Have you noticed that the world of marketing is changing? And rapidly. Traditional media vehicles are losing effectiveness as people communicate in new and different ways. Mass audiences are fragmented into small segments. Developing a point of difference is harder than ever.
These marketing creativity lessons will show you how though.
Guinness marketing creativity
This Guinness marketing campaign demonstrates that Guinness marketing has certainly noticed.
And Guinness marketing has adapted and come up with some cool new marketing ideas. This new ad from Guinness proves that beer commercials can be so much more than guys and bars.
“Empty Chair,” tells the story of a bartender who leaves a pint of Guinness at an empty table every night amongst birthday celebrations and sports team victories. No one sits at the table, and the woman shoots a dirty look at anyone she catches eyeing one of the empty chairs.
Without fail, the frosted glass is there each and every night. It’s a powerful image that serves as a sign of hope for the bartender. But we aren’t exactly sure who the beer is for until the very end. Everything comes together when a soldier finally returns home to claim his Guinness.
The spot finishes with the tagline “The choices we make reveal the true nature of our character.”
Guinness’s marketing story based on emotion has flipped traditional beer advertising on its head by getting rid of the template and telling a story – a real emotional story – that connects with people. The responses were overwhelmingly positive … customers and particularly the target customers are looking for meaningful stories. The emotion in this marketing strategy certainly is addressing this end state in our opinion.
This Guinness “Empty Chair” commercial salutes the character of a community as they honor one of their own who is out of sight, but not out of mind. They remind us that a true test of character is what you do when no one’s looking.
The choices we make reveal the true nature of our character. Guinness proudly raises a glass to those who are #MadeOfMore.
The spot works in many ways.
First, it breaks through the clutter. It is visually arresting, surprising, and beautiful. After watching it once I wanted to watch it again. There are no better means of influence or the power of persuasion than emotion. Hands down the best, in our opinion. And enhanced with a great dose of curiosity.
Experiences that trigger our emotions are saved and consolidated in lasting memory because the emotions generated by the experiences signal our brains that the experiences are important to remember.
Second, it has solid branding; it is clear that this is for Guinness and the brand’s personality.
Third, it communicates a benefit. The entire spot revolves around the Guinness commitment to people. It is very clear that Guinness has something special and remarkable that they want to share.
The ad has generated an astonishing amount of buzz and attention. It is engaging, well branded, and focused.
The ad was serious and emotional. It is like they left a note that says:
… there will be a seat left open, a light left on, a favorite dinner waiting, a warm bed made…because in your home, in our hearts, you’ve been missed. You’ve been needed, you’ve been cried for, prayed for. You are the reason we push on.
It touches on deep emotions about loss and longing. And the spot worked to build the brand; it made people feel proud of Guinness and its values.
Stories and emotions are the future of great marketing, aren’t they?
Disney marketing creativity
Do you make continuous improvement a focus of your marketing creativity? Most of the best marketing strategies we study and follow certainly do, and that is an awesome way to do marketing. Yes, the creative Disney marketing strategy is making their business better and better all the while. And their growth is all about their marketing creativity. Of course, if you are a family with children or grandchildren you certainly know this.
Have you noticed? It is hard not to notice, isn’t it? Let’s examine some reasons their marketing strategy is so creative:
Content marketing
Build excitement: Let’s face it; Disney is not a low-cost vacation. By providing custom touchpoints filled with useful and exciting content, unique to each family’s post-purchase, Disney is helping to build excitement. It works, and it’s brilliant.
Personalize: All customers are unique, and have different needs, especially in travel. Since this is not a one-size-fits-all world, what everyone needs is different from just about every other person. Disney knew that and deliver a book that is unique for each family. They send a book that was specific to their hotel and reservation details … all the information needed in a custom 15-page book. It works, and it’s brilliant.
Times have changed since Walt Disney’s days but his marketing ideas are still amazing. Let’s take a look at a few of Disney’s tactics:
Continuous promotion – If there was one thing Walt Disney did well it was promoting his business. And he did so continuously. He made sure he kept his organization in your mind. When it came time to think of going on vacation, to a movie, or any of a number of other things Disney always came to mind.
Build lifetime value – Go to a Disney attraction today and find people who have been coming back for decades and many times at that. Disney keeps their customers so happy that they keep coming back, again and again.
It’s the stories
The story is king – Walt knew that the story was the real reason people enjoyed his attractions. Even today, every Disney feature has a story behind it. People relate to these stories. It’s just part of the human condition. They are great at engaging people on a human level. Their stories abound at every turn.
