There has never been a more exciting time for marketers as the present, with even more platforms to shake up campaigns and make them even more creative and effective. With all that is available, multi-level, integrated marketing campaigns are now the norm. We suss out three of the top marketing campaigns that took 2015 by storm and also tell you what you can learn from them for your own business!
1) Dove’s Choose Beautiful Real Beauty ad campaign
The Dove “Real Beauty” campaign needs no introduction – it has been running for the last 10 years across a wide spectrum of mediums and attracted a whole lot of criticism and plaudits alike. Previous versions of the campaign have received prestigious awards (2006 campaign video “Evolution” won two Cannes Lions Grand Prix Awards in June 2007 at the Cannes Lion International Advertising Festival in France) and the positive media exposure. 2015’s iteration of this campaign, “Choose Beautiful,” was a video shot in five different cities across the globe, where women are faced with the choice of walking through two doors: “Beautiful” or “Average”. Other than boosted sales, the true success of Dove’s campaign is in its staying power, as can be seen from the rehashed campaign year after year. Even better is that since the campaign has been going on for years, consumers have drawn a strong link between the campaign and Dove. Case in point: how many of you would not almost immediately think of Dove when you see the image below?
Marketing campaigns that work deserve more than a few runs. So, if you have struck gold with a campaign with such lasting power, work with your marketing consultants to come up with ways to stretch its run by spinning slightly different themes or stories from year to year. This is a great way to strengthen your brand identity.
2) Burberry’s Snapchat Mario Testino campaign
In our opinion, this one was definitely one of the cleverest sleeper hits of 2015. As a first in both the fashion and marketing worlds, the British fashion giant’s Spring/Summer 2016 campaign, photographed by legendary photographer Mario Testino, would be available on Snapchat for a mere 24 hours. Now, Snapchat is one of the hottest social media platforms among millennials, but it has been largely ignored as a serious marketing platform in favour of the more established Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Not anymore. As a reference to the ephemerality and fleetingness of a high fashion runway show, Burberry’s series of ads will similarly only be available for temporary viewing on Snapchat before disappearing forever. Followers of the British brand on Snapchat have already been rewarded with an exclusive sneak-peek of the full collection before the runway show at London Fashion Week in September earlier this year. The marriage of expensive fashion with the ephemeral Snapchat platform is exactly what every fashion brand incorporates into its messaging: exclusivity. The temporal nature of Snapchat as a platform also increases the sense of urgency to view the ad images before they fade away, reinforcing the exclusivity of the brand and heightening the sense of being part of an insider crowd in the know.
Don’t be afraid to explore unchartered platforms for your marketing campaigns – you never know how they will turn out! Think about how the platform aligns with your brand, for example if you want to be associated with being easily and widely accessible, Facebook would be a great platform. Or if you want your brand to have a strong focus on beautiful visuals, Instagram would be a great fit.
3) Coca-Cola’s Share a Coke campaign
The drink giant began the first run of this campaign in 2011 in Australia, where 150 of the most common names were printed in place of the iconic Coca-Cola logo on the cans and bottles of the beverage. In 2012, the campaign won 12 awards at the Cannes Lions Festival. With its success, the campaign spread to more than 70 countries around the world. The campaign was launched again this past spring, and it is one of Coca-Cola’s most successful marketing campaigns to date, growing sales for the first time in 10 years. This time round, the cans and bottles boasted a selection of 250 of the most common names, and roving events where customers could customise their own name or other labels were also held in all the countries. If some of you may remember, we had this in Singapore as well, and the booths where people could personalise their own cans of coke saw long queues of people eager to get their hands on a personalised can. This integrated marketing campaign was anchored on the slogan “Share a Coke,” which was a short, punchy and effective call to action. Coupled with the availability of personalisation of the cans, the campaign became almost organic on social media, as fans took to social media to proudly and readily share photos of their cans of the drink with their names or labels like “BFF” or “Mom” emblazoned on.
During the initial campaign run back in 2011, analysts in the company had done their research and ascertained that with the 150 common names, more than 40% of the market would be reached. Researching your target market is therefore key to your campaign’s success. Understanding and recognising the weaknesses of your past marketing campaigns is also important, as in Coca-Cola’s case, market analysts had found out that the youths did not feel connected to the brand due to the previously top-down campaigns that the brand used. With the integrated Share a Coke campaign that spanned social media and event roadshows, among other platforms, the brand felt more accessible to youths, who took to their social media accounts in droves to share photos of their personalised cans of Coke, hash-tagging #ShareACoke to spawn even more authentic conversations from fans themselves.
Since more companies are turning to integrated marketing campaigns that include traditional advertisements as well as social media, PR and events, an integrated marketing company will be best able to come up with such a campaign. ENCE Marketing Group is an integrated marketing company in Singapore comprising an events arm (Eminence Events), PR capabilities (Affluence PR), and we also offer specialised social media and EDM strategies as well for an integrated approach to your marketing campaigns.
ENCE 