Everyone is familiar with roadside billboards, bus stop advertisements, posters and banners on the metro. So familiar, in fact, that even if you do happen to notice them, you’re not going to be interested in taking a closer look. Advertising is so ubiquitous in our day-to-day lives that we not only ignore it—we go out of our way to avoid it (AdBlock, anyone?). No matter your message, if you’re speaking to an audience in the same way and with the same methods that we’ve all seen a million times before, chances are you’ll be ignored or never even noticed in the first place.
What if you could pay more attention to the vehicle delivering your message? Take a look at Coca-Cola’s branding effort launched in August. They unveiled a 2,600 square foot, three-dimensional, robotic LED display made up of more than 1.5 million individual pixels. It not only displays constantly updating imagery and video, but physically moves along with what’s being displayed onscreen—each image and video is choreographed with the moving elements of the billboard itself, to create a stunningly unique 3D display.
3D Coke Sign in Times Square from Loren Brinton on Vimeo.
The messages and imagery themselves—“Share A Coke,” “Get Ready!,” and vintage pin-up style paintings of models holding the iconic glass Coca-Cola bottle—are nothing new; it was the billboard that was doing something the world had never seen before. In the middle of the sensory overload that is Times Square, this new technology was able to capture and hold the attention of thousands of people above all the other lights and signs. But, even more impressively, it captured the attention of millions around the world as it almost immediately went viral and spread across various social media shortly after its unveiling.
You don’t have to resort to a gigantic robot billboard to grab people’s attention. There are many brand new technologies available to help you spread your message in a fun, interesting, and unique way that will certainly turn heads without breaking the bank:
1. Many businesses and even upscale hotels have turned to mounting back-lit fabric displays in their rooms instead of traditional paintings. Not only does it look more interesting and modern, but the displays also house bluetooth speakers and controls that give guests an audio greeting and allow them to interact directly with the displays to play music or adjust lighting as they see fit, giving them a truly custom experience.
2. There are inflatable LED displays and structures which turn your trade show booth or event structure into a talking piece that audiences want to interact with. Something as simple as a colorful inflatable shape can make the difference between a passerby or new business lead inside your booth.
3. Several different pavement graphics are available that allow you to turn your message into beautiful and engaging street art that people will stop to look and interact with, as well as share with others.
All of these examples share the premise of the moving billboard: take an image or message that you’ve seen before, but make it interesting and memorable by presenting it in a way your audience has yet to experience.
