All businesses aim for the stars, but not all of them succeed.
Positioning your brand at the forefront of your industry isn’t as easy as it seems.
There isn’t a quick hack to increase brand awareness, and engagement with your audience.
However, a good marketing campaign can change the game for your business. It can catapult your brand to stardom.
What makes a marketing campaign brilliant?
From a business perspective, a good marketing campaign is one where the brand’s goals are achieved.
This is translated into increase of awareness, engagement, leads or sales.
For the audience, it’s a story that helps them emotionally connect with a brand.
Users are exposed to thousands of ads and products every year, but only a few campaigns remain in the collective memory.
How many times have you seen an ad that stuck in your brain? Is there a magic formula behind it?
Truth it is that there isn’t a single tactic to use when it comes to advertising, and marketing campaigns.
It’s a mix of ingredients. In fact, some of the best ads out there are the ones that break the mould.
What I’ve learned so far by analysing the campaigns that have made marketing history is that all is about communicating a meaningful message.
Basically, telling the right story at the right moment to the right people.
A great marketing campaign shows brand personality, and at the same time, connects with the audience at an emotional level.
It instantly grabs the attention of users, stirs up emotions and nostalgia, inspires, causes an instant reaction and sticks in their memories for days, weeks or even months. It offers some value to the audience.
Crafting a good marketing campaign doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated.
They don’t even have to be large scale. Sometimes less is more.
What matters is to appeal the right audience, so make sure you use different channels to hit your target: traditional media and billboards, social media, email marketing…
5 inspiring marketing campaigns that fuel brand awareness and engagement
From witty, and funny ads to deliciously creative and nostalgic marketing campaigns.
Here are five successful examples of mind-blowing marketing campaigns that you can replicate when thinking about how to fuel your brand awareness, and engagement.
Netflix and the Covid-19 era billboards
Netflix is not only one of the top-notch video streaming services in the world, it’s also the king of marketing campaigns inside this industry.
I’ve lost track of how many times the platform has masterfully used humour, and irony to promote its own movies, and series.
One the secrets behind the success of Netflix’s marketing strategy is that the streaming giant really knows how to make its ad campaigns relatable.
When it comes to creating synergies between its products and consumers’ experiences, Netflix nails it.
The platform has recently launched several brand marketing campaigns adapted to Covid-19.
The goal: to deliver a messages of gratitude, safety and solidarity during this time of uncertainty.
The video streaming service has rolled out a series of ads around Los Angeles that portray on-set workers of some of its most popular shows, along with the following message: “You will work in this town again. Until then, thank you.”
The ads are displayed on billboards, and bus shelters around the county.
Netflix Spain has also made a smart move to promote its streaming services outdoors amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The brand erected a billboard in Madrid in Calle Alcalá at the beginning of May of a non-existent TV show called “La Calle”.
The goal: remind users that the end of the lockdown was near.
The poster which can currently be seen in El Círculo de Bellas Artes façade includes the following message: “La Calle. Nueva temporada. Muy Pronto.” (“The street. New season coming soon.”).
Comcast Xfinity and the nostalgic E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial commercial
Nostalgia is a very powerful marketing tactic.
Last November, in order to promote its cable, TV and internet services, Comcast Xfinity released a touching holiday commercial in which E.T. and Elliot were reunited.
The four-minute ad, which first was aired on Comecast’s NBC during the annual “Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade”, was like a short sequel to Steven Spielberg 1982’s iconic movie: “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial”.
The clip called “A Holiday Reunion” saw the return of actor Henry Thomas, who was portraying a now grown-up Elliott.
The commercial became an instant hit, and went viral within minutes.
The marketing campaign by Comcast Xfinity was extended to other platforms, and countries.
The clip was broadcast during the NFL game on Fox and CBS during Thanksgiving Day, and between showings of the original movie on Syfy channel during that evening.
A shorter version was aired during the holiday season on these channels as well.
