Gone are the days when marketers adopt the same old conventional marketing tactics in order to promote their brands. Fairness creams are no longer sold on ads that propagate the notion that your skin tone determines your success, Tech-giants like Google now aim to build an emotional connect and personal rapport with its users, etc. Consumers switching from Radio to Television and finally to social media plus the need to stand out from the clutter has given an impetus to the marketers of today to position their brands in an innovative manner which successfully creates a retention and brand recall value in the minds of the consumers. Let us go through some out of the box marketing campaigns launched by companies all over the world!
1. Coca Cola’s Small World Machines:
One out of many coke’s amazing campaigns, Small World Machines bridged the gap between Indian and Pakistan with a bottle of cola. Coke got camera feeds set up which connected in real-time and a touchscreen vending machine displaying instructions through which those in Lahore and New Delhi got connected with gestures, waves and dance — in exchange for free Coke. A bottle of coke reunited those divided by borders.
- Lay’s Do us a Flavor :
A marketing campaign initiated by Lay’s to let fans create a new flavor of chip. With a $1 million prize for the winning flavor, and over 3.8 million submissions between July 20 and Oct. 6 in 2012, the campaign was tremendously successful. In 2013, fans were able to purchase the shortlisted three flavors in stores, and then vote for their favorite flavor on the social media and decide the million dollar winner. Having executed it flawlessly the company witnessed a whooping 12% increase in its’ sales due to this campaign.
3.Oreo – Superbowl ‘Blackout’ Tweet:
Even though not a marketing campaign, a tweet from Oreo during the Superbowl when the power went out at the Superdome won the prestigious Clio award for the company and had lasting effects around the advertising industry. A perfect use of ‘Real Time Marketing’ shown by the company by tweeting an ad that read “Power Out? No problem” with the caption, “You can still dunk in the dark.” The message caught on almost immediately, getting nearly more than 15,000 retweets and more than 20,000 likes on Facebook within hours.
4. Game of Thrones’ Dragons:
Just before the launch of the third season of Game of Thrones, Dragon shadows were seen in different places. An effective use of outdoor marketing shown by the marketers wherein a dragon appeared in the middle pages of New York Times and also on the HBO Building in the city.
Catchy. Simple. Attractive.
5. Axe’s Emergency Add-On:
We often see a white man running guiding us to emergency exits, but this time he isn’t running from a burning inferno, but in fact a pack of lust-driven ladies, mesmerized by the escapee’s Axe fragrance. Brilliant use of outdoor marketing, isn’t it?
6. And then, there is Durex! Portraying minimalism and innovation at its peak.
From whimsical advertisements that cater to younger audiences to interactive designs that engage customers on-the-go, innovation has become the holy grail for the marketers now ensuring that their product steals the limelight and creates an everlasting impact in the mind of the audience. Concluding it all, switching to an innovative marketing strategy is the need of the hour helping the brands to stand out from the rest!
Picture Credits- Google images
By Vaibhav Agarwal
