Skip to content 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.
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