19 Creative Advertising Ideas and Strategies to Make Your Brand Memorable

Highlights:

• Creative advertising has stood the test of time because it’s engaging, memorable, and entertaining
• Find out how creative ads help you humanize your brand and convey authenticity
• Does TikTok really help brands sell more?
• See 19 examples of creative advertising at work

With the current state of things in B2B and B2C markets—every category is extremely competitive—this makes getting your brand noticed very challenging.

For example, while there are hundreds of mattress brands operating in the US, you might recall one particular brand for being comfy enough to cradle your soft spots while aligning your body—the mattress that passes the raw egg test.

Purple Mattress’ hilarious and product-focused YouTube helped the brand stand out and get noticed by its customer pool.

Choosing the right marketing approach for your brand can get tricky, as there are multiple trends and new ideas to keep up with. However, some approaches – such as creative advertising – have stood the test of time.

Investing in creative advertising helps you capture attention because it allows you to showcase how you’re different from your competition. Not only can you communicate your product’s features and benefits, but you can humanize your brand in an artful way, creating an opportunity to be memorable, entertaining, and connect with your target audience.

Let’s take a look at 19 creative advertising ideas to inspire your brand’s next campaign.

Create interactive content

Interactive content captures people’s attention and keeps them engaged longer than static content. By creating something that requires active participation, you’re not only increasing engagement but also making your brand more memorable.

For instance, consider incorporating quizzes that align with your product. BuzzFeed is well-known for its consistent stream of viral-worthy and engaging quizzes. Ads featuring quizzes also tend to get lots of clicks and engagement because they’re quick and easy to interact with.

Gamified content is also a popular approach, where users can interact with fun and simple games that are related to the brand’s product or service.

Contests are another great option and provide a good incentive for visitors to give their information in exchange for a chance to win an enticing prize. If you’re looking to increase your engagement and your reach, contests are an effective way to make that happen.

McDonald’s & Monopoly

Both McDonald’s & Monopoly tend to evoke feelings of comfort, nostalgia, and familiarity in people, so seeing them paired together makes sense.

McDonald’s saw an opportunity to turn the game everyone knows how to play into a live, interactive experience with the restaurants.

The more you visit McDonald’s, the more Monopoly pieces you’ll be able to collect, and the more pieces you collect, the bigger the prizes. People look forward to playing this game year after year, and it has kept both brands relevant and at the top.

Lay’s

Another repeat contest that has garnered an almost cult-like following is Lay’s ‘Do Us a Flavor’ contest, where they ask participants to create the next Lay’s chip flavor with a huge cash prize at stake. We can thank this contest for flavors like Crispy Taco, Cappuccino, and Bacon Mac & Cheese 🤭.

Participate in viral challenges

Viral challenges can be a game-changer for brand visibility. Used by nonprofits, corporations, charities, and even celebrities, they are a great way to raise awareness and reach new audiences.

Platforms like Instagram and TikTok are ideal for viral marketing. Before creating a challenge, make sure your content aligns with your brand’s voice and values. Start your challenge or create your version of an already popular challenge to drive engagement and show that your brand is current and relatable.

Ice Bucket Challenge – The ALS Association

Who can forget the Ice Bucket Challenge of 2014?

In the challenge, participants had a bucket full of ice water dumped over their heads all in the name of a great cause – showing support for ALS awareness. It quickly became a viral sensation and moved the needle for ALS in a tremendous way. The awareness and funds generated from the Ice Bucket Challenge launched ALS research to a new level, paving the way for disease-eradicating discoveries.

Movember – The Movember Foundation

Also massively popular is Movember, the viral challenge that takes over every November.

Two friends in Australia started the Movember Foundation to raise awareness about men’s issues like prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and mental health. Men are encouraged to grow their mustaches the whole month of November and share them on social media to raise awareness about these health concerns.

They offer free creative resources to help anyone spread the word and organize walks/runs in support, making it easy and enticing for people to get involved. Movember has raised over $700 million to fund thousands of men’s health projects.

