By Rachael Doyle
Digital marketing experts estimate that the average American is exposed to around 4,000 to 10,000 advertisements every day, according to Forbes. With social media sites making this process more seamless than ever before, it seems rare to find ads that really stick out as engaging or interesting. Usually the ads I see on my feed are pulled from sites like Amazon, and simply include a slideshow of products I’ve looked at or talked about in the last week. What an interesting experience for all the wrong reasons.
As a marketing major myself, I am always looking for advertisements that stand out as informative, creative, and a little out of the box. The really good ones make you think even after the ad is over. Here are five ads that have done that for me- and will always live in my mind rent free.
Not including this ad in my list would be a genuine crime. Everything about it is just perfect, from the delivery of the actors to the messaging. They even used real State Farm agents for this original ad, which just pulls everything together so nicely. The original Jake may have moved on to another company, but him and his khakis will remain iconic for the State Farm brand forever.
Doritos commercials are known for always being a little out of the ordinary, but this one goes out of its way to prove that Doritos can be enjoyed by multiple generations. Featured during SuperBowl 50, many still describe it as one of the best SuperBowl ads of all time- and I definitely agree that it stands out among the rest.
I know I just mentioned an example of when Amazon has utilized poor advertising, but this SuperBowl ad they created promoting Alexa was genius. Featuring a list of stars including Gordon Ramsay, Cardi B, and even Jeff Bezos himself really helped bring the service to life, making it fun and effective for viewers.
I learned about this case last year in my brand management class, and it is a genius example of how to strengthen brand loyalty during a PR crisis. KFC was having distribution issues that ended in catastrophe as they had to shut stores down. They responded to mass complaints with this ad campaign, which grabbed the eye while taking accountability for their issues. Overall a fantastic campaign that gave them enough time to pull themselves together and reopen stores for continued success.
Probably one of my favorite ads of all time! This campaign really brings a great perspective to how young girls and women are treated in the media, and how it is up to us to change that perspective. It is so moving to see how Always used their platform, especially during the SuperBowl, to send such a powerful message that will hopefully influence viewers while promoting their brand messaging.
Thinking of an iconic ad that I may have missed? Reach out and let me know your favorite ads, I’m always looking out for new and creative ways that brands are sharing their messaging :-)