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Ads From Apple by kamikura

I’ve been paying more and more attention to the different methods of advertising I see on my daily commute. I admit to being disappointed in the variety of Vancouver transit ads, but PingMag’s collection of ten great advertising tricks used in Tokyo subways is top notch.

Public transit is supersaturated with advertising. In order to stand out, advertisers must really think outside the box. Breaking out of the standard medium of the 2′x4′ ad poster is the easiest way to grab attention and that is reflected in these examples.

Train Jacking (buying the entire advertisement space inside a whole train for a certain period) or Train Wrapping (covering the entire outside of a train) are extremely popular in Tokyo. If you ever found yourself in one of these trains for a few stops only, you will know why people are willing to pay so much at once. An entire train telling you the same thing is impossible not to notice.

Companies such as Bell and Colgate have done station jacking here in Vancouver, completely saturating the Granville Skytrain station with their ads. I haven’t personally seen any full-on train jacking here, though. Some companies will buy the outside of an entire train, but that’s as far as it seems to go.

I admit to being unfamiliar with the concept of “QR codes” mentioned in the article, but from the context it sounds like they’re barcodes that can be scanned by Japanese camera phones. Scanning the QR-code gives you more information on the product and/or takes you to their webpage.

Articles like this cement my belief that the only remaining way to penetrate through to the consumer is clever and original advertising. The Cannes Advertising Film Festival draws crowds all across the world, year after year. Stop and think about that; people are paying money to watch ads. I try to make it every year because the ads shown are that interesting.