Tag: Product demo

Parrot AR.Drone: The Flying Banner

The Parrot AR.Drone is a quadrotor you can control with an iPhone or iPad. Instead of explaining that in copy, Beacon Communications Tokyo built an interactive web banner that lets people experience the idea.

The banner displays a QR code. Scan it and your phone becomes the controller for a virtual AR.Drone that appears inside the banner. You pilot it around the screen using your smartphone, effectively turning the ad into a small playable product demo.

In consumer electronics launches, the most persuasive interactive advertising is a playable demo that mirrors the product experience in seconds.

Why this banner stands out

Most banners talk about what a product can do. This one makes the product behaviour the message. If the AR.Drone is “controlled by your phone,” the ad is controlled by your phone. That direct mapping makes the idea instantly believable.

Standalone takeaway: If your product is an interface, let the audience use that interface inside the ad unit, even in a simplified form.

The mechanic: QR to second screen control

The QR code is not decoration. It is the bridge that turns a passive placement into a two-device experience. The banner stays on the desktop screen. Control moves to the phone. That split makes the interaction feel closer to the real product, and it also creates a small sense of “this is special” because the ad is no longer self-contained.

How it creates attention without shouting

As described in industry coverage, users could fly the drone around the page and even “blast” parts of the site to reveal the full-screen message. That gives the interaction a purpose and a payoff. It is not just movement. It is progression.

Beacon also reported unusually strong click-through performance compared to typical expectations for the placement. In this case, that makes sense. People do not click because they were interrupted. They click because they were already playing.

What to steal from The Flying Banner

  • Replicate the product, do not describe it. A short, real interaction beats a long explanation.
  • Use one clear bridge between devices. QR works here because it is immediate and simple.
  • Design an obvious payoff. A reveal, a score, a result. Give the interaction a reason.
  • Keep the controls teachable. If people cannot learn it in seconds, the banner loses them.
  • Make it readable for spectators. Movement on the main screen helps others understand what is happening fast.

A few fast answers before you act

What is “The Flying Banner” for Parrot AR.Drone?

It is an interactive web banner where scanning a QR code turns your smartphone into a controller for a virtual AR.Drone that you can pilot inside the banner.

Why is this a stronger demo than a normal video ad?

Because it lets people feel the core promise. Phone-controlled flight. through direct interaction, not description.

What role does the QR code play in the experience?

It is the handoff mechanism from desktop to phone. The desktop shows the “world.” The phone becomes the controller, matching how the real product is used.

What is the biggest risk with multi-device banner ideas?

Drop-off. If the connection step is slow, confusing, or unreliable, most users abandon before they experience the payoff.

How would you modernize this mechanic today?

Keep the principle of second-screen control, but reduce friction. Use a fast connect flow and ensure the experience is still satisfying even if someone chooses not to connect a phone.

Peugeot 408: Print ad with a real airbag

To advertise the safety benefits of the Peugeot 408, Brazilian agency Loducca put a mini airbag inside a print ad. Readers were invited to hit a marked spot on the page and see what happened. On impact, the tiny bag inflated, demonstrating in miniature what an airbag would do.

The ad appeared in Brazil’s business magazine Exame and was reportedly distributed with protective packaging so the airbag would not trigger by accident.

In automotive safety marketing, the highest-performing proof is the kind you can physically trigger yourself.

A magazine page you have to hit

The mechanism is brilliantly blunt. You do not watch a crash test. You perform a micro impact with your hand, and the medium responds. That action turns a passive read into an experience, and it makes the “airbag” benefit impossible to ignore.

Standalone takeaway: When a product claim is about protection, the strongest creative move is to make the audience feel a cause-and-effect demonstration, not just read about it.

Why print becomes more credible when it behaves like a product

Print normally communicates through trust in words and images. This ad adds a different kind of credibility. Mechanical proof. If it inflates on cue, the viewer’s brain files the message as something closer to engineering than persuasion.

That matters because “safety” is a hard attribute to sell with rhetoric alone. People want reassurance, not adjectives.

The packaging is part of the idea

The special packaging is not just logistics. It signals intent. This is a controlled, designed interaction. It is also a reminder that experiential print has operational realities. If you build an ad that can go off in someone’s bag, you must engineer the distribution like you would engineer a product.

What to steal from this execution

  • Make the claim triggerable. If the benefit is physical, design a physical proof moment.
  • Keep the interaction single-step. One obvious action, one immediate response, no instructions needed.
  • Let the medium do the explaining. The inflation is the headline. Copy becomes supporting detail.
  • Design the supply chain, not just the concept. Packaging, safety, and consistency are part of creative effectiveness.
  • Use spectacle sparingly. The wow moment is strongest when it directly maps to the product truth.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the Peugeot 408 “airbag in a print ad” idea?

A magazine ad with a real mini airbag insert that inflates when the reader hits a marked spot, mimicking an airbag deploying during impact.

Why does this work better than a normal safety print ad?

Because it converts a claim into a physical demonstration. The reader triggers the proof, which feels more credible than copy alone.

What makes interactive print feel premium instead of gimmicky?

When the interaction is directly tied to the product benefit and works reliably. The mechanism should be the message, not a disconnected trick.

What’s the biggest risk with mechanical inserts in magazines?

Execution risk. Misfires, non-fires, and distribution issues can overwhelm the idea. The production and packaging have to be engineered as carefully as the concept.

How can a brand replicate this approach on a smaller budget?

Design a tactile proof moment using simple materials and one clear action. The key is immediate cause-and-effect that maps cleanly to the claim.