Adobe Marketing Campaigns: Greatest Secrets to Their Success

Stop interrupting what people are interested in, and be what people are interested in. This is understatement time. Marketing has changed a ton in the last five years. Social media’s power to make Adobe marketing campaigns successful has resulted in a massive shift in their content marketing.
Adobe marketing campaigns
Can you make marketing campaigns successful?
The best campaigns have capitalized on the elements that make content shareable on social media.
Below, we’ve taken five of the best marketing campaigns, and have broken down key elements that contributed to their explosive success.

Morgan and Morgan Marketing Strategy: Are They Crushing Competition?

Although some of these marketing campaigns were created by the biggest agencies in the world, they succeeded because they understood social media users.
The biggest agencies don’t invent all the good ideas.
Let’s get started.

Adobe marketing campaigns … play to people’s emotions

When I saw my boss cry when watching the ad, I knew it was going to perform well. Emotional stimuli, happiness, sadness, inspiration, anger and beyond, have been proven to activate the human nervous system.
Emotions 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.
It’s stories about unlikely heroes, or videos of soldiers coming back from war. It’s about heroes surprising their families, or about stories of people and their pets.
These videos, to use an internet expression, catch us ‘right in the feels’. That’s why they succeed.
Brands should be striving to make that same impression. WestJet is proof as to why.
The airline also made their service a secondary element of the ad. Does this seem counterintuitive to many brands? Maybe, but they can pay off big time on social media.
 

Use many channels … with new ways to communicate

Ignore conventional marketing. Instead be unique and memorable.
Old Spice didn’t just bend conventional marketing practices, they avoided them entirely. They created 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 direct interaction with the Old Spice Man.

Adobe marketing campaigns … know your audience and cater ads to their interests

 Consider competitiveness … talking about REAL differences with competing for offers … the value proposition
Differentiate and include audience
 

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.
By creating these personalized videos, Old Spice turned a successful brand video into a shareable social media campaign.
Utilize creativity … inventing new ways to talk about products and services
Use humor.
Provide useful content … with meaning and relevance, not just entertainment value

Adobe marketing campaigns … 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.
Much like with Old Spice, 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.
Safe bets don’t create discussion, risks do
 K-Mart put themselves out there, and social media users appreciated the humor and the risk. They took a chance, and it paid off.
Support a meaningful cause and share it with your audience.
So what are the main lessons to draw from the Always marketing campaign? Put your company behind a cause. Try to start a movement.
Always is working to become synonymous with women’s empowerment. This is their cause and the basis of their ad. Again their product was put to the side, but where WestJet did it to focus on their customers, Always focused on the ‘greater good.’
 

Find a cause or a message that your business believes in

 This is important: don’t just support it for an easy marketing win. Throw your company behind the cause. Raise awareness, fundraise, co-market with existing organizations that have taken on the cause.
Looking like you support a cause isn’t enough and can be damaging to your brand. You need to follow through. Always, for example, partners with UNESCO to support education for women across the world.
And the #LikeAGirl ad wasn’t just an ad; it was a call to action. In the same way that Old Spice succeeded by involving fans in their YouTube campaign, Always succeeded by making people want to join their #LikeAGirl movement.
Athletes and businesses jumped onto the hashtag and threw their weight behind the movement, spreading the campaign even further.
This works for the same reason people latched on to the Ice Bucket Challenge. These movements are inclusive; they make you feel like a part of something good. All humans have a desire to be included and make a difference.
If your brand can start a movement like Always was able to do, the positive impact on your brand will be substantial.
Clarity beyond the marketing … focusing on the business behind the marketing
Of course, there are marketing formulas that have been proven to work time and time again:
Call to action the most important factor … leaving behind value when the marketing is done
 

Adobe marketing campaigns … awesome consumer targeting

 Dollar Shave Club isn’t just marketing to men of shaving age; they’re marketing to tech-savvy younger men. This is 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.
What about distinguishing their brand? Did you notice, there isn’t a single image of anyone using the razor in the video. Why wouldn’t they show the razor in use?
Maybe because they assumed that men wouldn’t be sold on how the razor looks while in use. This is especially true since it will essentially look the same as every other razor.
They narrowed in on the elements that distinguished their product from every other similar product. These were the price and the delivery method.
Customer engagement
Customer engagement improvements are worth the effort.

