Here it comes ! Our winner, #1 of the “2011 top 5 ad campaigns”. If you didn’t check already on previous campaigns, well be sure to go here, there , there and even here
First of all, I have to mention that if the ranking of #2, #3 and #4 was not so easy to determine, I was quite sure that “decoded / the bing collaboration” will be the 2011 best campaign of the year. It has everything I personally enjoy about advertising: Fisrt of all, it’s not invasive, it’s enhancing. It’s enigmatic, not declarative or basic language. It’s inside the real world, and the concept justifies the very locations of the billboard : it’s genius. It’s between art installation or public space intervention and regular commercial advertising. But that’s enough for an intro, let’s get to it.
Jay Z ; Billionaire, entrepreneur, from “the rags to the riches” as he repeatedly stated, from Brooklyn NYC he has become what america loves most : the living legend that keep validating the american way of life, land of liberty and opportunity, where “everything is possible for whom work hard enough”, well, we’ll leave it there, since you’ll certainly have your opinion on this topic. Still. This living legend, musician, CEO, producer, celebity, annouces the upcoming publication of its memoire : “Jay-Z decoded”.
In the opposite corner, Bing. Microsoft search engines, looking to connect with a younger audience, to reach more people and be more present.
The rest is genius. Involving the public, a game is set: Everyday, through a dedicated online platform (twitter, facebook), clues are revealed. Those clues will be used by the “gamers” to find some pages or quotes published in public space, before the public release of the book. And the quotes or the page are always geographically related.
How do you explore this world, if you’re not from NYC? Decoded provided contextual geographical and subject-matter content, and Bing Maps provided the surface area in which to experience the game. Users learned to navigate Bing Maps views as they competed to win prizes.
The bing street navigator was quite impressing to use, the whole “clue” thing was very engaging for the audience, and the locations were just unbelievable: From regular billboards, metro station billboards to restaurant plates, basket ball shirts, cars, shirts, even luxury hotel’s swimming pool floors !! The result : a big success : +1 million of new facebook fans for Jay-Z, +11% new users for bing. Celebrities were involved, massively retweeting game’s clues and tips, and of course, the autobiography went best seller in few weeks.
This is our #1 2011 advertising campaign, because it has it all : large audience, both real world and digital medias repercussion, and a rich content to work on, perfectly put in ryhtm by the great Droga 5’s NY based agency. No surprise if Droga 5’s won the Outdoor Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
Thank you all for following our journey through the 5 best 2011 ad campaign, and as always, don’t hesitate to comment on this campaign below !!