Lid Flip Challenge – Chipotle

Chipotle is super popular amongst Gen Z, so when they wanted to promote their Cinco de Mayo offer of free delivery for digital orders, they turned to TikTokers to make it viral. The Lid Flip challenge began with YouTube star David Dobrik challenging viewers to flip a lid onto their burrito bowl without using their hands.

The result? Hundreds of thousands of TikToks and a record-breaking day of app downloads and digital sales.

 

 

Use pop culture to your advantage

Many brands like to stay relevant and create instant connections with audiences by leveraging pop culture in their creative advertising campaigns.

Referencing current events, popular movies, TV shows, music, characters, internet memes, or just cultural moments can make your content highly engaging, relatable, and shareable. People are likely to share content that references familiar or popular topics, which can help create a viral moment for you.

As with viral challenges, you want to make sure the content aligns with your brand’s voice and will resonate with your audience. Otherwise, sharing a pop culture reference can end up feeling forced.

Salesforce – Dude With Sign

Anyone who’s ever been on social media has seen at least one Dude With Sign meme.

It’s a guy holding up a protest sign about everyday things, and it’s hilarious. Salesforce capitalized on the recognizability of that meme to create their own ad promoting their services. It’s familiar, it’s simple, and it gets the job done.

Hulu sizzle reel

When there are so many streaming platforms to choose from, how do you make yours stand out? Hulu uses big stars, recognizable faces, and high-intensity scenes to encourage viewers to check out their content.

Featuring stars that are popular with their target audience and that resonate with the masses is a good way to come across as relevant, interesting, and binge-worthy.

Calvin Klein – #MyCalvins

In the 1980s, before the internet was a thing, Calvin Klein leveraged pop culture icon Brooke Shields in a jeans commercial that everyone was talking about. The viral moment led to a campaign that has been reimagined and re-released many times over the last few decades, always featuring celebrities and pop culture stars.

In recent years, Calvin Klein made #mycalvins TikTok famous. Their super successful campaign asked people to show off their outfits and used celebrities like Kendall Jenner, A$AP Rocky, and Shawn Mendes to kick it off.

Design interactive infographics

Interactive infographics are powerful tools for creative ad campaigns, as they offer engaging and meaningful content for audiences. Infographics allow users to explore a topic at their own pace, and the content can be tailored to a dynamic experience.

Clickable sections can be used to reveal information, sliders can compare data or scenarios, and animated elements guide users through content. All of these approaches serve to encourage users to interact and engage with the infographic.

Infographics are particularly effective when used in educational campaigns or complicated product descriptions.

Oxfam Ireland – Year in Review

Oxfam Ireland put out an impressive and sophisticated interactive infographic to recap ways in which their work impacted the globe. As you scroll, the infographic animates, reveals new information, and tells a compelling story.

University of Utah

The University of Utah put out a quiz in the form of an infographic to help people understand whether or not they’re at risk for developing Type 2 Diabetes.

This takes a potentially daunting subject and turns it into something manageable and less intimidating to learn about.

Information is Beautiful

This brand is known for taking complex topics and transforming them into highly creative and visually appealing infographics and diagrams. This particular one records the world’s biggest data breaches and hacks. When visitors hover over each bubble, they’ll get more information about that incident.

Collaborate with influencers to use their reach and authority

Influencer marketing continues to be a popular tool, especially in creative advertising campaigns. By leveraging influencers’ creativity and audience connections, you can develop innovative campaigns that feel authentic and resonate with consumers.

The right influencer can bring authenticity and a personal touch to your audiences that may resonate more deeply than a traditional ad might.

The key is to collaborate with an influencer whose followers align with your target audience and who would be able to showcase your brand using their unique voice. It’s also important to let the influencers have a say in the creative process, as that will lead to a genuine and organic presentation of your product.

