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These advertising campaigns became legendary. If you want to start making effective advertising campaigns, then learn from these experts.

1. “Think Small” Volkswagen

In 1959, Doyle Dane Berncach (DDB), one of the most legendary Advertising Agencies in history, launched a campaign for the Volkswagen Beetle “Think Small” which became the no. 1 campaign of the 20^th century according to Ad Age. The German car was originally created for Adolf Hitler and to sell it to post-war Americans was like corporate suicide. But still, Volkswagen and DDB made it happen.

During that time, American was obsessed with muscle cars and automobile advertisements commonly featured illustrated artworks offering big adventures. So how do you make a small automobile stand out from its big and muscled competitors? That’s how DDB came up with a surprisingly different advertising campaign. Instead of using art illustrations, they opted for a black and white picture. Instead of filling the page with colorful backgrounds, they left it blank. And to further emphasize the Volkswagen beetle, they placed the small picture at the corner of the page.

Simplicity amidst all that chaos was what made that campaign stand out. It may not look much but the success of that ad campaign became the standard of all ad campaigns until today.

Lesson: DARE TO BE DIFFERENT.

2. “The Pause that refreshes” Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola wanted to further increase their profit by making Coke the drink to have every single day. So they went to D’Arcy Co. (DC), an Advertising Agency, for help. In order to make their campaign work, DC decided to stop looking at the product and look at the people’s behavior instead. They realized how busy people during that time was (even now) that the never really had any time to relax. In 1929, they launched a campaign called “The pause that refreshes” which aims to tell people that their much needed break came in the form of Coke (the drink, not the drug).

What made their campaign so successful was that they took the initiative to understand their consumers. By doing so, they were able to strike a nerve which caused their consumers to feel some sort of connection with their product. They were able to form a relationship that provided the motivation they need to make their campaign convincing to the audience.

Lesson: LEARN THROUGH YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE.

3. “Just do it” Nike

One of the most famous and easily recognized slogans in advertising history was coined at a 1988 meeting of executives between Nike’s ad agency WK and employees – “You Nike guys, you just do it.” Their timing was perfect with the spread of exercise enthusiasts. They aimed for the consumers’ desire to a healthy lifestyle and made the exercising regime seem necessary. Their ads were also smart, humorous and cool which made even non-active people want to wear them.

Lesson: FATE AND COMIC RELIEF.