To keep our cogs whirring, and force us to question our processes, addmustard has been introducing a series of team workshops across SEM, SEO and Design.
Our Head of Creative, Reece Starr, led the way with his bi-weekly creative workshops. The sessions are collaborative, incorporating learning new skills with showcasing ideas and campaigns on a different theme each time.
Last week, we delved into some pre-noughties nostalgia. By looking at innovations of the past, we hoped we would be led to question how we work now and in the process, we dug up a few gems.
From high tech commercials to early Internet adopters, take a step back in time and check out our selection of pre-2000s ads below.
GUINNESS: GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT
This ad won more awards than any other in 1999. In 2002, it was voted the best ad of all time in a poll conducted by Channel 4 and The Sunday Times. Contributing to this success was copy that still packs a serious punch (the slogan continued to be used by Guinness for a decade) and the same technology used in the film Titanic.
Watch it here.
THE BIRTH OF THE BANNER
In 1994, the banner was born. Featuring no branding from its sponsor, AT&T, the ad was displayed on hotwired.com and achieved a CTR of 44%. Now, the average banner ad has a CTR of 0.1%.
ABSOLUT EVERYTHING
The first of Absolut Vodka’s iconic ads was created in 1980, and featured the copy ‘Absolut Perfection’. Playing with the shape of the bottle, the idea was applied across more than 1,500 ads throughout the ’80s and ’90s – increasing US sales from 10,000 cases in 1980 to 4.5 million in 2000.
The campaign is captured in its (almost) entirety on absolutads.com.
ENTER, MACINTOSH
Apple’s infamous ad launched the first ever Mac at the Super Bowl in 1984, and took its inspiration from George Orwell’s classic. Directed by Ridley Scott and opposed by Apple’s board, the spot ended up driving over $150 million in sales in the first 100 days from product launch.
Watch it here.
SEGA’S JOYSTICK
We have few words to say about this particular ad, apart from the obvious fact that it wouldn’t get through today’s moderation processes. Marketing to adolescents at its finest.
