Advertising through non-traditional media

Berlin and South Florida have some of the same advertising mediums like billboards, posters, flyers, magazine ads, and more. Since I have been in Berlin however, I have been introduced to new forms of advertising. In my first impressions on advertising in Berlin blog I introduced the LED screen and interchanging posters with a backlight. Since those first impressions I have only seen one other form of advertising grasp my attention.

The strategy behind the placement for the running Oakley campaign is nothing short of spectacular. I am not the target audience for the campaign but I do think it catches the attention of women because of the models. The first time I noticed the ad I was in the Potsdamer Platz train station. I was walking by and I just saw an extremely handsome man. I walked a little further and I saw the same handsome man doing an extreme sport. Still walking, a close up of the same gorgeous man wearing Oakley shades. And as I walked further there was the last billboard of the handsome mans face in the background the Oakley logo with the advertised glasses and the word confident.

The next time I saw ads from this campaign I was in another train station. I noticed a strip of something on the steps while I was walking up them. I realized later that what I was seeing were little strips of an Oakley layout on the actual steps of the station (as seen above). The station walls were also plastered wit the Oakley campaigns.

What I like so much about the placement of the ads is that they are not in every train station. The train stations they are in however, the ads are all over. What I take away from this campaign is Extreme. All the “models” in the ads are from different extreme sports backgrounds and the placements of the ads in my opinion were very extreme. I mean you go from no Oakley ads to a station full of theme. That is extreme.

I think this tactic could be successful on a global scale. A campaign such as this could be successful in busy stations in New York, New York and all over the world just for raising awareness alone. This is an ad campaign that strategically went above and beyond the rest. This will be relevant for a long time and other marketers looking to show the general public their brand should copy this strategy.