control on screen characters this was to promote Toshibas new laptops. The game involved up to six players against each other in a 90 second race and it played out on a giant billboard. Also players at home could take part by logging onto a special Youtube Toshiba channel. Pretty cool idea allowing multiple people to interact and those not nearby, who’s to stop someone from hundreds of miles away from logging on?
Interactive Billboard Fail
Nothing is perfect and plenty of brands have gotten their hands burned while trying something new. Here, due to unfortunate circumstances the interactive nature of this billboard has unfortunate double meaning. This is for a US news organisation and links to a twitter feed that is updated live.