Learn from These 4 Awesome Marketing Campaign Examples

Understatement time for you: marketing has changed a ton in the last five years. We love to learn from great examples. Here are 4 awesome marketing campaign examples to learn from.
marketing campaign examples
Marketing campaign examples.
Social media’s power to drive campaign success into uncharted territory has resulted in a massive shift in content marketing. The best campaigns have capitalized on the elements that make content shareable on social media.
Below, we’ve taken four very good marketing campaigns, and have broken down key elements that contributed to their success.
Although some of these marketing campaign examples were created by the biggest companies and agencies in the world, they succeeded not because of how much they cost, but because they understood fundamental truths about social media users.
 

Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like”

If someone walked up to you today and said “I’m on a horse,” where would your mind go. It’s 2015, and my mind would still go the Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign, which premiered over five years ago.
The 33-second video depicts a shirtless man addressing the women of the world as the scene changes behind him, from the shower to a boat to the beach.
How successful was the ad?
  • It was watched almost 6 million times on the first day
  • Has over 50 million YouTube views to date
  • Made Old Spice’s YouTube channel the most popular brand channel ever at the time
After the original video, Old Spice also launched a YouTube response campaign which saw the “Old Spice Guy” respond to public questions and requests in no less than 180 personalized videos. These videos earned an astounding 40 million combined views within a week. All this from a personal hygiene brand!
So what are the main lessons you can draw from Old Spice’s marketing campaign? Be memorable and involve your audience.
Of course, there are marketing formulas that have been proven to work time and time again:
  • Appeal to your target buyers
  • Present your product in real-life situations
  • Make the ad easy to follow
  • Leave them talking about your product
And here’s what Old Spice did:
  • Old Spice targeted females with their ad when the product is for males.
  • They didn’t focus on real-life scenarios, instead of creating a fantastical situation that most people couldn’t relate to.
  • It wasn’t easy to follow, actually forcing the viewer to pay close attention to each moving part and probably watch it several times.
  • The catchphrase “I’m on a horse” had nothing to do with the product
Old Spice didn’t just bend conventional marketing practices, they avoided them entirely, creating something far more impressive in the process. You wanted to play the video, again and again, to try and see how it was accomplished.
You wanted to show it to friends and talk about it. It was so interesting and shareable that brands have been chasing this model ever since it aired.
Then, they did something even smarter. They created the response campaign to bring their viewers into the experience. Everyone who loved the ad had the opportunity to be a part of it. Users flocked to submit questions in the hopes for a direct interaction with the Old Spice Man.
People love to be a part of something popular or viral. It’s like being part of a studio audience or being mentioned by a celebrity on Twitter. Not only is the experience enjoyable for them, but it’s also something they want to share with their friends and followers.
By creating these personalized videos, Old Spice turned a successful brand video into a shareable social media campaign.
 

Dollar Shave Club’s “Our Blades Are F***ing Great”

It’s the story of the brand video that launched the company.
Michael Dubin decided to start a company that sold cheap razors and shipped them to your door. He wanted to bring his company to the world and decided to do it with a YouTube video in which he, the CEO, explained the business. He called that video “Our Blades are F***ing Great,” and launched it to the world.
About 12,000 people signed up for the service within the 48 hours that followed.
The video is funny, catchy and clever, but it also explains the fundamentals of their business model and how they differ from traditional razor vendors.
Since its launch, the video has earned:
  • Over 18 million video views
  • Over 200,000 Facebook shares
  • Over 80,000 Facebook comments and more than 110,000 Likes
Perhaps most impressively, Dollar Shave Club managed all of this without really having an existing audience or following online. This video started it all.
So what are the main lessons you can draw from the Dollar Shave Club marketing campaign?
Distinguish your brand. Know your audience.
The video cost $4,500 to make. They didn’t need high production value or special effects to make an impression. They just knew their audience.
Dollar Shave Club isn’t just marketing to men of shaving age; they’re marketing to tech-savvy younger men, the audience most likely open to buying razors online. “Young men” is written all over the video.
There are toys in the background. They swear and use humor. There’s a machete. They make fun of tennis. It ends with a party. This isn’t an energy drink ad. There aren’t explosions and extreme sports. But it nails the target demographic in a simple, straightforward way.
People often talk about targeting on social media. You can target your content once it’s created, or you can target it from the outset. Doing the latter made this video into a hit.
 

