Boom. Pop. Ba-Boom.
With Fourth of July just a day away, the sounds of fireworks are coming our way. And just like fireworks, marketing should be loud, hot and bright to attract attention and create a reaction. So we decided to share our favorite marketing campaigns we came across that we thought lit up our screens… and our imagination.
What do you get when you mix funny and sarcasm in one tweet? A Twitter account that skyrockets in followers faster than you can blink! Just ask fast food chain Wendy’s! It all started with a loyal customer, Carter Wilkerson, tweeting to Wendy’s Twitter account, “How many retweets for a year of free nuggets?” When Wendy’s replied with “18 million,” Wilkerson went on to set a new record for the most retweeted post of all time. He generated excitement amongst the Wendy’s social media team and provided Wendy’s with an opportunity to connect with customers and fans through a shared interest of chicken nuggets and light-hearted banter. They took a chance to be different and ran with it. Overall, Wendy’s relatable approach to social media led them to a finale we won’t forget! Click on the article to see if Wilkerson ever got his nuggets!
MailChimp is the world’s largest email marketing platform for businesses. MailChimp turned their potential brand weakness upside down into one of the cleverest digital campaigns yet. The campaign was designed to demonstrate the platform’s creativity with the mispronunciation of the name MailChimp. From MailShrimp (a short film about seafood sandwiches) to FailChips (a fake brand of chips) to WhaleSynth (a musical app for creating whale sounds) to SnailPrimp (an anti-aging snail facial) and much more, the one thing they all have in common is that they sound like “MailChimp.” Their idea was to persuade users to type quirky ideas in search engines, which would eventually point them towards the real brand. The multi-platform campaign was so creative it was one of three Cyber Grand Prix winners at the 2017 Cannes International Festival of Creativity.
We all saw this commercial pop up during the 2018 Super Bowl, starring David Harbour, actor in the Netflix Original Series, “Stranger Things.” At first you think you’re watching a car ad, then a beer ad, then an Amazon Alexa ad, but then, every person in the ads turn out to be wearing clothes washed by the same laundry detergent. That’s when the narrator reveals how to determine the point of the ad — if you’re seeing clean clothes, you must be watching a Tide Ad. The comical approach to the standard laundry detergent commercial boosted brand likability, successfully showcased the purpose of their product and generated conversations on social media through the use of the brand’s #TideAd hashtag. Genius idea to include this in the Super Bowl, as everyone always views the ads that generate the most chatter!
The Most Interesting Man in the World
For almost a decade, Jonathon Goldsmith, “The Most Interesting Man in the World,” was featured on billboards, magazines, commercials, social media, etc. You name it, and it was guaranteed you could find him in an ad doing something extremely risky and quirky, followed by taking a sip of a nice, cold Dos Equis. Dos Equis’ objective was to replace the typical young, male bar-goer who was thought of as “boring” with an interesting wingman, giving viewers something fun to talk about. The campaign took off with its famous tagline, “I don’t always drink beer, but when I do, it’s Dos Equis,” especially when people began to create their own versions of “I don’t always ‘blank’, but when I do it’s ‘blank.’” (By the way, we think our very own Scott Harris should qualify for this!)
The Dress Debate
Do you remember when the world couldn’t decide on the color of Scottish singer Caitlin McNeill’s dress? Was it blue and black or white and gold? The debate went viral when multiple brands jumped on the dress color debate bandwagon. Dunkin’ Donuts posted about blue/black and white/gold glazed donuts, Lego created blue and gold Lego people, Tide decided it was only a color problem if you didn’t use their Tide Plus ColorGuard, Oreo offered a solution for both, and Adobe finally stated the dress was blue and black. This sure was a clever marketing campaign, as it not only increased various brands’ sales but also the brands’ engagement. Sometimes being reactive is just as important as being proactive when it comes to marketing!
What are some of your favorite marketing campaigns? Please share them with us on our Facebook!