Interactive ad campaigns are popular for a reason, they work. According to a Demand Gen report, interactive ad campaigns gain double the engagement than the normal content.
Therefore, I am not messing around when I say, this is an era of interactive ad campaigns that connect with the audience and drive engagement.
“Interactive ad campaigns are the need of the hour, as customers want to develop a personal touch and a sense of relatability with the brand and vice versa.”
Customers expect to be heard and considered.
This is why many brands have come up with brilliant interactive ad campaigns in recent years.
Needless to say, some didn’t work as well as expected but some stood out and became a phenomenon.
So let’s look at some of my personal favorite interactive ads of all time, but before that, let’s understand a little more about interactive ad campaigns.
What are Interactive Ad Campaigns?
Today’s world isn’t about advertising the product, it is about letting your target audience feel that they matter. As a result, you need to create a personal bond with them.
How does this happen? You are right, with interaction. So, true to its name, interactive ad campaigns offer just that.
These campaigns are created with a motive to engage and interact with the target audience while promoting the product or service.
When you create an interactive ad campaign, you encourage the target audience to be a part of it. You encourage them to participate in the elements of that campaign and in turn. you create a personal bond with them.
Since the market is now customer-centric and more human-centric than ever, interactive ad campaigns are rising in demand and preference as well. Through these campaigns, you will be heard, seen, loved, and be spoken about, and spoken to as well.
Why Interactive Ad Campaigns are the Future of Digital Advertising?
Let me tell you a story. A few years back when I had begun my journey into the advertising world, I had a client with a very grim situation. The client used to be a very big name but in those times it was failing to retain customers and to acquire new ones.
The issue with that client was that all of its ad campaigns were very product-centric, informative, brand promoting, and lacked the personal touch. Frankly speaking when I saw one of their ad campaigns I wanted to leave because it didn’t interest me at all.
Then I asked them to experiment with a campaign. A campaign where we don’t create the ads, but our audience does. They ran the ad where they asked the audience to participate in designing their campaign.
Then, we picked the 3 best ones and ran them extensively. We boasted that YOU designed these because YOU believed in us.
We got such an overwhelming response both with the campaign designing and after the campaign ran all around. Moreover, we constantly interacted with the audience and that reflected in the brand’s conversion results.
This is one of the examples of the power of interaction.
A similar example I can give is of Burger King. Do you know why they are always in the news?
Because they always find ways to bring Brilliant interactive ad campaigns for their customers. It is no surprise that interaction goes a long way. Here’s the interactive Burger ad for you:
Burger King NBA Campaign: An Interactive Experience
Burger King aimed for the gamer demographic with its new NBA campaign. This virtual experience led to winning real-world rewards by the gamers.
How is Burger King Providing an Experience With its NBA Campaign?
The Menu Court features many of Burger king’s popular menu items. The inclusion in the NBA campaign gave the brand a chance to engage customers who were at home during the pandemic and spent a lot of time on consoles.
The goal of the game is quite simple. Players need to make a shot from the logo of a specific object on the court and win it so you can enjoy it in real life. The more difficult the shot, the more valuable the prize. Moreover, a half-court shot is equivalent to a full meal. Sounds fun, right?
This idea illustrates how brands are thinking beyond just simple advertising. They are now reaching their customers with creativity, interactivity, and clear messaging. Hence, Burger King took a creative step with this collaboration, creating a more direct customer experience.
Communicating and Building Memories…
Video games have developed into a vital platform for players to connect, engage, and celebrate creativity. Brands may reach out to a broader audience through in-game ads.
Through this, brands can easily communicate to their customers with ads. Letting the players participate in the game for a powerful opportunity drives more actions and engagements.
This innovative interactive format blends brand awareness with the possibility of a call-to-action. This allows brands to guide their customers to a direct path to purchase.
If you can integrate your brand into the game in a natural way, you will be able to build memories that will have a huge effect on players’ lives. When you stay updated, you can build creative advertising strategies for your brand.
Why Interactive Ads Work
1. Make Customers Remember You (For a Long Time)
Customers can’t forget what they see or interact with regularly. When you are constantly interacting with your customers through your ad campaigns. They will always be hearing of you and from you.
This way, they will remember you for a long time and will think of you whenever any product or service is mentioned.
2. Help You Stand Out From Others
In the advertising world, there exist two kinds of brands, one that runs interactive ad campaigns and one that doesn’t. We all know how intense competition is in today’s world.
As a result, it is so important to differentiate yourself from your competitors and stand out.
Interactive ad campaigns will help you create your own unique mark in the customers’ hearts and souls. They will help you stand out from the crowd and you will be heard, seen, and loved.
3. Improve Your Advertising ROI by Increasing Conversion Rate
It is no surprise that the end goal of every advertising campaign is to acquire customers and retain them. With interactive campaigns, customers will feel like you are listening to them, talking to them, and understanding them.
