The most successful marketing campaigns often
have a special something that sticks
in your mind and keeps bringing you back. Sometimes it is a catchy slogan,
other times it is an amazing offer and then there are cases where it’s just a
matter of right time, right place.
Marketers often use these examples as inspiration
to guide their own efforts. After all, what’s proven to work in the past is
likely to work again in the future. You can learn a lot from the following
marketing examples and apply these lessons to your own strategy!
Example 1: Airbnb/Uber — A New Way To Do Something Routine
Businesses like Airbnb and Uber were able to turn
major industries on their heads by finding an entirely different way to
approach the same problem. Uber, for example, found a way to arrange
transportation better than traditional taxi companies. Airbnb disrupted the
hotel and hospitality industry in a similar fashion.
Finding a new solution to an old problem is a marketing strategy in itself. When you’re able to
introduce an entirely new answer that is different from what the industry has
known, your strategy centers around showing that distinction to the
marketplace.
Example #2: Spotify — A Unique User Experience
Spotify didn’t disrupt the music streaming space.
However, there is a reason that Spotify is globally recognized and other music
streaming services are not. Spotify offered a unique user experience and
features that other platforms do not offer.
They are using cross marketing to boost the brand awareness.
Spotify realized that people didn’t want to just
listen to music, they also wanted to discover
new artists and songs. Their service made it easy to create and share
playlists with friends, while also suggesting new artists and genres to
explore. This unique user experience was the center of their marketing messages
and attracted a broader audience.
Example #3: GoPro — Empower Your Audience
GoPro found a recipe for marketing success when
they realized that their customers were shooting awesome content with their
product. A significant portion of GoPro’s marketing content is user-generated.
Not only does this save GoPro time in creating their own content, but it also
creates an engaging experience for audiences. It creates a community of people
sharing their GoPro content and communicating with one another.
Example #4: McDonalds/Burger King — Leverage The Competition
McDonalds and Burger King are massive rivals in
the fast food space. Over the years, the two have traded some bold and
hilarious marketing messages. Burger King, for example, launched an entire
marketing campaign clowning on the Ronald McDonald character. Years later, they
launched a marketing campaign showing how their signature Whopper outsized
McDonalds’ Big Mac.
The lesson? Poking fun at your competitors can be
an effective marketing strategy that generates a
lot of buzz! Just remember that it’s all in good fun if they take a shot back
at you.
Example #5: H&M — Subtlety Can Be A Win
Clothing retailer H&M is known for their
exceptional video marketing. In 2016, they launched an amazing video around the
holiday season. The video was directed by Wes Anderson and featured Adrian
Brody, but it was the story itself that caught attention.
Moreover, it was H&M’s ability to put the
Christmas spirit at the forefront of the video, while their products provided
the backdrop. There’s very little brand mention until the very end of the
video. It creates a winning experience
because people can enjoy the story and see H&M’s winter products, but they
don’t feel like they are being bombarded with clothing ads.
Example #6: Mint — Quality Always Trumps
Mint was a new startup in the crowded personal
finance space. To gain attention early on, Mint focused on creating content — a
normal move for startups. The difference was that Mint put an extreme emphasis
on quality and production. By producing high-quality infographics and articles,
Mint quickly attracted attention and built a following. Quality is almost
always a component of winning marketing strategies.
Example #7: Dollar Shave Club — Have Fun; Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously
Dollar Shave Club is a great example of a company
with an exceptional marketing strategy. Everything they put out is full of
jokes, which practically guarantees engagement. And, they are able to
effortlessly combine that humor with great offers. Even their initial launch
video was entitled: “Our Blades are F**King Great.”
This company knows their audience and how to make
them laugh. It’s a great example of a company that really has fun with their
marketing. When people see you’re having fun, they are more inclined to laugh
along.
Example #8: Heineken — Get Political, Carefully
Political issues often create polarized
audiences, which can be extremely damaging in marketing. You don’t want to
divide your audiences, you want to bring them together! That’s exactly what
Heinken accomplished with its Open Your World campaign where people with
opposite viewpoints got together and had the option of sitting down for a beer
(Heineken, of course) and discussing their differences, or walking away.
Not only did the ad bridge the political divide,
but it did so where other major brands had failed (looking at you, Pepsi).
Example #9: Coca-Cola/Nike — People Care About Good Values
Coca-Cola and Nike are two of the most recognized
brands in the world. But, that doesn’t replace the need for great marketing!
One strategy that these two companies deploy is focusing on the global
community and showcasing their impact on the world.
As people become more aware of the issues facing
other parts of the world, they are increasingly aware of what large corporations
do to remedy these problems. Coca-Cola and Nike both effectively market their
good values and contributions to improve the world.
Example #10: Sephora — Highlighting What Makes You Special
Many companies and brands offer a loyalty program
to help customers save money and encourage repeat business. Very few of those
businesses have a loyalty program that even comes close to beating Sephora’s
Beauty Insider benefits program.
The program is so exceptional that Sephora has
dedicated entire marketing campaigns to explaining the system and showcasing
what rewards customers can earn. It’s something that you can’t get from another
brand and Sephora knows it!
Conclusions
The Internet is littered
with other examples of effective campaigns that produced great results for
businesses. As a marketer, it’s important to pay attention to the marketing strategies
that other companies are putting out there. Specifically, think about what
components work, which don’t and how you can use these lessons to improve your
own tactics.
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