IKEA

It’s very easy to make fun of the hysteria that surrounds Apple product launches. 

Samsung has posted several ads online making fun of people that queue for days just to buy a phone with one or two new features, however in doing so it breaks one of the key rules of advertising that states you should never talk about the competition.

It has also done it so many times that the joke is wearing very thin.

However this latest ad from IKEA Singapore comes with none of the baggage of Samsung’s efforts and expertly satirises Apples over-the-top marketing campaigns.

Marvel Super Heroes

Marvel Comics are so hot right now, and this publicity stunt to promote a new video game makes great use of one of its most iconic characters.

The full advert includes a convoluted adventure story involving Ironman, Thor and other superheroes, but the showpiece is a giant hologram of The Hulk which appears to raise Tower Bridge.

It’s a very cool stunt, even if we all know that Hulk isn’t actually that big.

Dyson

Dyson has successfully been making vacuum cleaners sexy for several decades, but it has surpassed all previous efforts with this immersive HTML5 website.

But then one can’t rely on a plain old print ad when marketing a robot vacuum cleaner that plugs into the Internet of Things.

Check it out by clicking on this screenshot:

Canon

Europe is home to a number of historic cultural events that seem incredibly brutal by today’s standards.

The bull run at Pamplona is one obvious example, while the annual game of Calcico Storico in Florence is another.

The latter is the subject of a 90-second ad for Canon, which uses the event as a way of emphasising the use of its cameras to tell stories.

For the uninitiated, Calcico Storico is a violent version of football that involves four teams from Florence, each of which consists of 27 men.

It takes place in June on the sand-covered piazza in front of the Santa Croce church, with the winning team taking home a prize cow.

This ad forms part of Canon’s ‘Come and See’ campaign, which also involves a website that reveals the camera techniques used in the video.

Save the Bees

Art exhibitions to advertise charitable campaigns are not a new idea, but they’re still an effective way of generating both funds and PR attention.

London beekeepers Barnes & Webb launched a Save the Bees campaign recently with an exhibition of bee-themed images from well-known artists.

It forms part of a series of educational initiatives aimed at raising awareness of the plight of honeybees, which have suffered a sharp population decline due to pesticides and reduction in biodiversity.

This is my particular favourite, created by Sam Droege.

LEGO bus stop

It is apparently the Year of the Bus, but then I didn’t need to tell you that, right?

To celebrate this momentous occasion Transport for London partnered with Hamley’s to create a bus stop on Regents Street that is made entirely of LEGO.

Constructed out of more than 100,000 bricks, it functioned as a normal bus stop for a month over June and July.

It’s an ingenious way of encouraging people to fall in love with LEGO all over again, while allowing Hamleys and TfL to bask in its reflected glory.

For more about LEGO, read our post examining its outstanding social strategy.

And as a final bonus, here’s some fantastic out-of-home artistry that advertised Brixton Design Week.

This swirling design appeared overnight on the pavement outside Brixton Tube station.

I’m slightly biased as I used to live in Brixton, but I think it’s a wonderfully creative way of promoting the event.

Our Festival of Marketing event in November is a two day celebration of the modern marketing industry, featuring speakers from brands including LEGO, Tesco, Barclays, FT.com and more.