Remote control banner ad

It’s been a long time since I’d given up hope on banner ads but I thought this campaign from Beacon (Tokyo) for AR Drone was interesting to say the least.  I think a lot could be done in terms of execution but I love how the idea is strongly linked to product experience. Yes we know this cool toy has been around for a while but this execution is new.

The parrot AR Drone is something that you have to see to believe, and even better experience it for yourself if you can.  It’s the ultimate geek toy branded as “the video game you can fly” (It’s a quadricopter you can control with your iPad or iPhone).

Rather than explain all this, Beacon Tokyo created an interactive banner and gave people a chance to control a virtual drone with their iPhone (via QR code hookup).  The execution could be better - but I like the fact that the banner ad creates an experience similar to that of the product rather than trying to sell the product with pure messaging. In any case it brings hope back to what banner advertising can do.