K-Mart’s “Ship My Pants”

K-Mart, where your mom used to go shopping for groceries and socks, right? Well, if that is the way the store was perceived a few years ago, the company’s “Ship My Pants” marketing campaign went a long way in changing that.
In a YouTube video campaign, the company had people in their store talking about shipping their pants. Yes, K-Mart used toilet humor to highlight their online shipping. They even worked to spread the hashtag #ShipMyPants.
Does this crude humor actually work on people? Well…
  • 13 million YouTube views in its first week
  • 22 million total YouTube views
  • Over 400,000 Facebook comments and 890,000 Likes
  • Nearly 600,000 Facebook shares
So what are the main lessons to draw from the K-Mart marketing campaign?
Use humor. Take risks.
With social media, users are empowered to skip over an ad they don’t find interesting. This puts the onus on brands to somehow catch people off guard or otherwise keep their attention. Humor is one of the most effective ways to do that.
K-Mart used humor in a way that you might not have expected from their brand. While it’s easy to call it juvenile, the results speak for themselves. The humor made the video so shareable that more people shared it on Facebook than commented on it. That type of engagement is invaluable to the brand.
This marketing campaign was also special because it was a risk. It wasn’t just a risk for K-Mart, it was a risk for any brand.
Swear words and childish jokes isn’t something most retail brands would strive to be associated with. But social media is about creating discussion.  They took a chance and it paid off.
 

WestJet’s “Real-Time Giving”

I was in a meeting when I first saw WestJet’s Real-Time Giving ad, which went live during the 2013 Christmas season. I watched the ad with a group of people and, while most of us barely managed to hold it together.
The ad shows a WestJet Santa Claus asking people what they wanted for Christmas before their flight. Then, by the time they landed, the WestJet team had purchased all of their gifts, which tumbled down the baggage claim to everyone’s delight.
Little boys got the toys they asked for while parents snagged the big screen televisions and cameras they had only dreamed of.
The ad was powerful, and it showed in its popularity. The video earned:
  • Over 200,000 YouTube Likes, and over 20,000 comments
  • Over 40 million total YouTube views
  • Over 4.5 million additional views on other WestJet videos after its launch, and over 30,000 new YouTube subscribers
  • 42.2MM Twitter impressions specific to #WestJetChristmas
  • Over 2 million combined Facebook, Likes, Shares

    and

    Comments
WestJet also saw an 86 percent increase in sales compared to the same period one year earlier, a rise they attribute at least in part to the ad.
This ad was an absolute, blow-out hit.
So what are the main lessons to draw from the WestJet Campaign?
Play to people’s emotions. Don’t be afraid to sideline your product.
Emotional stimuli, happiness, sadness, inspiration, anger and beyond, have been proven to activate the human nervous system and boost social transmission. In other words, if you can cause an emotional reaction in people, they’re far more likely to share your content.
This notion is clear when you look at what gets shared online. Go to a website like Upworthy or any other content aggregator and see what gets the most attention.
The airline also made their service a secondary element of the ad, which might seem counterintuitive to many brands but can actually pay off big time on social media.
Many people are inherently hesitant to share brand-heavy content on social networks. We want to share high-quality content with our friends and followers, not try to sell them on anything.
Putting your product to the side in favor of rich content is a great way to increase your likelihood of getting shared while still making an impact on brand awareness and sales.
If you have any doubts, WestJet’s 86 percent increase in sales after the release of the ad should cast those aside. Dove’s ‘Real Beauty Sketches’ are another great example.

The bottom line

Remember these 10 lessons

Ignore conventional marketing. Instead be memorable.
Make your audience a part of the campaign.
Distinguish your brand from the competition.
Know your audience and cater ads to their interests.
Use humor.
Take risks.
Play to people’s emotions.
Don’t be afraid to put your product on the sidelines.
Support a meaningful cause and share it with your audience.
Try to start a movement with your brand at the center of it.

 

Digital Spark Marketing
Digital Spark Marketing’s Firestorm Blog

 

So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you. But believe in the effectiveness of word of mouth marketing created by remarkable customer service. And put it to good use.
 
