8 of the Most Off-the-Wall and Innovative Advertising Ideas Ever to See the Light of Day

It’s hard for a business to get ahead in today’s world.

Why?

There are almost 30 million registered small businesses and 1.9 billion registered websites that are all scratching and clawing for the finite amount of money that consumers spend every year.

In order to cut through all of that clutter, it’s crucial that organizations utilize innovative and off-the-wall advertising to capture potential customer’s attention and turn them into life-long patrons.

But what exactly does innovative advertising encompass?

While being innovative in marketing can be a bit of a moving target, below, our team has compiled 8 exceptional marketing examples that can put you in the right mindset.

1. Denny’s Tumblr

Denny’s seems like a relatively buttoned-up brand focused on providing quality, affordable food for families. Looking at its Tumblr though, you might be confused as to what the popular chain of diners was thinking.

Denny’s Tumblr is downright weird. It’s a mixture of dry-pan/stoner humor that’s quick to respond to user comments and make quips and comebacks at even the most disgruntled of Denny’s diners.

The best part?

It works. And it’s also among cheap advertising ideas!

This means of innovative advertising has skyrocketed Denny’s into the zeitgeist for the internet’s most high-brow users. It has also created a way to make Denny’s feel more youthful.

2. ERGO

Dental health provider ERGO isn’t a household name, but that didn’t stop it from being over the top with its local advertising game.

Look at this.

Nothing sells dental implant insurance quite like you watching “teeth” get knocked out by bowling balls all afternoon long. We love this innovative advertising idea for its humor and also for the emotions it evokes in potential customers.

3. Rolex’s Classic vs. Modern

With a brand like Rolex, being classic is everything. It’s at the very core of the brand to be above trends and instead present customers with a feel that’s timeless and mature.

How then could Rolex square that image while also staying relevant in an increasingly over the top age of social media and content marketing?

The solution – Be present on new platforms but curate your content in a way that still feels real.

Look no further than the highly curated photography, videos, photos and editorial content Rolex posts across its social media-sphere to understand what we’re talking about. This innovative advertising strategy has brought Rolex into the 21st century without doing away with its core values.

4. Superman

When a new superhero movie launches, we’re typically treated to uber-expensive over-the-top movie trailers as our primary touch point with their advertising campaigns. What many of us don’t get the opportunity to enjoy though is the off-air marketing elements that tend to be a lot more original.

Take this Superman elevator door for instance.

It makes humor out of Clark Kent’s transformation into the “Son of Krypton” and undoubtedly drew more people in to see the film.

5. Visa

Visa knows how cut-throat the credit industry is. That awareness is what has allowed them to be the biggest name in credit backers and their unwillingness to fall out of consumer consciousness is what led to this marketing ploy.

All over the country, Visa purchased ad-buys on subway trains that made it look like their card was swiping across train platforms.

There’s no obvious sell here. It’s just a consumer consciousness play.

Sometimes, just reminding people that you don’t mind investing in making them smile which can do wonders for your business in the long term.

6. Nike’s Combining Social Media and Customer Service

Big brands using social media to appear fun and hip to their audience is nothing new. Using the platforms also to provide solutions to customers though is rare.

Enter Nike.

Nike has garnered itself praise for leveraging social media to deal with customer service problems in an age where its customers don’t want to fill out website forms or deal with antiquated support tickets.

Not only does Nike Support do wonders in being helpful. It also does wonders as a marketing tool given that consumers see Nike’s commitment towards being there for customers.

The volume of activity the account gets also pushes the brand up in search engine rankings.

7. Random House

Random House is a famous book publishing company that impressed us with its marketing willingness to give more of a youthful, connected feel to an industry that’s typically very cold.

Random House regularly shares original content that they feel the people who buy the books they publish would appreciate. They also share content that’s not theirs but is inspiring them at the moment.

That level of contentedness and creative openness is essential in the reader community. Random house appreciates that reality from a marketing perspective and has a leg up on more tight-lipped, “high-on-the-pedastool” publishers.

8. Duracell

Duracell’s moniker is that they keep going and going and going… You’ve heard it before.

That’s why this escalator off-air marketing play was so genius.

Escalators are the quintessential mechanical device that keeps going. Cleverly making it look like Duracell batteries power the escalator is a perfect fit for the battery’s brand and makes for a good opportunity to leave an impression on consumers.

Wrapping Up Off the Wall and Innovative Advertising Examples

In order to cut through all of today’s clutter, sometimes your marketing needs to be innovative. Other times it needs to be off the wall.

In a perfect world, your marketing can be both!

Above, we hope to have inspired you with innovative advertising, weird marketing and some marketing that combined qualities from both camps to truly engage with customers.

Take that inspiration and find new and exciting ways to engage with your customers!

For more of the most off-the-wall and weird content, check out more of our content on Weirdomatic.com today!

Weirdomatic is the place where all weird things come to life through the amazing world of photographs – a corner of our wild imagination or the whimsical face of the reality?