Effective Advertising … 14 Best Examples of Ad Design

It has been said that advertising is the price to be paid for being unremarkable. That may be true, but I have noticed that even remarkable businesses advertise. Effective advertising design is an essential component of your marketing campaign. It creates awareness and consumer education of your value.

Here is a short video on ad design trends to get you started.

Check out our thoughts on creative marketing.

Ever written an advertisement, or thought about it? I’ve done marketing for my clients in small businesses for the past 7+ years. In that time I’ve learned a few things about making advertising look professional even on a tight budget.

And the actual measure of effective advertising design is having customers remember and talk about the message.

Many small businesses don’t have a lot of time or resources to create professionally made ads. But that may be because they make it too complicated. In marketing or advertising, you need to create information that your customers find interesting, entertaining, and worth talking about.

“Last year was marked by intensely emotional events, and video advertising was in some ways a reflection of this. The Olympics brought many uplifting pieces of creative from brands like Hershey’s and P&G, while brands like Zappos and Microsoft tackled social issues like homelessness and female empowerment,” said Peter Daboll, CEO of Ace Metrix, in a statement.

“The presidential election opened the door for brands to deliver messages of inclusion and unity. As usual, the Super Bowl brought us some of the year’s funniest ads, including Doritos final installment of Crash the Super Bowl.”

Does a commercial have the power to encourage the right sort of conversations? That is the objective, isn’t it? Let’s explore why this is so important.

Here are the best recent effective advertisement design examples that represent extraordinary design elements:

Grab and hold viewers’ attention

Catch attention with interesting information. Keep in mind that people don’t read ads, they read what interests them. Your ad messages must be compelling to your target communities.

At a time when some people might be struggling to gain the acceptance of their family, this Danish commercial about a father getting a gift for his transgender teen daughter is great.

What gets me the most is the initial fear of rejection on both sides and the shy, understanding smiles in the end.

Create curiosity

I was fully prepared to dislike this Mercedes-Benz commercial about a young teen getting his dad to drive him to his date during one of the worst snowstorms of the winter.

But Wow it if I didn’t start to well up when his date, who he thought had ditched him, showed up to the empty movie theater, too.

Effective advertising … use of story

This “English for Beginners” commercial has been watched over 12 million times, and it’s no surprise why. From the cute dog to the adorable grammar mistakes, the whole ad is as charming as anything I have viewed in a long while.

But it’s the ending that will clutch your heart and twist your tear ducts. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Define a value proposition

Have you ever heard of Safelite Autoglass and their business model? They have created The Safelite Advantage^™ as a bundle of unique selling propositions providing what consumers have identified as their primary vehicle glass service needs. It’s why leading insurance and fleet companies, as well as more than four million drivers, choose Safelite each year.

Consider the end state values to your customers

Not only does this commercial have two old men coming adorably together, but it shows that some things like real friendship and bad knees are universal, no matter your faith.

print advertising techniques — Print advertising techniques.

By the end of this commercial, you’ll be laughing and crying at the same time.

Effective advertising methods … use of music

We used to think of music in commercials as only support. No longer the case in today’s world.

Take this Jeep commercial as an example in point. The music is the centerpiece of the ad and indeed holds you to the script. At least it does me.

Make your messages simple

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sr6lr_VRsEo

So simple that the reader will quickly understand. Keep in mind that pictures are far more valuable than words.

This silly commercial is from the perspective of Buster the boxer dog who wants nothing more than to jump on his family’s new trampoline but watches in vain as nocturnal animals steal his spotlight. Until it’s finally his turn.

Though this commercial isn’t sad exactly, there’s something about watching this happy dog bounce on a new trampoline that will bring tears of joy to your eyes.

effective advertisement examples — Effective advertisement examples.

Be relevant to your target market.

Keep in mind that one message does not fit all. It starts with knowing your target market.

Here is a very relevant message.

Use of surprise

Watching two adorable teddy bears walk through the airport might sound banal, but they are oh-so-endearing.

And when you finally realize who they are, it makes this commercial all the cuter with this surprise ending.

Define your positioning

Your positioning is your frame of reference. Make comparisons to your competitors if you can.

Sometimes you want to position yourself as close as possible to your best competitors, as these ads.

Doritos’ Super Bowl commercial “Ultrasound” came in second place for the funniest ad of 2016, while Avocados From Mexico’s game day spot came in second for the funniest ad of the year. Other brands that scored points with consumers last year were Kohler, Microsoft, and Always.

Use of emotion

If you haven’t seen Apple’s full Frankenstein Christmas commercial, get ready to weep. It follows Frankenstein as he tries to make a human connection by replacing his neck bolts with light-up Christmas bulbs.

Watching him on his lonely mountaintop finally have the courage to journey down and connect with the townspeople is haunting, but sweet.

Unique

Make your ad as unique as you dare. Note we believe you can never be too unique, as this ad shows.

Clearly link your messages

Link your messages to your brand. Remember the AFLAC duck or E-Trade’s talking baby … these are excellent linkages to the brands.