It’s up to you to keep improving your creative marketing strategies. Lessons are all around you. In this case, your competitor may be providing the ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.
When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.
Try. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy improving your marketing, branding, and advertising?
Do you have a lesson about making your marketing strategy better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
 
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change.  We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed at how reasonable we will be.
 More reading on marketing  strategy from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
13 Extraordinary Marketing Lessons from Taylor Swift
Learning from 2 of the Best Marketing Strategy Case Studies
Visual Content … 13 Remarkable Marketing Examples to Study
7 Secrets to the Lego Blog Marketing Campaigns … Effective Marketing?
14 Jaw-Dropping Guerilla Marketing Lessons and Examples
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on G+FacebookTwitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.

 

 

 

What Are Some Great and Successful Advertisements?

Could you guess the most successful advertisements ever? You might ask about the criteria for most popular, yes? In this case, I will use the most awarded ads, according to the Gunn Report.
successful advertisements
Many successful advertisements.
Does your business use emotional appeal to win the hearts of your customers? Have you ever given it a try?
Like David Freemantle says, feelings have a critical role in this regard. Few of any ads will make an emotional appeal.
They will try to amuse and dazzle more than touch the heart. Which factor do you feel is most effective in drawing attention to your advertisements? There are many to choose from, aren’t they?
This is a critical missed opportunity in our view. We have studied and evaluated commercials for more than five years.
Our focus is somewhat unique; we aren’t interested in entertainment value, we are interested in business impact.
We study each spot and evaluate its power to build the business and to build the brand.
Related: 12 Best Examples of Successful Advertisement Elements
While emotional spots are not common, they are some of the most effective we have seen. Consider this emotion:
In the advertising business, everyone is familiar with a commercial for the French TV company Canal+, titled “The Bear.” Created by ad agency BETC Paris, this commercial is now, officially, the best TV ad of all time, according to The Gunn Report, which tracks advertising awards.
Adweek notes that the ad has received more industry awards than any other single piece of work in the Gunn Report’s history.
Released in 2011, it has been viewed 1 million times on YouTube but has never aired in any of the larger TV markets in the English-speaking West because it’s for a French brand.
For Canal+, its communications are driven by a desire to remind audiences of its commitment to quality cinema.
As part of this strategy the channel’s ad agency, BETC Paris, produced an offbeat, witty TV commercial – ‘The Bear’ – in which a bearskin rug explains what it takes to become a great Hollywood director.
Have you seen this advertisement? If you have not seen this 30-second ad, you can check it out here.
Marketing or advertising, you need to create information that your customers find interesting and worth talking about and remembering. This advertisement certainly achieves this goal, don’t you think?
Let’s examine this commercial and what contributes to the secrets of successful advertisements. And its ability to influence or persuade:

Use Breathtaking Commercials: 8 Examples Employing Emotional Appeal

Successful advertisements … define a value proposition

The value that truly discriminates you from your competition. Give your customers reasons to select you.

 

Successful advertisements … make your messages simple

So simple that the reader will quickly understand. Keep in mind that pictures are far more valuable than words.

 

advertising campaign example
Advertising campaign example.

Successful advertisements … define your positioning

Your positioning is your frame of reference. Make comparisons to your competitors if you can.

 

Link your messages

Link your messages to your brand. Remember the AFLAC duck or E-Trade’s talking baby … these are great linkages to the brands.

 

Successful advertisements … make your ad a component

It should be a component of an integrated marketing campaign.

 

Be relevant to the target market

Keep in mind that one message does not fit all. It starts with knowing your target market. Here the target market is families who like to watch cinema.
This commercial is certainly relevant to this market, isn’t it?

 

Grab and hold the attention

Hold attention with interesting information.  Keep in mind that people don’t read ads, they read what interests them. Your ad messages must be interesting to your target communities.
Your ad messages must be interesting to your target communities. This message certainly grabs and holds attention based on the simple emotion of effective humor.

 

Define a value proposition

A unique selling proposition that truly discriminates you from your competition. Give your customers reasons to select you.
Maybe not the most significant visible feature, it does illustrate Canal+’s claim as a company that puts a high priority on great cinema, which is their clear, yet very simple message: ‘The more you watch Canal+, the more you love cinema.’