The brand also published the video on several social networks like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and ran versions in Italy, Germany and the U.K. to promote its Sky satellite services in these countries.
Mad Cool festival and the viral riddles on social media
What do Green Day, Pearl Jam, Depeche Mode, Massive Attack, Arctic Monkeys, Chemical Brothers, and Iggy Pop have in common?
The answer is easy: they once performed in the popular Mad Cool Festival.
Competition is fierce when it comes to promoting a music festival.
Before the Covid-19 era, festival goers had plenty of options to choose from.
Many festivals organizers had to think out of the box, and go for more aggressive social media marketing strategies in order to appeal the audiences.
Mad Cool is one of these companies that really know how to attract users, increase engagement, and position their brand as a trending topic for hours by using a brilliant strategy on social networks.
#MadCool2020 pic.twitter.com/qA5Z7rH3nA
— Mad Cool Festival (@madcoolfestival) February 25, 2020
Their strategy is pretty simple, but quite effective: they are experts in teasing users with interactive content, and encouraging them to keep the conversation flowing before announcing the headliners.
Users are invited to become part of the experience even before knowing what artist are going to play in that year’s edition.
The work of the festival’s social media manager consists of posting animated riddles, usually in GIF format, that make reference to the bands participating in the event, and then, users have to decipher the clues to find out the festival’s full lineup.
Amazon, Jeep and the giant “Jurassic World” marketing stunt
Cross-promotion is a fantastic marketing tactic to expand brand awareness, and multiply customers.
The idea consists of having two or more companies working together to obtain a mutual benefit by marketing to each other’s clients.
One of the most creative, and brilliant marketing campaigns in the past years where several brands teamed up is the one where Amazon delivered a 40-foot long box -the e-commerce biggest Prime package ever shipped- that included a “Jurassic World” logo to The Grove shopping mall in Los Angeles on May 30, 2018.
The marketing stunt promoted three different companies: Amazon, the Jurassic Park franchise, which was promoting their then new installment: “Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom”, and Jeep vehicles.
The dino-size box included air holes, and featured the hashtag #AmazonFindsAWay.
The mysterious growling package had a shipping label addressed to Owen Grady, and Claire Dearing, the film’s protagonists played by Chris Pratt, and Bryce Dallas Howard, respectively.
The marketing campaign didn’t end up there. They also implemented a multi-channel approach.
The contents of the cardboard box remained a mystery for a few days.
Pratt and Dallas Howard were invited to unveil the surprise about a month later.
In the meantime, passersby could follow the mystery inside the package on social networks with the hashtag mentioned earlier, and ask any Alexa-compatible device for some clues.
The cardboard container had a QR code that, when scanned using the Amazon app, redirected users to a page where they could get a discount on the cost of “Jurassic World” movie tickets, and get instant access to a promo video.
Domino’s Pizza, and its innovative AI mobile solution to earn customer loyalty
Make customers trust your brand.
This is one of the ultimate goals by most companies.
In a world where technology is evolving at a fast pace, one of the best ways to make your brand more personal, and gain customer confidence and loyalty is by launching a mobile app, so they can connect with you anytime, anywhere.
Facts don’t lie: most people spend between three and four hours per day using their smartphones.
Developing your brand identity, and offering promotions to your customers through this channel is a really good move.
One the most original mobile marketing campaigns in recent years to learn from is Domino’s Pizza’s “Piece of the Pie Rewards” during 2019’s Super Bowl.
Their biggest rival, Pizza Hut, became the official sponsor for that year’s Super Bowl, but the competition was on between the two pizza delivery giants.
Domino’s stroke back by launching an innovative Artificial Intelligence app that allowed users to scan any pizza, made by them or even by competitors, and earn loyalty points towards a free pizza.
To promote the reward program, and make the brand more approachable, Domino’s Pizza shot a TV ad in which the company’s CEO, Richard Allison, made an appearance.
Which of these five marketing campaigns do you think is the best one? Tell me in the comments below.