Customer immersion
Always something new: Disney fans keep coming back because there’s always more to see. Disney’s motto isn’t “Lots of Rides”—it’s “The Happiest Place on Earth”. And Disney maintains constant interest by making sure there’s always something else to notice.
Interesting, interactive queuing areas for the rides.
Sporadic “spontaneous” performances by Mary Poppins or Alice and the Mad Hatter at various times of the day.
Rides like the Jungle Cruise are strikingly different at night.
Holiday theming. Different fireworks displays. “Limited-time only” eatables.
BMW marketing creativity
Are these videos a secret marketing strategy? Probably not. But you can certainly learn from them. These BMW marketing videos do display some great hidden truths.
Have you seen these two recent BMW videos? Watch them both here … each is only 60 seconds. We will then examine each video and what contributes to their strengths and weaknesses and their ability to influence or persuade.
How many times do you hear “I want my video to go viral”? To make this happen you have to create content that is pretty innovative, exciting, and cool so that your audience will want to share. Well here’s the kind of video that ticks all those boxes. BMW Canada has released these videos which have been viewed over 7 million times (at the time of writing).
The first one was the most popular and it became the number one worldwide auto video on YouTube after just 2 days. The title of the first video makes you think that you’ll be seeing BMW cars taking on concrete walls and losing. The video is pretty clever and keeps you on the edge of your chair as you watch it.
In marketing or advertising, you need to create information that your customers find interesting and worth talking about and remembering. These videos certainly achieve this goal, don’t you think?
Let’s evaluate other keys to effective marketing strategy in these videos:
Show … don’t tell
Certainly, BMW could have talked about its car’s design features, in all their technical glory. But that is not the best way to create a story that holds an audience’s attention. It is a much better approach to show the capabilities in person, but if that can’t be done, then an effective video is the next best thing. It is the only way to effectively to communicate messages to 7 million+ viewers.
Grab and hold viewers’ attention
Grab 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. This video certainly grabs and holds attention based on simple emotion.
Influence and persuasion
There are no better means of influence or persuasion than emotion. Emotion is the best, hands down the best, in our opinion. This commercial focuses on emotional appeal in a grand fashion.
It is the secret of these videos’ success and what makes the marketing strategy most creative.
Need some help in capturing more customers from your marketing strategies? Creative ideas to help the differentiation with potential customers?
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.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to 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?
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.
More reading on marketing strategy from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
13 Remarkable Visual Content Marketing Examples
SEO Mistakes That Will Kill Your Content Marketing Performance
A study by Edelman showed that gaining a customer’s trust has many rewards:
Obviously, most will buy your products if they trust you and need what you’re selling.
On top of that, they will recommend you to friends. And because they trust you, they would rather pay you more for a product than go to a competitor, all because they know what they’re getting when they buy from you.
But trust is getting harder to earn.
The same study showed that 62% of people (worldwide) trusted corporations (businesses) less than the year before.
There’s a reason I’m telling you all this.
Trust is something you can earn before or after a sale.
Both of these time periods are important, but one is harder than the other: gaining trust before a sale.
It’s tough to convince people to give you a chance when they don’t really know you.
And that’s where case studies come in: case studies are one of the best ways to not only attract the attention of prospects but to also gain their trust and get them to convert.
Why case studies blow away all standard “trust” tactics
The case study is the perfect combination of content that can attract traffic and increase trust in your brand.
According to a survey of content marketers, 70% believe case studies are very effective as a marketing tactic.
The only tactic that’s rated higher is in-person events (tied with webinars).
Reason #1 – They’re more detailed
A typical case study is at least 400-500 words. It describes the customer, their problem, and how the product helped them.
Compare that to a typical testimonial:
A testimonial is usually between 50-100 words.
Put simply, there’s no possible way to go into any serious detail in just a few words.
But when most people are trying to learn about a product or a brand, the number one thing they’re looking for is detail. You have to convince them that you’re the real deal, and providing detailed information is the best way to do that.
Reason #2 – They’re data-driven, and not just a bit
Part of being able to include more detail means being able to include data (and lots of it).
In a testimonial, you might be able to say that “[someone’s] traffic increased by 20%.”
But with a case study, you can provide graphs or snapshots of reports showing the traffic increase over time.
Furthermore, you could compare this to the year before, project future growth, and show how the increased traffic led to more traffic.
Reason #3 – They feel more “real”
Anyone can fake a testimonial pretty easily. I don’t recommend it, but obviously, it happens.