Customers will feel you care about them to be taking time and energy for creating a campaign that ensures their participation. As a result, when customers feel they are the ones who are being kept as a priority, they prefer that brand. Thus, your brand’s conversion rates will rise and there will be no looking back.
What Makes an Ad Campaign Interactive?
Your creativity turns your ad into an interactive one. It is not something that involves magic or superpower to make your advertisement an interesting one but it is the creativity that attracts your audiences.
Let’s have a look at a few aspects that make an ad interactive.
Balance of Interactive Features
When you make a collection of video, proper soundbite, amazing graphics, your ad automatically turns into an interactive one.
Merely saying an ad campaign is an interactive one doesn’t make it an interactive one.
You need to add features and elements to your ad campaigns that make them super interactive for your target audience.
For instance, if you want to advertise your cosmetic brand, ask customers to try them on for free and share their results. This will not only make your campaign interactive but will also help you with word-of-mouth marketing too.
If you want your advertisements to be interactive, you need to have a strong mutual connection between your brand and your customer.
It can be carried out by active participatory action. These types of ads add life to your campaigns.
Factor of Entertainment
Entertainment is the major element that turns your advertisement interactive. Do you know what everyone is seeking? Entertainment.
Let’s talk about the mega-popular hit Netflix movie Blackhole Bandersnatch. It gained huge popularity because it gave interaction with entertainment.
Another example is Google, every now and then Google installs an interactive search engine console where you can play games.
This is what you need to incorporate in your ad campaigns as well.
Such ads play with the emotions of people and make them experience something new. Moreover, it helps in making a difference in the advertising world.
When your ad becomes entertaining and interactive, it gains the power to be shared by maximum people. It gives your audiences the power to shape their experiences.
What is better than that right?
Interactive Visuals
Another element that makes an ad campaign interactive is the type of visual you are choosing for it.
If you are watching the news closely, you would know that recently Adidas launched a mega swimming pool billboard in the middle of Dubai’s popular beach.
This ad was incredible in its visuals and if you are a woman, you could even take a dip in the swimming pool. Adidas took this initiative to promote its line of women’s swimwear.
From visuals to action, everything about this campaign was interactive. End result? A lasting impact on the audience’s minds and hearts as well.
This is what your brand should be aiming for as well.
Recommended: Top 9 Online Video Advertising Tips (Agency Ad Secrets Revealed)
What are the Types of Interactive Ads?
There is a wide range of interactive ads that brands deploy to get greater audience engagement.
Numerous brands use these types to enhance their performance in the competitive market. Let us have a look at a few of them:
Playable Interactive Ads
PC – Adweek
This is one of the most interactive ad types. Such ads offer a short preview of a game and allow the viewers to try their hands into it. These ads are mostly in the form of apps.
They are also known as try-before-you-buy or micro-games.
The primary components of the playable ad include- lead-in-video, game demo, call to action.
These playable ads have the power to collect user data to help brands determine how their users are engaging with the ads and how they can be improvised.
Also, playable ads can be placed seamlessly into the feed of the users making them appealing to the ad publishers as well.
360-Degree Interactive Video Ad Campaigns
Target’s 360-degree interactive video ad campaign for Halloween
PC – Martech
Brands are also deploying video campaigns in the form of virtual reality that is successful in garnering greater engagements.
This is used to upgrade the space of video games and cinema.
Moreover, 360-degree video allows viewers to experience all elements of the brand with a real-life touch to it.
These types of ads are highly interactive among the customers. With virtual experience and a 3D touch to it, such ads drive a lot of interaction with the audiences.
Interactive Display Ads
Ad by Todd Perelmuter
If you think display ads can’t be interactive, think again.
Display ads are rich ads created using HTML5 technology. These kinds of display ads drive interaction and are much different from the standard static display ads.
Moreover, they allow the brands to combine different forms of rich media simultaneously including videos, gifs, audio, pools, and many more.
So your brand can also opt for display ads if you want to combine varied elements into one advertising.
AI and Augmented Reality Interactive Ad
IBM’s interactive AI ad to help users with holiday shopping.
PC – Martech
Another form of interactive ad is adding a touch of artificial intelligence or augmented reality to it.
These types of ads not only reach a wide audience but also personalize the ad type to suit a particular aspect of the audience’s behavior.
With AI, your audiences will feel as if they are talking to the brand in real-time.
Moreover, with augmented reality, ads prompt users to photograph and share effects like the one created through Snapchat lenses.
This adds an element of fun which helps in garnering larger audience engagement.
Remember people are always interested in those things that give them the feel of entertainment and a sense of personal touch.
Therefore, form it with the use of AI and augmented reality.
Voice Ads
Interactive voice search has found its way in this evolving age.
