When I tried to think of advertising posters that I consider successful, the first one that came to mind was the posters for the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall:
May not be the first poster to come to most people’s minds, but it had an impact on me. I remember walking around San Francisco and seeing these posters everywhere. And then I ended up discussing them: What did they mean? What were they for? Have you seen that poster? This could have been a bad marketing campaign since it was so mysterious, but I think the sheer amount of them made me actually look them up. I then discovered it was a movie and that it looked like it was going to be amazing. I do know these posters didn’t have the best reaction from all audiences. Some people were offended by them, some didn’t understand them, but the movie was a big hit. And now that I’ve seen and love the movie, I remember these posters fondly and the time I spent discussing them.
Another technique I think works for posters is making them collectible. I used to be apart of the San Jose Bike Party: 1000s of people joining up for one epic bike ride once a month and their posters used to be just as epic:
These posters were actually made by a local music legend Benjamin Henderson, which gave them an added prestige, but look at them: they are great pieces of art, even hand colored! Then they sell them as limited edition artwork! I bet they made good money on these. I mean there are literally around 2,000 people who go on these rides and a unique poster could be a great way to remember such a great event. I sure wish I had one of these posters. Bike partay!
And speaking of posters made by the right people. Check out this poster made by Carson Ellis, famous animator and resident of Portland:
Talk about leveraging a name for a community event! Carson Ellis is known throughout the animating world. She’s married to the lead singer of the Decemberists and they’re a well known Portland couple. They were selling these posters at the event and let me tell you: they were popular! I almost bought one mostly because I love the St. Johns Bridge, but I didn’t know it was designed by Carson Ellis till afterwards. They should have been broadcasting that like mad. I definitely would have bought one if I had known that.