You’ve probably seen testimonials that just seem made up:
They’re too perfect and sound like some intern from a marketing department wrote them.
Not surprisingly, people don’t put the same stock in testimonials as they used to.
But a case study is different.
You’re featuring actual customers who can be looked up to. You’re including not just one quote, but several.
You’re also including real proof of your product or service being used.
For 99% of prospects, this is enough to ward off any suspicion of your case study being fake.
And because case studies include real details about your customer (or their company), they often resonate with readers. It helps them picture your product or service bringing themexactly the same success as your past customers had.
Where case studies fit
Here’s the bad news:
Case studies aren’t for everyone.
For some types of businesses, case studies are amazing. For others, they can actually be detrimental.
The basic guiding principle behind case studies is this:
The more uncertainty there is behind your product or service, the more case studies will help you.
The keyword here is “uncertainty,” which is always defined from a prospect’s point of view.
You may need to survey your prospects in order to see what they are uncertain about. In general, potential buyers wonder:
Take a complex product or service such as marketing consulting as an example.
An average client knows they need help with marketing, but not much more beyond that.
So when they come across a sales page of a marketing consultant, they are interested but feel a lot of uncertainty. They don’t know what “marketing consulting” really is or whether they need it.
One option for you would be to describe your process in great detail on your page. Many have tried that…and failed. People don’t care about the process—they care about the result.
The better option would be to create case studies that focus on the results, allowing you to clear up those questions that cause uncertainty.
How to put the case study in terms your visitors will understand
After you get your prospects hooked on the headline, your next goal is to focus on the customer in your case study.
You want to describe not only the company but also the big problem they faced before using your product.
The reason behind this kind of description is to help your reader relate to your case study customer as much as possible.
You want your prospect to think: “They’re basically describing my company.”
That’s what resonance is.
If you can get them to think that, what do you think will happen when you reveal that you tripled your customer’s profit (or some other benefit)? They’ll have no choice but to try your service.
Now, you’re not likely to perfectly describe your every prospect, but the more aspects of your customer they can relate to, the better. That’s why it’s important to describe your case study customer in detail.
How to make your case study more compelling
There are a few things you need to include if you want to maximize your conversion rate.
Considering that case studies take a lot of time and effort to put together, you need to make them as effective as possible in order to achieve a good return on your investment.
One of the main ways you can maximize the effectiveness of a case study is with images.
First of all, images help break up the text and make the case study more readable as a whole. Even though your prospect is highly interested in the subject, it’s hard to just read text.
But the most important reason to use images is that they convey complex results in a way that is obvious and easy to understand and that they add yet another degree of realism to your case study.
The bottom line
Creating content that both resonates with your readers and makes them want to buy your products isn’t easy.
However, case studies are your best bet at achieving that.
Although writing case studies may seem a bit abstract at first, if follow these 7 steps, you’ll produce compelling high-converting case studies.
The marketing world, as we have defined it, is split into two camps. Traditionalists, most notably Bob Hoffman at The Ad Contrarian believe that nothing has really changed except the tools. After all, while there has been a revolution in technology, basic human nature remains the same, though adaptation is underway. Review these case studies that will help merge many of the recommendations from this post and to evaluate a new marketing concept.
Marketing used to be pretty simple. You developed a compelling message, used mass media to broadcast that message to large audiences, and grew market share. Mostly, you aimed for the meaty part of the curve, where the law of averages conspired in your favor.
Then came the cable TV era. Audiences fragmented and targeting became the order of the day. Instead of starting with the message, marketers thrived on consumer insight and tried to identify a specific emotional trigger that would win them, loyal customers.
Now mass marketing has shifted to mass personalization and messaging and targeting have given way to activation. It is no longer enough to simply grab attention, we have to hold attention. Today’s marketers need to inspire movements in which their customers become their best salespeople. We need to make a fundamental shift in mental models.
Digital revolutionaries, on the other hand, are sure that the realm of communication has changed so completely that the old rules have little meaning in the new age.
They believe that the traditionalists are just fooling themselves, grasping at any straw in order to avoid changing their old means of influencing people.
Having spent time in both camps, I have some sympathy for both points of view. But I certainly lean to the digital revolutionary way of thinking. I’m get quickly frustrated with those who try to fit new media into old models and those who think that every shiny object represents a new paradigm.
Nevertheless, it’s clear that something fundamental has changed and it starts with marketing’s most basic assumptions.
Let’s review these case studies to shed some further light on this discussion.
