Transit advertisements offer huge advantages within the marketing arena. First off: Exposure. Advertisements on buses and trains are 8x more likely to be viewed as compared to any other print medium. Secondly: Frequency. Riders are more than likely to see the same ad numerous amounts of times, which ultimately leads to numerous impressions. The more a viewer is attracted to its message, the more likely they are willing to inquire. Thirdly: Cheap. If you are a constant calculator of ROIs and percentages, this is the one case where you should have no fear. It has been proven that investing in promotional pieces for public transit yields numerous amounts of benefits. Just be certain that your campaign is simple, easy to interpret, and visually attractive.
I've viewed some of the most creative, engaging, humorous, and informative ads during my morning commutes in New York City, and have decided to share them with you on a scattered basis. The ads below were spotted throughout trains, buses, and public spaces.
Casper - Mattress Retail. One of the reasons I gravitated to this campaign is because of the humor and subliminal messages throughout. I love the subtlety of their color palette and appreciated the illustrative approach. It's quite clear the creatives at Casper did their research. After all, New Yorkers are oversaturated with photographic, dark, over-emphasized ads, its a breath of fresh air to see something different. Loving the adult humor here Casper.
Thinx - Menstrual Underwear. I instantly gravitated to Thinx's extremely expressive campaign. Not only could I personally relate, but I found there to approach it to be quite clever: the releasing of the egg... a blood orange... an egg dripping off the edge of a table. These all depict what happens to a female internally when their monthly visit arrives. Brilliant! I loved the approach of their first campaign.
Thinx then came back for some more when they released their second series, even conceptually stronger than the first. The ads maintained that element of discomfort during the female's cycle, however, they also addressed societal issues of today's race (the human race). If you scroll through the images below, you'd notice a masculine individual in an uncomfortable position. That, however, is not a male... that is a transgressed female. Yes, I too in ignorance took a while to grasp. Brilliant! They also cleverly camouflaged their first series of ads as picture frames. Not only maintaining consistency but reminding their audience of who they are.
