Out of home ads where you least expect them

The majority of out-of-home advertising inventory is fairly standard, whether it’s traditional billboards, ads on buses or screens at subway stations.

But the fun part of OOH-and a way to make a campaign more effective-is when ads pop up in places you might not expect, causing you to take a second look and making the ad more memorable than a run-of-the mill campaign.

Out-of-home has seen plenty of ads in surprising places, including urinals in public restrooms, airport security bins and even on toilet paper. Here are a handful of interesting possibilities for memorable OOH campaigns.

Video screens on faucets

Out-of-home advertisers are always attracted to venues that have a captive audience, and one place where people go in a public restroom (one hopes) is the sink to wash their hands before exiting.

One new idea allows advertisers to target people washing their hands via 7-inch LDC video screens attached to faucets in public restrooms.

The screens can be placed in any location that has public restrooms, such as restaurants, airports, casinos, museums, sports stadiums or movie theaters.

The screens play loop of video ads with sound, and they can be used in a couple different ways. For example, they could be used by third-party advertisers who stand to gain immediately-think of an ad for a candy company at a movie theater.

Or they could be used to promote the venue itself, such as a hotel touting its amenities to guests.

Video ads on motorcycles

Ads on wheels are nothing new-we’ve previously seen weighted wheel covers that don’t spin and feature logos or other static forms of advertising.

What is new, however, is video ads on motorcycle wheels. It may sound futuristic, but there is a Kickstarter campaign under way to make video screens on motorcycle wheels a reality.

The system uses a universal mount that fits any make and model of motorcycle or scooter. The screen’s brightness can be adjusted based on the time of day, such as very bright for daytime viewing and a lower brightness level for nighttime use.

The system connects to a smartphone, allowing users to upload and change content using a web-based tool. The content can be seen on the wheels while the motorcycle is in motion or while it’s parked.

The sheer novelty of video ads on motorcycle wheels would definitely make for an eye-catching OOH campaign. Advertisers could use the video ads on wheels to draw people in, with street teams on hand to talk up a product or distribute samples.

Free car rides

The rise of new-wave taxi services such as Uber or Lyft has created competition with taxi companies, but there could be another new competitor on the horizon-free ad-supported rides.

There is a new service called NoMoCab that’s currently being tested in Philadelphia, which works similar to Uber and Lyft. People use an app on their smartphone to reserve a car for a ride, arranging the time and location of pickup.

But instead of automatically charging your credit card like Uber and Lyft do, rides with this service are free, supplemented by ad wraps on the cars used.

The company says advertisers can take part for the price of an average billboard. Like any wrapped vehicle, the car ads will be seen by passengers as well as the many other vehicles and pedestrians on the roads.

The service takes care of wrapping the cars for drivers and pays them a minimum of $2,000 per month for their service.

There’s no word yet on when the free ad-supported ride service will be in markets beyond Philadelphia.

Ads on bendy straws

The bendy straw is a staple of fast food restaurants and anywhere that kids will be drinking.

They have a pretty small surface, but not so small that you can’t put an ad on them.

One cute ad in Shanghai used bendy straws to promote a local yoga studio.

The straws were imprinted with the image of a woman wearing yoga gear. Her back was across the bendable portion of the straw.

When the straw went from straight to bent, it looked as though the woman was doing a classic yoga pose, the back bend.

Straws can be imprinted and handed out anywhere for a quick visual reminder of an advertiser’s products.

Ads below a child’s ride

If you’ve ever gone anywhere with a kid, you know they cannot resist the mechanical rides usually found inside malls or outside stores.

Whether it’s a helicopter or a pony, these rides have pulled in many a parent on their way to go shopping when their child demands a ride.

A unique way to reach those parents is to put ads on the platforms below the rides.

Nearly all are placed on a base, and parents standing with their kid until the ride is over make for truly captive audience.

Tags: new ideas for out of home, OOH, ooh advertising, ooh ideas, out of home, out of home advertising