Starbuck’s Marketing Makes Social Media a Difference Maker
When choosing to learn from other social media strategies, it is always helpful to choose one of the top dogs in social media.
Meet Starbucks. They have been successfully executing their social media marketing plan since the first days of social media and social commerce. For almost a decade their strategies have played a significant role in their growth. They clearly are digital revolutionaries.
With more than 18,000 retail locations in 60 countries, the coffeehouse is the picture of success.
Starbucks rode the baby-boomer trend in the 1990s, the swelling ranks of mid-age professionals that created the need for a third place, ‘ an affordable luxury’ where people could share and enjoy a cup of coffee with friends and colleagues, away from work and home.
In my opinion, the company has inserted itself into the American urban landscape more quickly and craftily than any retail company in history. And not by accident mind you. It has forever changed the way companies market themselves to customers. Here is how we feel they have been so successful:
Marketing concept … market segmentation
The company has stayed with the upper-scale of the coffee market, competing on comfort rather than convenience, which are the case with its closest competitors, McDonald’s and Dunkin Donuts.
Execution
The company continues to focus on its original product bundle that includes good coffee, quality service, and a nice environment to hang around. They keep their focus on paying attention to the details of great execution and service.
Related post: How to Frame Marketing Messages for Optimum Engagement
Social Media
One of the earliest adopters of the use of social media for marketing and social commerce, Starbucks has certainly taken a leadership position in the world of digital revolutionaries. Their social media strategy is built around their company website and 6 additional social platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, G+, Youtube, and My Starbucks Ideas.
We will review Starbuck’s social media strategy in detail below.
Adaptation and Innovation
Starbuck’s business crowdsourcing, via its My Starbucks Idea website, has been a huge success. Why may you ask? Because they have combined the concepts of change, experimentation, social media, customer engagement, and market research and made the results key components of both their brand as well as their marketing strategy. Have you given My Starbucks Idea a try? What did you think?
Starbucks has clearly embraced the digital realm. With a strong presence on multiple social networks, the brand has set a high bar when it comes to being social and engaging its customers. They are at or near the top of nearly every major brand ranking in social media.
Starbucks’ ability to wear so many hats corporate success, “local” favorite, and Internet sensation warrants strategic examination.
Why is Starbucks such a social media marketing success story? There are seven key reasons their social media strategy is a successful difference-maker for their marketing campaign:
Here is my take on why:
Customer relationships
Instead of solely focusing efforts on accumulating new customers, it cultivates its current relationships. This ensures more fans/followers in the long run, as well as the continued existence of brand advocates. This holds true across the board: In-store experiences are highly valued, along with online engagement, emphasizing the importance of customer service.
Going to its customers
When Starbucks takes a photo, it shares it on Instagram, posts it on Facebook, tweets it on Twitter, and pins it on Pinterest. It clearly goes to where all its customers like to hang out. Cross-promotion is more valuable as the world becomes more digitally focused.
Each network provides an opportunity to reach a new audience, and integrating your strategy on each is crucial to increasing visibility and promoting the brand.
Employ lots of customer engagement.
Customer engagement
They believe in letting customer engagement and conversation occur as naturally as possible. They listen carefully, observe, and apply new ideas from what they learn.
Encourages sharing
Happy customers are eager to share good experiences and offers. For example, the Starbucks frequent promotions like “buy 1 get 1″ garner an extraordinary amount of engagement on social media through comments, “likes,” and shares.
Marketing concept examples … My Starbucks Ideas
The My Starbucks Idea website, where Starbucks does its business crowdsourcing, has been actively engaging customers for over 4 years now. It encourages customers to submit ideas for better products, improving the customer experience, and defining new community involvement, among other categories.
Clearly, Starbucks has seen and believes what Peter Drucker has to say about business adaptability.
Customers can submit, view, and discuss submitted ideas along with employees from various Starbucks departments ‘Idea Partners’. The company regularly polls its customers for their favorite products and has a leaderboard to track which customers are the most active in submitting ideas, comments, and poll participation.
The site is at once a crowdsourcing tool, a market research method that brings customer priorities to light, an online community, and an effective internet marketing tool.
Experience customization
Starbucks provides its unique experience through programs such as My Starbucks Rewards, personalized “signature” drinks, and localized store experiences. Their social sites, in particular, Pinterest and Instagram, encourage users to share their Starbucks moments’ whether it be the return of a favorite holiday drink or just an artsy coffee cup shot.
Taking a stand
Giving consumers a charitable reason to buy that steaming cup is beneficial for all. The takeaway from Starbucks is to know your customer and tie that in with what matters in the world … so, pay attention to how your brand can fit into trending topics.