 

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 to 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:
Marketing Branding … 9 Secrets to a Continuous Improvement Strategy
Target Market … How to Target for Best Marketing Campaigns
11 Steps to Media Framing Messages for Optimum Engagement
Digital Storytelling … 4 Ways to Employ for Message Persuasion
12 Fundamental Laws of Content Marketing
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.

Personal Advice to Self: The Ultimate Cheat Sheet for You

I’m almost 70 years old. I wish I could travel back in time. If I could, I would sit down with myself at 18 years old and give this personal advice to self.
personal advice to self
Personal advice to self.
I can’t time travel, so I’ll just write this article instead.
Here are the top 10 personal advice to self-lessons I would pass on:

 

The most important currency in life is time 

 I had a family friend who spent much of his life saving up money to eventually live the life he always wanted.  After decades of saving, he was involved in a tragic accident.  He never had the chance to live the life he always dreamed of.
Money is important, but time is even more important.
Utilize money to help you find more time.
Time with your family.
Time with your friends.
Time with your spouse.
Time with kids.
Time with people you want to help.
There are 525,600 minutes in a year. How do you spend your time?

Health is a top priority

If you can’t take care of yourself, you won’t be able to take care of anyone else. Treat your body as your #1 priority.
How do you do this?
Be conscious of how your body feels – I love cupcakes. I love chicken nuggets. I love burgers. When I was a kid, I used to eat tons of this stuff and would feel just fine. Seriously, I used to eat 36 chicken nuggets in one sitting! Nowadays, if I eat any of these, my body feels off.
If I eat a fruit and vegetable smoothie though, I feel lighter, energetic and healthier.  Your body sends you signals all the time when you eat. Pay attention to them. And nourish your body. You probably won’t be perfect. I’m not. I still eat a burger from time to time.
But if you try to keep your body healthy more often than not, you’ll be in much better shape long term.
Make time to exercise by establishing a routine – We are creatures of habit. Create good habits when it comes to working out. One way I was able to consistently workout is to have it on my schedule for 5:30 PM every day after work. I also gave up my car in the city (I live in San Francisco), so the only way for me to get home is by running or walking.
 

Take risks

There is a risk to not taking a risk.  It’s complacency.  It’s stagnancy. When I was young, I was really afraid of taking risks. I was afraid to join startups, even after being in the technology field for thirty years.
Finally, I saw a friend of mine join a really hot startup, and he convinced me to make the jump. When I started one just six years ago, it was one of the best decisions of my life. I went into a role with a steep learning curve, learned how to build up a business unit from scratch, and traveled to over ten cities in a year. I met some of the most amazing people at work – some of which will be friends for life.
Another quick example: I know nothing about building websites. And yet, two months ago, I built one from scratch with a friend, and now my blog has 500 subscribers. 
Embrace risk and have a bias towards action. Action drives results.
The reality is that you usually can’t be 100% certain about anything until you experience it.  So dip your toes into the water.
Speaking of risks…
take smart risks
Take smart risks.

Take smart risks

Maybe you shouldn’t dip that toe in the water. Not all risks are worth taking. Thinking about the expected value, you can get by taking that risk and make sure it’s a smart bet. Don’t be foolish and take a risk that doesn’t have the appropriate upside. Do as much due diligence as you can in advance.

It’s okay to put the phone down

Today, I was waiting for onboard my flight from Boston to San Francisco. I was looking at my phone, and after getting mental fatigue from staring at a screen for an obscene amount of time (1.5 hours with only small breaks in between), I decided to look at everyone around me.
Guess what I saw? A ton of people with their heads down…looking at their phones. Sometimes getting a ton of information on demand isn’t always a good thing.
The next time you have dinner with friends, put your phone down. You’ll probably have a great conversation and a lot of laughs.
The next time your father tells you about his day, really listen to what he’s saying.
The next time you’re traveling in a foreign country, take in an amazing culture and immerse yourself. Learn the language. Try the different foods. And put down the phone. Unless you’re taking an Instagram photo.  #BecauseSomeFoodsAreInstagramWorthy

Less is more

When it comes to stuff, you don’t need a lot of it. Somewhere along the way, we were told that accumulating material goods resulted in happiness. While money will be important for necessities like food and shelter, using it to accumulate a ton of stuff doesn’t typically equate to happiness.
Stuff has administrative debt.
Have a lot of clothes?  The debt is a bigger closet.
Have a fancy luxury car? The debt is a high insurance premium, costly maintenance packages, and a huge headache if you ever get into an accident.
Clean out the clutter and donate it.  I do this at least once a year. Ask yourself – “Do I need this?”
Simple is good.

