Marketing

Optical Illusions in Marketing

I have always been a little intrigued by Optical Illusions some are fascinating, some not as much, but at the very least they provide a few moments entertainment. In the past I have mentioned how I think optical illusions could be applied to marketing as a method of making what could otherwise be a very ordinary advert be extraordinary.

Optical illusions date back to 450BC and their earliest use in marketing I could find, was from sometime in the 1800′s. This first example is for Diamond Eye and was published sometime between 1853 and 1920.

Source

The same technique has been used more recently for a multitude of brands. You might even remember this one for Obama. There’s further examples of older OI’s from the 1800′s here and here

Adverts that look like they are moving

Possibly the easiest technique to replicate on a still image. Match the brand message to the depicted movement and you have and ad that will stand out.

Alcoholics Anonymous

Duracell

Sony Bravia

Source

Hidden Messages

Optical illusions can be used to deliver a hidden message that add’s further meaning to the product and can display an alternative side. This next set are from 2004 to promote a Brazillian magazine called Veja.

More from the award winning Veja collection here.

Dior

While the above used text within an image, this next ad for Dior uses a hidden image within the advert. Can you spot it?

Making something average look extraordinary

There’s been loads of examples in the Guerrilla and Ambient Advertising posts of taking something very ordinary and making it stand out. Every opportunity to communicate with consumers should be maximised for greater impact. Here two lorry’s that could be very plain are given eye catching makeovers.

Unfortunately those examples were photoshopped but you get the point. However, I’m not sure if this has been put together on a PC. Still it’s pretty clever and would get people talking.

More 3D Images

Using stickers or images  to give a sense of depth to a flat surface  have appeared in a couple of posts before. It’s a nice attention grabbing trick.

And this example uses chalk to give a 3D feel to the image

Nice Use of Billboards

Almost any space can be used creatively. Billboards scream for attention all the time, how often do we just pass them by and take no notice? However it’s not often you see examples like these

More Optical Illusion Images

The Landrover Freelander was apparently developed by studing the Maasai tribes, can you spot it inthis image?

Sex sells, but this is just the back of two feet in shoes…

In video

Plenty of adverts have used optical illusions in video, there’s the famous Wonderbra advert of a few years ago. This first one is for road safety.

While Samsung cram 10 Optical Illusions in 2 Minutes

Here’s a TED video on Optical Illusions thats an interesting watch

Further Optical Illusion material from:

Visual Illsuion Contest

Best Visual Illsuions of 2009

and Mighty Optical Illusion – best source on the web for optical illsusions, they have many more marketing examples well worth checking out.

Related posts:

1. VT: Optical Illusion, Addidas Star Wars, T-Mobile, True Blood, Coca Cola
2. Find 81 Absolut Vodka Bottles
3. Your Marketing is a Waste of Money
4. 59 More Guerrilla Marketing & Ambient Advert’s
5. Best Guerrilla & Ambient Marketing 2010

© 2010 LAB: Luke Abbotts Blog.