Starbucks reflects a mission
Its mission is “to inspire and nurture the human spirit one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time.” They believe lifting customers up will lead to more customer loyalty. It’s ‘The Way I See It’ quote campaign is a perfect example.
Lots of ideas here that can be easily replicated … which ones do you feel could benefit your business? How could you improve the Starbucks Coffee Social Media campaign concept for your business?
Learn from these awesome commercials.
Awesome Commercials That Employ Emotional Appeal
Does your business use emotional appeal to win the hearts of your customers? Have you ever given it a try? David Freemantle says feelings have a critical role in this regard. Yet 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 my view. We have studied and evaluated commercials for more than 5 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. And evaluate which camp it is in … traditional or revolutionary.
While emotional spots are not common, they are some of the most effective we have seen. Consider these emotional spots:
Jeep
Last year Jeep ran a remarkable commercial saluting the troops fighting overseas. The ad was serious and emotional. It noted:
“There will be a seat left open, a light left on, a favorite dinner waiting, a warm bed made…because in your home, in our hearts, you’ve been missed. You’ve been needed, you’ve been cried for, prayed for. You are the reason we push on.”
Jeep touched deep emotions about loss and longing. And the spot worked to build the brand; it made people feel proud of Jeep and its values. A traditionalist approach, don’t you think?
Budweiser
Perhaps more than any other marketer, Budweiser knows the power of emotion. Over the years the brand has run a series of emotional spots featuring the iconic Clydesdales. The 2013 spot, for example, highlighted the emotional bond between a horse and its trainer. It was one of the top spots of the year.
It isn’t easy to create an emotional spot for any commercial. Many environments are fun and energetic and people aren’t primed for serious themes. And, in many ways, the safe approach that many brands will take is to air funny and lively commercials.
But, if we are lucky, some brands will tap into our emotions. And if they do it well they will emerge as some of the most effective spots. Budweiser certainly does it very well as a traditionalist and as a revolutionary.
New world marketing concepts … Guinness shines
In this commercial, Guinness uses an inspiring story to convey its emotional influence. Like great stories, it has a beginning where sympathetic characters encounter a complicating situation, a middle where the characters confront and attempt to resolve the situation and an end where the outcome is revealed. It does not interpret or explain the action in the story for the audience.
Instead, a good story allows each member of the audience to interpret the story and its emotion as he or she understands the action. This is why people find good, emotional stories so appealing and why they find advertising that simply conveys facts and information boring.
Here is the Guinness ad video to refresh you or for you to review in case you haven’t seen it.
Guinness’s marketing story based on emotion has flipped traditional beer advertising on its head by getting rid of the template and telling a story – a real emotional story – that connects with people. The responses were overwhelmingly positive … customers and particularly the target customers are looking for meaningful stories.
The emotion in this marketing strategy certainly is addressing this end state in our opinion. Guinness represents a traditionalist beginning to break out of its mold.
Zillow
The family in this ad is looking for a new home using the real estate company Zillow. It eventually is able to find exactly what they are looking for. What the mother and children don’t expect is what is waiting for them on moving day.
Some of the best emotional stories effectively use the element of surprise like Zillow has done here. Zillow is a relatively new business born in the digital marketing age.
Here is a four-minute Samsung ad with 15-20 new features shown for their iPhone. No talking. And so simple that you quickly grasp the features and don’t lose interest. And the coordinated music has a way to keep you tied in emotionally. Creating customer interest doesn’t get any simpler than this, does it?
Creating customer interest doesn’t get any simpler yet still emotional based on the music, does it? A great ad design emotional element is to match what viewers see with what they hear.
People expect and prefer coordinated audio and visual messages because those messages are easier to process, feel, and understand.
A very simple, yet entertaining design, don’t you think? And very reflective of their digital revolutionary industry.
Key takeaways
The higher the degree of emotion creates more differentiation and makes it easier for your brand to project uniqueness and its word of mouth messages.
Emotion is the secret language of the brain … work on emotion if you want to improve your persuasion or influence. And note that it can be used effectively in either world.
Bottom line
So … guess what? The strategy behind these commercials is a winning one, is it? But certainly, while they have a look of traditional, they capture all the elements of the digital revolutionary world.
Need some help in capturing more customers from your marketing strategies? Creative ideas to help the differentiation with potential customers?
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.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to 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.
More reading on marketing strategy from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
11 Steps to Media Framing Messages for Optimum Engagement
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 Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.