Personal advice to self … more is better

Wait, didn’t I say “less is good?” Well, there’s an exception to that rule. More is better – At least when it comes to experiences. Traveling the world can expand your horizons. You can learn new cultures and redefine the way you see the world. Who knows, you might even meet the love of your life while traveling.
Money used for experiences can be life changing.
Speaking of currency…

Not every fire is a real fire

Nelson, you need to start working on this (insert perceived work catastrophe here) right now!  Fix it!
I call those work fires. I used to hear about work fires early on in my career a lot.  And I would pull my hair out in the process. Yes, sometimes these work catastrophes had to be fixed immediately. But not all of them. Sometimes, people would forget about it after a week. Even if it wasn’t fixed.
So take a deep breath, realize it’s not (usually) the end of the world and size up the situation. And then fix it. But don’t let it get to you. Own it.

Go 3 “Why’s” deep

less is more
Less is more.
It’s easy to get caught up in the tactical parts of life and work all the time. When I was building an iPhone app with my two co-founders, we had an idea for a dating app. At one point, we ended up rolling out a few different features for the app.
One change was to gate the app after three swipes and to ask people to share the app on their social networks before they could swipe more. “Brilliant!” we exclaimed. “We’ll get so many more users on this app.” Or so we thought. The new feature didn’t make an impact at all.
When we huddled during our next meeting, one of the co-founders, Steve, challenged me on the app. Looking back now, asking the 3 Why’s would have helped us tremendously. Here’s an example below:
Why are you building this app?
“There’s a huge business opportunity since there’s a gap in this niche dating space.”
Why do your users want to use this app?
“Because they want to fall in love.”
Why are you goals different from your users?
There was a long silence on the phone.
My mind was blown. I realized this whole time that the right way to build a product is to have an extreme passion and obsession around driving an amazing customer experience. My core why should have been “help people fall in love,” rather than “it’s a great business opportunity.” I had been thinking about it wrong the entire time and the 3 Why’s exercise helped me see that.
So what did we do?  We went back to the drawing board.

Last, but not least, be yourself

You’re weird. You’re unique. You’re different. And that’s awesome. Be the great person you were meant to be.
When I was young, I used to smile during conversations all the time, even when I wasn’t feeling happy. I thought “Gosh, this will make people more comfortable talking to me because I look happy all the time.”
One day, one of my best friends pulled me aside and gave me some sage advice (I’m paraphrasing): “Hey bud, you know, sometimes when I think something isn’t funny, I don’t laugh for the sake of laughing. If I don’t find something interesting or I’m not happy at the moment, I won’t smile either. I want to show people exactly what I feel.
That was a game changing moment for me. Ever since then, I’ve always tried to do exactly that. I want people’s experiences with me to be 100% genuine and transparent. After all, isn’t that the best way to deeply connect with someone? Be authentic. Be yourself.
Be all the awesomeness you were meant to be.
 

The bottom line

 

These are things that we already know, of course. They are not rocket science and shouldn’t be.
This list of little things simply reminds us of what we have forgotten. Then it is up to us to put these lessons (or reminders) into daily use through persistence and practice.
Remember … your experience and learning trumps all!
Need some help in capturing more improvements for your staff’s leadership, teamwork and collaboration? Creative ideas in running or facilitating a team or leadership workshop?
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 continually improving your continuous learning?
Do you have a lesson about making your learning 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 how reasonable we will be.
 
More reading on learning from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
The Nine Most Valuable Secrets of Writing Effective Copy
How Good Is your Learning from Failure?
10 Extraordinary Ways for Learning to Learn
Continuous Learning Holds the Keys to Your Future Success
 
 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.