Fabletics

Fitness clothing brand Fabletics recently partnered with Khloé Kardashian for a capsule collection inspired by and curated by the reality TV star. Khloé is known for being dedicated to her fitness regime and often posts videos of her workouts.

Fabletics noticed she was wearing some of their pieces in her videos and approached her for a collaboration. The collab was so successful that the two have continued to work together.

Revolve

Fashion and Instagram influencers are a match made in heaven. Style & beauty influencer Lindsi Lane has hundreds of thousands of followers who often shop the products she recommends. Because of that, brands like Revolve have partnered with her to curate special collections that spike demand and sales for the fashion site.

Dunkin’

Dunkin’ definitely has a reputation for being creative with their brand partnerships and one example of that is when the brand teamed up with rapper Ice Spice to promote their beloved Munchkins donuts.

Ice Spice has a song called ‘Munch’ and refers to her fans in the same way, so everything about her name, her followers, and her influence pointed to a winning campaign with Dunkin’.

Utilize UGC in unique ways

Word-of-mouth has always been a powerful way to build brand awareness. One way to translate that into an effective creative ad campaign is to utilize user-generated content (UGC). When content comes directly from the users themselves, it’s seen as more authentic and credible. If you’re a new brand, incorporating UGC from early product testers or influencers can build hype and trust around your new product launch.

You can encourage users to create and share content around a specific campaign theme or hashtag for a chance to be featured on your social platforms. That tends to drive engagement and get people excited to see themselves on your social channels.

UGC is a great way to build community and obtain a vast amount of creative material that can be used in your advertising campaigns, websites, and across your marketing channels.

Farrow & Ball

It’s hard to shop for paint online and visualize what the colors will look like in your own environment versus the well-lit, beautifully staged professional photos that they’re often shown in.

Farrow & Ball fills their website, social media pages, and blog posts with customer-captured photos of their paint-filled spaces, in an authentic and effective display of user-generated content.

Aerie

Aerie is well-known as a brand that is inclusive and highly engaged with their user base (just follow the #AerieREAL campaign), and also takes their UGC far. They have famously released creative ad campaigns that feature real women and followers in their content, versus professional models. As a result, they’ve amassed a loyal following and a reputation as an uber-respected brand.

Apple

Apple has one of the best examples of creatively utilizing user-generated content to their advantage. To showcase the superb quality of the iPhone camera, they’ve put up billboards all over the world that show real photos captured by real people’s iPhones.

The photography is beautiful, the quality of the photos is unmatched, and the thrill of potentially having your photos displayed on a massive billboard is very real.

GoPro

GoPro had an amazing idea when they decided to make a camera that captured a first-person perspective. The way they curate their Instagram profile and creative ads to show real customer’s photos and videos of their own GoPro experiences makes total sense.

It shows the adventures, unforgettable moments, and unbelievable sights that are enabled by the brand. And it’s all done in an authentic, credible way – with user-generated content captured by GoPo devices.

Bolster your creative campaigns with personalized landing pages

Capturing attention with your creative ads is an important first step on the path to a conversion. Next, you need to nurture and maintain that engagement, and using personalized landing pages is an impactful way to do that.

Landing pages should be tailored to the creative ads they were directed from, with message-matched copy and similar design elements to ensure a seamless user experience. Personalized landing pages can address the specific interests and needs of your audience, leading to higher conversion rates.

Instapage is a leading, conversion-optimized landing page builder that is intuitive, easy-to-use, and does not require any coding.

Customers like using Instapage because:

• The drag-and-drop builder makes it easy to design and optimize your pages
• They can choose from 500+ customizable templates or start from scratch
• It integrates with popular CRM, email marketing, and automation tools like Salesforce, MailChimp, and HubSpot
• The AI-assistant can help generate content ideas, headlines, and more
• It’s easy to experiment with A/B tests and choose the variation that works best
• Business data and client privacy is protected using enterprise-grade security

Start building dynamic landing pages to boost your creative ads. Try a 14-day free trial of Instapage now.