With the advent of smart speakers, brands have found new ways to connect with their audiences. Such ads directly engage with the target audiences just through voice search.
Just a sparkling dialogue allows the users to know what they want. This shows words can have some power too.
Interactive voice ads follow a sequence allowing the brands to offer what their customers want from them.
Moreover, if the user responds negatively, the interactive voice has the power to serve tailored responses.
9 Brilliant Interactive Ad Campaigns of All Time: Examples
Now that we have established that interactive advertising is the way to go, let’s see a few of my favorite interactive ad campaigns of all time.
The Burn That Ad Campaign: Interactive Ad Example
When it comes to interactive ads, one brand is always two steps ahead, and that brand is Burger King.
While I’m fond of many of Burger King’s ad campaigns, this one just blew my mind. It wasn’t something I was expecting to happen but it did.
Let me explain it quickly for those who haven’t seen it. So as a promotional technique and taking full advantage of the interactive augmented reality, burger king designed the #BurnThatAd campaign.
They encouraged customers to burn their competitor’s ads wherever they saw it in exchange for a free Whopper.
Awesome isn’t it? Mindblown.
Volkswagen Piano Staircase: Interactive Ad Example
Now this one is an old one but it’s one of my absolute favorites.
Do you know why? Because it’s fun and it sends out an amazing message of self-care.
To curb the increase in people taking escalators, Volkswagen came up with something very unique. They made the stairs into a giant piano that played every time someone stepped on it. Share on X
Naturally, people took more of the status than the escalator and did a little tuning of their own. Really amazing.
Coca Cola Drink an Ad: Interactive Ad Example
Now this one is an absolute masterpiece and breaks all barriers of interaction.
To get more people to try on Coke 0. The brand created an ad that was drinkable.
Partnering with Shazam, this ad had coke poured onto people’s phones with the delicious sound and every other effect.
Moreover, every Interaction garnered them a free coke 0.
Watch it and experience it yourself. It’s unbelievably amazing.
Marine Corps Real-Time Action: Interactive Ad Example
Created by our very own Todd Perelmuter of Bizadmark.
This ad combines real-time interaction and information at its best.
Making people aware that marines are mostly the first responders to every high alert area, this ad lets you see how marines are stationed and where.
You can get all the real-time information at the click of a button.
Simple, minimalist, interactive, and informative.
Honda- The Other Side: Interactive Ad Example
A very successful and fascinating interactive ad example is that of Honda.
Honda’s interactive film ‘ The Other Side’ promoted the new Honda civic. For this ad, Honda partnered with an ad agency called Wieden+Kennedy.
They designed such an interactive ad that showcased two parallel stories that can be fluidly alternated between by pressing the ‘R’ button on a computer keyboard.
This ad also showcased the civic as a practical family vehicle, and also a slick race car.
Amazing, interactive, truly eye-catching.
Boursin Sensorium: Interactive Ad Example
This cheese brand came up with an interactive ad that showcased a 360-degree experience in the form of a video.
The Boursin sensorium virtuality experience takes the customers to a ride in a foodie fridge.
It is packed with culinary items that pair well with Boursin.
This ad is crafted with virtual reality experience and aimed at providing a whole new experience into the digital world.
Pretty amazing this one. You should watch as well.
Google Lightbox Ad: Interactive Ad Example
The Google lightbox ad is a form of a display ad.
It appears to be the same as other ads but when users hover their cursor over the ad, it grows into a full-screen canvas.
This ad also draws on machine learning tactics to change according to its customers.
Moreover, it also uses an intelligent optimization engine to tailor audiences based on earlier collected data.
Super intelligent right?
Mountain Dew: Interactive Ad Example
Mountain Dew’s interactive ad featured ‘The Professor Presents: Got Handles’.
This ad also uses a 360-degree video that turns a player into a character on a basketball court.
This ad engaged consumers directly without any distraction.
This Mountain Dew ad feels like a sports video but in a real sense, it showcased a large Mountain Dew banner in the background.
A clear scene of the brand promotion. Amazing right?
Budweiser ‘Tag Words’ Campaign: Interactive Ad Example
The Budweiser ad is a great example of creative and engaging interactive ad campaigns done on a modest budget.
It was simple yet very creative and engaging. Viewers responded very well to this ad campaign
Even brands like Budweiser may not afford to pay the license fee.
In its ‘Tag words’ campaign, ads instructed the fans to search for some specific keyword phrases.
This ad garnered a lot of engagement and of course interaction as well.
Key Takeaway: Interactive Ad Campaigns
So here they are, some of my personal favorite brilliant interactive ad campaigns of all time.
I really do learn so much from all of these ads and every other ad that is always giving something to take from it.
If you want to run an interactive ad campaign, get in touch with our advertising team.
Till then, adios and keep interacting.
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