Applauded marketing campaigns — and how to create your own
Learn from the very best
Every now and then, a new marketing campaign goes viral, and it’s the only thing anyone can talk about for a while. Let’s have a good hard look at these campaigns that have made actual history and learn which aspects to pay attention to. In no time, you’ll be creating something equally as captivating. Ready for some mind-blowingly good marketing campaigns? Let’s dive right in.
In short…
- Do take a stand on the social issues your target audiences face — but make sure it comes from a place of genuine care and activism.
- Do use your mistakes to show personality and win your audiences’ respect — you’ll become more lovable as a result.
- Do get inspired by your own user data — your audience will never find you more relatable.
Taking a stand on the social issues your target audiences face
It’s no secret that you take a risk when addressing social issues in your marketing campaign. There’s a thin line to walk between sending a powerful message and insulting the very people you tried to take a stand for. You shouldn’t let this deter you from doing so though, because a genuine, authentic, and thought-through social issue campaign can be a powerful thing — if approached in the right way. Let’s take the lead from one campaign that succeeded.
In a push for female empowerment, Always’ Like a Girl video campaign uses the phrase ‘like a girl’ to point out the gender stereotypes that girls face concerning their abilities, particularly when it comes to sports. The video ends with the message ‘Let’s make #LikeAGirl mean amazing things,’ and was applauded by hundreds of women globally, regardless of whether or not they used Always’ products. To this day, the campaign remains a poster child for the right way to address social issues within a marketing campaign.
What made this campaign a success is its authenticity. The issue that the campaign addresses is something that Always’ target audience can identify closely with. As Always sells feminine hygiene products, they play an important role in adolescent girls’ lives — the point in time when they begin to face such gender stereotypes. Thus, the campaign’s message matched well with the values Always stands for and what their audience resonates with.
The take-away
If you’re planning to create a marketing campaign about a social issue, stop and reflect first. Ask yourself what your reason is for addressing this social issue. Does your target audience personally experience and resonate with this issue? Is the issue something your company truly cares about, stands for, and tries to make a difference in? If the answer is a wholehearted, undeniable ‘yes,’ then go on and get to the drawing board. If you’re unsure, you’re better off going a different route.
Using your mistakes to show personality and win your audiences’ respect
It’s a fact of life that mistakes, misspellings, and technical errors are bound to slip through the cracks, no matter how many times you check and double-check your work. Nonetheless, reacting to your mistakes in an open and lighthearted manner is the best way to bounce back from these mishaps. And not only that, but it’s also an opportunity to actively put your brand’s personality on display and win your audience’s respect.
For instance, when ASOS accidentally printed 17,000 carrier bags with ‘online’ misspelled as ‘onilne’, the company took to social media to address the error. Using humor and a splash of positive self-mockery, the brand was applauded for their humility and grace in handling the situation.
Virgin Trains took their apology to another level with their #Avocard campaign, which they ran after a server failure prevented travelers from getting their hands on a discounted Millennial railcard. To make it up to them, travelers aged 26–30 would get the same discounted fare if they arrived at any Virgin Trains ticket counter carrying an avocado — the official fruit of the millennial. As the campaign poked at the joke that millennials spend far too much money on avocados, it showed off the brand’s quirky personality and customers quickly forgave their failure.
The take-away
If you’ve made a mistake, don’t freak out or try to brush it under the rug — use it as an opportunity to show your company’s human side. Addressing your blunders frankly will win you the respect of your customers, and displaying your willingness to laugh at yourself will push your brand’s personality into the spotlight.
Getting inspired by your own user data
If you’re aiming to create a campaign that will really catch your audience’s attention, try taking a look into how they’re interacting with your product or service. This is exactly what Spotify did to create their iconic billboard ads in 2016, and again in 2018. Using their own user data, Spotify crafted humorous and almost meme-like ad copy that revealed their users’ behavior on the platform. Because of this, Spotify’s brand felt far more relatable, laidback, and down-to-earth — like that one friend who’s always cracking jokes. The result? A good laugh for everyone around the world, and a lot of media attention for Spotify.
The take-away
Looking for insights into your user data is the best way to create a campaign that’s uniquely yours. Through data-inspired campaigns, the collective personality and interests of your users are revealed, which gives your own brand a lot of personality by extension. So strap on your creativity goggles and dig into the data! Make sure to keep an eye out for anything curious or unexpected, as you never know when that ‘aha!’ moment will come.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will your home run of a campaign. That’s ok though! Make sure you practice what you preach. Be authentic, genuine, human, and, even more important, keep listening to your audience.
Marketing isn’t a one-way street. Fancy some help creating a rock-solid strategy? We’d gladly help you out.
