OPINION ZONE: 7 awesome marketing campaigns that make us jealous.

June 22, 2009 | Posted by Carolyn Pikoulas
One of the biggest questions advertisers must ask themselves is how they can create an impact with an ad campaign. How do you get the average consumer to notice your product or service? For one thing, believing that your consumers are just average won't help to create something memorable. The following campaigns are some examples of advertisers who found a way to stand out from the crowd and generate buzz. (Although, it helps when you have a nice-sized budget).

A Soviet-themed restaurant in Russia needed a unique way to invite their customers to their re-opening cocktail party. So, they sent out "top secret" invitations with instructions to heat the paper to reveal the message. The words were written in milk, which was also how Lenin wrote messages out of prison.

To help middle school students take interest in math and science, DIGITS created a cute campaign featuring students standing in front of a chalkboard. The pictures depict a fun way for kids to use their brains in their everyday lives.

A Swedish charity organization founded an online shop where donators can buy school materials for children poor countries. To drive traffic to the site, they sent out a direct mail piece that was literally written on cardboard to show that some school children are forced to write on anything they find.

The Economist magazine captured the attention of thousands of people in the Dallas area by setting up mechanical bulls as a commentary on the market. Because of its fun nature, it even received attention from local news reporters.

To get more people to donate blood, one group posted clocks near hospital centers. The time was accelerated so that the minutes flew by like seconds. Above it read, "This is how time goes by for those who need blood. Donate." The hospitals received triple the number of blood donations while the clocks were posted.

In South Africa, BIC pens designed a poster that not only showed how long-lasting their pens are but also celebrated the importance of voting. Each ‘X' looks unique, and were marked using a single BIC pen.

IKEA wanted a cool way to showcase their organizational. Using bus shelters, they filled a glass wall with random kitchen objects. On the bottom is a photo of kitchen drawers, neatly organized with the headline: "It takes little to tidy up the kitchen."

For even more cool campaigns, click HERE >