I always like campaigns were the medium is (a part of) the message, instead of just the carrier of that message.

Take, for example, this banner campaign for Stadsmissionen, a local charity that helps homeless people in Stockholm. They probably didn't have the money to buy advertising space to spread their message and get people involved with the homeless. And they probably wouldn't have succeeded even if they did.

Instead, they took their limitations as an opportunity to develop this smart idea: the homeless banner. Everyone can go to the campaign site and grab the embed code to give shelter to the banner on their own blog or website.

The banner itself basically reads: This banner is homeless. [your name] has given a roof over its head for [time]. Click to give warmth to the Stockholm homeless. 

The counter in the banner and the leaderboard on the campaign site are all smart elements that contribute to the overall shareability of the campaign.

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I'm not much of a fan of display advertising, but in some rare cases you encounter a banner ad that's worth talking about. Here's a really inspiring example from IKEA. Watch the screencast below or experience it for yourself here.

Yet another creative campaign by Japanese retailer UNIQLO, advertising their 2009 end of year sales. Instead of creating a traditional banner campaign, UNIQLO launched the Lucky Switch. A blog widget and bookmarklet that switched every image on any blog or site into Lucky Tickets when pressed.

Clicking the tickets could win you an exclusive bag. Alternatively, the losing tickets would turn into banner ads of UNIQLO.

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