Ambient' is a term that has just started appearing in the
literature and there is some uncertainty as to what it really
means. The term was first used in relation to advertising
in 1996 by Concord Advertising, an UK agency specializing
in outdoor campaigns. Unusual locations are considered as
a defining characteristic for ambient advertising. The method
of execution is unusual as well. Therefore, the concept
of `Ambient Advertising' can be defined as "The placement
of advertisement (s) in unusual and unexpected places (location)
and often with unconventional methods (execution) and being
the first or only ad execution to do so (temporal)".
Some examples are, messages on the backs of car parking
receipts, on hanging straps on railway carriages, on the
handles of supermarket trolleys, on the sides of egg cartons,
etc. It also includes the techniques like projecting huge
images on the sides of the buildings, slogans on the gas
bags of hot air balloons, etc.
One of the fundamental premises of ambient advertising
is that the world is an advertising stage and everything
is an advertising medium. Newness, creativity, novelty and
timing are the key themes in ambient advertising. This form
of advertising is gaining massive popularity and is being
used by popular brands like Nike, Coca-Cola, Kelloggs, Nestlé,
etc.
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