 

Tell a fun story

This is a humorous story that draws in potential customers. It stars a bearskin rug who, having seen a lot of movies on TV from his spot on the living room floor, becomes a movie director himself in the egotistic style of Stanley Kubrick.
Through a combination of live action and CG ‘The Bear’, shows the rug at work as a film director behind the scenes of his latest film, complete with mood swings and tantrums.
The narrative wittily and succinctly brings to life Canal+’s claim that: ‘The more you watch Canal+, the more you love cinema.’

 

Make messages simple

Simple enough that the reader will quickly understand. Keep in mind that pictures are far more valuable than words.
Creating customer emotion though solid humor does not get any simpler than this, does it?
Related post: Learning From these 5 Remarkable Advertising Examples

 

Customers’ end state values

Customers and particularly the target customers are looking for new winning cinema features. No reason to buy without these and the marketing strategy certainly is addressing this end state in our opinion.
The commercial does not address any specific examples of Canal+ cinema examples or features or why Canal+ is the best. A weakness we believe.

 

Influence and persuasion

advertising campaign ideas
Have advertising campaign ideas?
There are no better means of influence or persuasion than emotion. Hands down the best, in our opinion. This commercial focuses on emotional appeal grandly, with its witty humor.
A real pleasure to watch in our minds.
It is the secret of this commercial’s success.

 

Outstanding visuals

This video would have been a winner without the commitment of the outstanding visuals. The bear rug visuals pushed it well over the top, didn’t they?
Remember, it is not what advertising does with the consumer; it is what the consumer does after viewing the advertisement.
After looking over these enablers, we believe Canal+ has created a very effective commercial, well worthy of its awards and popularity.
What do you think? Does this commercial persuade you? It certainly persuades me.

 

Digital Spark Marketing
Digital Spark Marketing’s Firestorm Blog

 

Need some help in capturing more customers from your marketing strategies? Creative ideas to help the differentiation with potential customers?
 
Call today for a FREE consultation or a FREE quote. Learn about some options to scope your job.
Call Mike at 607-725-8240.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy improving your marketing, branding, and advertising?
Do you have a lesson about making your marketing strategy better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
 
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change.  We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed at how reasonable we will be.
  
More reading on advertising from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Ogilvy on Advertising … Best Lessons Learned from his Secrets
Volkswagen Ad … The Secrets to Its Effectiveness?
Effective Advertising … 14 Best Examples of Ad Design
Use 8 Breathtaking Commercials That Employ Emotional Appeal
Successful Advertisement Design … 12 Best Examples to Study
Insurance Advertising War … 8 Examples to Learn From
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on G+FacebookTwitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.
 
 

Advertising Campaign … Are the Geico Happiness Ads Effective?

Have you seen the recent Geico happiness advertisement series where the theme is Geico creating happiness? Three of these are shown in the image: the Roadrunner and Coyote with Gecko; the witch in a broom factory; and Christopher Columbus discovering America in speedboats. There are more, but we thought three would be enough to analyze the effectiveness of the series. The question for you is … is this advertising campaign effective?
effective advertising
Effective advertising?
The secret of all effective advertising is not the creation of new and tricky words and pictures, but one of putting familiar words and pictures into new relationships.
–      Leo Burnett
Examining these TV commercials, it seems that Leo Burnett’s words ring true. At least on the surface; but they are only necessary, not necessary and sufficient.
It has been said that advertising is the price to be paid for being unremarkable.  That certainly seems to be the case in this series.
Let’s evaluate other elements to determine the effectiveness of these advertisements in the Geico marketing strategy:

Advertising campaign … effective advertising

Be relevant to your target market  keep in mind that one message does not fit all.
It starts with knowing your target market. Here the target market is not at all clear, are they?

 

Effective advertising methods.

Define your positioning

Your positioning is your frame of reference.  Make comparisons to your competitors if you can.
Geico, for sure, knows who its major competitors are, but makes no comparisons in this series.
 

Effective advertising campaigns

They must grab and hold viewers’ attention with interesting information.  Keep in mind that people don’t watch ads … they watch what interests them.
Your ad messages must be interesting to your target communities. These ads are, at best, average at grabbing, but not holding attention.
They certainly don’t provide interesting or entertaining information (in fact, they border on annoying, based on the frequency).