Hershey’s “Hello From Home” ad featuring US Olympic wrestler Jordan Burroughs was linked to people who like to be motivated. The ad, created by Arnold, features Burroughs as he opens a care package filled with chocolate and words of encouragement from his family.

Inspire

According to Ace Metrix, which conducted the research by measuring the frequency of emotive words and phrases in viewer comments on nearly 8,000 videos, Nike’s “Unlimited Scout Bassett” ad was the most inspirational ad of 2016. Created by Wieden + Kennedy Portland, the video was part of Nike’s “Unlimited” campaign that ran during the Olympics.

Employ humor

One of the funniest ads recently was Cheetos’ “The Lie Detector,” according to Ace Metrix, which features a husband who catches his wife and kids sneaking Cheetos behind his back.

Creative

Johnsonville Sausage took the cake for the most creative ad of 2016 with its “Regular Speed Chase by Brett” video that launched last spring. Created by Droga5, the video was part of a campaign for the brand that tasked employees with coming up with ideas for the brand’s ads.

The bottom line

Ace Metrix scores every national television ad, and an expanding proportion of digital ads, across 96 categories creating a complete comparative database—Ace Metrix LIVE®. A unique panel of at least 500 consumers, demographically balanced to the U.S. Census, scores each ad in the same manner.

The results are presented on a scale of 1–950, which represents scoring on creative attributes such as Attention, Likeability, Information, Change, Relevance, Desire, and Watchability. Ace Metrix applies a natural language processing algorithm to the hundreds of qualitative verbatim responses collected for each ad, deriving additional metrics related to emotional engagement.

Remember, it is not what advertising does with the consumer; it is what the consumer does after reading the advertisement. Â After looking over these enablers and Allstate’s Mayhem ads … how do you think they did?

What are some of your experiences with advertising as a component of an integrated marketing campaign?

Do you have an advertising experience to share with this community?

Need some help in capturing more customers from your advertising? Creative ideas to help the differentiation with your clients?

Call today for a FREE consultation or a FREE quote. Learn about some options to scope your job.

Call Mike at 607-725-8240.

All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that struggle gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.

When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.

Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.

Are you devoting enough energy to improve your advertising design?

Do you have a lesson about making your innovation better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?

Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed how reasonable we will be.

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Creative Secrets from Budweiser Advertising Examples

Prudential Ad Makes Visualization Design Central to Story

Ten Deadly Sins of Advertising Design

Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.

12 Best Examples to Study for Successful Advertisement Design

Ever written an advertisement, or thought about it? I’ve done marketing for my clients in small businesses for the past 6+ years. In that time I’ve learned a few things about making advertising look professional even on a tight budget. And the real measure of successful advertisement design elements is having customers remember and talk about the message.

Look at this: 2 Biggest Killer Ad Mistakes in Advertisement Design

Check out our thoughts on creative marketing.

Many small businesses don’t have a lot of time or resources to have ads professionally made. Marketing or advertising, you need to create information that your customers find interesting and worth talking about and remembering.

Do you ever see a commercial that you liked and watched it? Can you remember the brand? We would love to hear what it was. Would you do us a favor and tell us in the comments section? Our readers and we would appreciate the share.

So what’s a small business to do?

Here are 12 essential ad design elements we rely on to create effective advertisement messages. These messages include the best examples of each that we could find. Great way to learn and stimulate design ideas.

Grab and hold viewers’ attention

Interesting information gets and holds attention. Keep in mind that people don’t read ads. They know what interests them. Be different, avoid normalcy at all costs.

Stand out is the mantra. It’s OK to be controversial and to create conversation through the ‘buzz.’ Headlines are the first place for attention.

Funny. Memorable. Manly. The keys for success from the ‘Will It Blend’ marketing campaign. And certainly something you’ll want to do for a networked market. Like Blendtec did very successfully.

Tom Dickson, is the star of the videos. You see him put different crazy things in the blender and say “Will it blend? That is the question”.

While the item is blending, he smiles and waits for the process to end. When it does, he empties the contents and the subtitle “Yes! It blends”appears.

Once the videos got rolling, Blendtec engaged their fans seeking ideas for things to blend. Fans become more fanatical when their favorite brands go out of their way to invite them in on the fun.

Lucky advertisement design … value proposition

A unique selling point that truly discriminates you from your competition. It is essential that you give your customers reasons to select you.

Paint the picture of value and make the value stand out. Have you seen any of the recent Dawn TV commercials?

They started as YouTube videos and grew out of the success on that platform.

If not, you should invest 1 minute now and check it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9qLIz1SJsk

Two of the most practical value propositions we have seen in a while are shared in 10 seconds. As the volunteers are cleaning oil off the ducks, they state that Dawn Liquid effectively cuts grease and is gentle.

Don’t need to say much as the video does the talking. Powerful.

Successful advertisement design … end-state values

Focus on customer needs end state and not the means. The end state is the only priority.

A good example of this is the Prudential’s billboard ad. This commercial considers the end state needs of its customers.