 

Define a unique selling proposition

This proposition must truly discriminate you from your competition. Give your customers reasons to select you.
Certainly, none is shown here in this series.

 

Effective advertising strategies

Advertising strategies must make messages simple … that the reader will quickly understand. Keep in mind that pictures are far more valuable than words.
Creating customer curiosity by lacking any real message or point doesn’t count.
Any effective marketing campaign whether it’s a series of Web videos, direct emails, magazine display ads, banner ads, outdoor billboards, television and radio spots, or any combination thereof, will only work if it focuses on a single message.
At the heart of all advertising is the promise you commit to delivering to your clients.
No matter how clever or memorable your marketing, if you fail to deliver on that promise, you will fail.

 

advertising campaign example
Advertising campaign example.

  Advertising campaign example

Learn a lesson from the politicians. The general publics’ opinion of politicians is about on a par with having a prostate exam.
Politicians can’t help themselves; they promise the electorate what the electorate wants to hear, and then fail to deliver on promises that can never be kept.
Consequently, people become cynical and distrust everything politicians say.
Failure to deliver on your promise to be the cheapest, the best, or the guy with the most features, is like a politician promising no new taxes.
Read my lips! Those kinds of promises are a prescription for a marketing disaster.
Taking the conceptual approach requires a certain degree of confidence and an understanding that you are going to have to give something up to get something in return.
If you present your identity as the Timex of widgets, inexpensive and ubiquitous, then you are giving up the audience looking for the Rolex of widgets, expensive and exclusive.

Advertising campaign … make your ad a component

Your advertising methods need to relate to an integrated marketing campaign. There are a series of similar ads in this campaign … all geared to address the theme of happiness.
But with no real message other than awareness of Geico, where is the integration?

Consider the end state values to your customers

Target your end state values to customers and particularly the target customers that are looking for value and message.
Where is the beef? The marketing strategy certainly is missing this end state in our opinion.

 

Effective advertising campaign

This list could go on, but I’ll end with one last powerful principle that is useful in reshaping opinions and getting people to rethink brands or categories — one of the best reasons to invest $5 million in a Super Bowl ad in the first place.
In early 2011, selling an American car was a tough ask. Most people still associated Detroit and American automakers with failure and bailouts.
The principle of “two-sided messaging” was brilliantly used in Chrysler’s “Imported from Detroit”(No. 13). We are more likely to engage with a message that fits with what we already believe.
If someone feels negatively toward a brand, they’ll be resistant to hearing a direct, positive message.
By first acknowledging a few of its flaws, they’ll be more open to changing how they feel and what they believe.
The Chrysler spot tells us that, yes, Detroit has been through some tough times, but it’s also strong, resilient and knows a thing or two about art and culture and luxury.
By validating the viewers’ impressions of Detroit and, by reflection, Chrysler, the brand was able to turn “Imported from Detroit” into a “hell yes!” rally cry for the Motor City everyone felt proud to get behind.
Whether or not any of these ads were developed with the conscious use of behavioral science, it’s clear to see that when ads work the way our brains work, they capture our attention and make a lasting impact.
Think how much further ahead you can be if you start your ideation with behavioral science in mind.

 

The bottom line

Remember, it is not what advertising does with the consumer; it is what the consumer does after viewing the advertisement.
  
It has been said that advertising is the price to be paid for being unremarkable.
After looking over these enablers and this Geico advertising series, we believe Geico is paying the price of being unremarkable twice. What do you think?
 
 What are some of your experiences with advertising as a component of an integrated marketing campaign? Please share one with this community.
 
 
Need some help in capturing more customers from your advertising? Creative ideas to help the differentiation with your customers?
 
Call today for a FREE consultation or a FREE quote. Learn about some options to scope your job.
Call Mike at 607-725-8240.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to improve your advertising design?
Do you have a lesson about making your innovation better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
 
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on G+Twitter, and LinkedIn.  
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change.  We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed at how reasonable we will be.
  
More reading on advertising from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
 What to Expect from a Creative Advertising Strategy
Creative Secrets from Budweiser Advertising Examples
Prudential Ad Makes Visualization Design Central to Story
Ten Deadly Sins of Advertising Design
 
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