The retirement needs of target customers are the ad’s objective. An excellent interactive graphic drives home the goal. What do you think?

Effective advertisement examples … simple messages

Make the message as clean and straightforward as possible. You cannot overachieve on the simplicity of the message.

A message that the reader will quickly understand. Keep in mind that pictures are far more valuable than words.

Have you seen the recent Apple iPhone5 TV ad?

If not, you should invest 1 minute now and check it out. It will prove helpful in reviewing our ad analysis.

Superb visuals and visuals are so simple that you quickly grasp them and don’t lose interest. Keep in mind that pictures are far more valuable than words.

And the music has a way to keep you tied in. Creating customer interest does get any simpler than this, does it?

A very simple, yet interesting design, don’t you think? And the real message at the end that is very soft not selling.

How to design a print ad … be relevant

Keep in mind that one message does not fit all. It starts with knowing

It starts with understanding your target market. Here the target market is families with young children and people with a high focus on car safety. Certainly relevant to this market.

Successful advertisement design … define your positioning

Your positioning is the current frame of reference. Make comparisons to your competitors if you can solidly substantiate the claim.

The Amazon Kindle certainly knows who its principal rival is and takes his head on as its strategy. An excellent move we believe.

The Kindle has three key advantages in comparison to the Apple iPad air. It is 20% lighter, has 1 million more pixels resulting in the better quality picture, and is 24% less expensive. So powerful, yes?

Check out this ad here:

Emotional influence and persuasion

Budweiser puppy love that was, by most accounts, the biggest winner of the 2014 Super Bowl. There are no better means of control or the power of persuasion than emotion. Hands down the best, in our opinion.

Experiences that trigger our emotions are saved and consolidated in lasting memory. Why?

Simply because the emotions generated by the experiences signal our brains that the skills are important to remember. Check out this ad here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlNO2trC-mk

There are eight basic, universal emotions – joy, surprise, anticipation, acceptance, fear, anger, sadness, and disgust. Successful appeals to these basic emotions consolidate stories and the desired calls to action in the lasting memories of audiences.

This puppy love commercial focuses on emotional appeal in grand fashion. It is the secret of this ad’s success. The focus of the advocacy helps create emotional support, doesn’t it?

Visual advertisement design elements

Use pictures/visuals to convey the message much better than words. “Seeing is believing” and “actions speak louder than words” are two common sayings that reflect a bias and preference for visual presentation.

Here is a four minute Samsung ad with 15-20 new features shown on their phone. No talking. And so simple that you quickly grasp the features and don’t lose interest.

And the coordinated music has a way to keep you tied in. Creating customer interest doesn’t get any simpler than this, does it? A very simple, yet interesting design, don’t you think?

These ads subtly grab and hold attention based on a great music soundtrack, no speaking, and a total reliance of superb visuals. Letting the visuals totally carry the messages.

Creating customer interest doesn’t get any simpler than this, does it? A very simple, yet interesting design, don’t you think? Couldn’t be better in our opinion.

Articles with images get 94% more views than those without. And posts with videos attract 3X more inbound links than plain text posts.

A study by 3M showed that 90% of the information sent to the brain is visual, and visuals are processed 60,000 times faster than text.

Tell a story

A good story has a beginning where a sympathetic character encounters a complicating situation. It has a middle where the character confronts and attempts to resolve the situation. And it has an end where the outcome is revealed.

It does not interpret or explain the action in the story for the audience.

Instead, a good story allows each member of the public to understand the story as he or she understands the work.

This is why people find good stories so appealing and why they find advertising that merely conveys facts and information boring.

Here is a link to the Guinness ad video to refresh you or for you to review in case you haven’t seen it.

Guinness’s marketing strategy has flipped traditional beer advertising on its head by getting rid of the template. Instead it tells a story – a real story – that connects with people.

The responses were overwhelmingly positive. Customers and particularly the target customers are looking for meaningful stories.

The marketing strategy certainly is addressing this end state in our opinion.

Clearly, link your messages

Link them to your brand. Remember the AFLAC duck, E-Trade’s talking baby, or the Geico gecko? These are great linkages to the brands.

Anyone who has watched television in the United States even briefly knows the Geico brand. Whether talking British geckos, erudite cavemen, greasy-haired announcers with mock baritones, all of them running gags. Gags used to get the company’s name to stick in peoples’ heads.

Make your ad a component

Your ads should be integrated elements of an integrated marketing campaign. Remember, stop interrupting what people interested in, and be what people are interested in.

It was in early 2009 when IBM began its Smarter Planet marketing campaign strategy. At the time, the plan seemed very ambitious. We might say maybe even a bit risky, even for IBM.

But their success was based on a plan to build out a long-term campaign.

To do this, they defined a theme around their vision (Smarter Planet). They used the idea to craft a marketing strategy connecting and integrating many smaller marketing objectives and tactics as they could.

They also linked their core competencies to this theme, vision, and challenge. Apparently, they made sure they were all apparent to their customers.

This very successful campaign continued for seven years.