8 of the best marketing campaigns

Marketing campaigns can have a fantastic impact on the improvement of the brand of a company as they can capture some fundamental truths which remind customers of these campaigns long after they started. Although a few companies practice unethical marketing campaigns to sustain long-term customers, clear and smart marketing campaigns always win.

What is the idea behind marketing campaigns?

The marketing campaign is a variety of activities used in marketing a changed or new product or service. Often, marketing campaign commercial uses various marketing channels and methods to get one centralized message across.

Nike: Just do it

In earlier times, the product of Nike only catered to marathon runners. After the emergence of the fitness craze, the marketing team of Nike took their chance to surpass their primary competition, Reebok. To do so in the 1980s, Nike created their hit campaign commercial, “Just do it.”

The campaign worked as Nike increased sales to $800 million by 1988 and $9.2 billion by 1998. The campaign was simple, short, and sweet, motivating people while working out. Even today, people feel the same way. Don’t want to do 30 pushups? Just do it. Don’t want to hit the gym? Just do it.

Lesson:

It is crucial to present your brand in such a way that makes it clear that you are there to solve your customer’s problems. Finding the solution your product or service is providing to your customers is necessary. Only by hitting the core issue with your marketing campaign commercial will you be able to connect with your consumers emotionally.

Absolut Vodka: The Absolut Bottle

Despite the bottle of Absolut vodka having no definite shape, it made itself the most identifiable worldwide. The campaign commercial “In the wild,” which promoted print ads presenting bottles, was not stopped from running for 25 long years because of its success among the customers. It has been recorded as the most extensive continuous ad campaign and consists of more than 1,500 different advertisements.

Before the campaign, Absolut vodka had only about 2.5% of the total vodka market. After the campaign reached its customers, the vodka company brought in 4.5 million cases per year which were 50% of all imported vodka in the United States by the 2000s.

Lesson:

No matter how boring your product is, you must be able to communicate with your customers in an exciting way.

Miller Lite: Great Taste, Less Filling

Do you think creating an entirely new market for your services and products is easy? The MillerCoors Company (previously Miller Brewing) dominated the new market with their light beer. The campaign “Great Taste, Less Filling” supposedly got real men to drink light beer.

The standard misconception that light beers cannot be as good vanished after the company introduced commercials in which masculine male models drank their beers and declared that it was the most elegant drink ever. Although some called this unethical marketing campaign as it highlighted the consumption of alcohol, it did not affect the brand whatsoever!

Lesson:

Don’t do what everyone else is doing. If there is not much room for your product, create a category of your own so you can be the leader of it.

Volkswagen: Think Small

Volkswagen’s campaign commercial “Think Small” is a gold standard for many advertising and marketing professionals. It was created in 1960 by Doyle Dane & Bernbach (DDB), an advertising group. The campaign answered the question: How can people’s perception change about the product and the entire group of people?

Americans have a history of buying big American cars. When 14 years after World War I ended, German cars were thought to have ruled the American car market, but even then, people were not buying smaller cars. Volkswagen’s advertisement played into the expectation of the audiences and never pretended to be something they were not. “You think I’m small? Yeah, I am”

Lesson:

Do not try to be something else with your products and services. Your customers will appreciate your honesty.

Dos Equis: The Most Interesting Man in the World

Most of you must know the man who is always surrounded by pretty women, the one who smokes Cuban cigars, and not to forget; he is ever seen with Dos Equis beer. One of the key tools of an active campaign commercial for indulgent vices such as desserts, beer, or any luxury items is to make it look cool. Dos Equis’s most interesting man in the world is the coolest advertisement guy to exist.

The impact of his statement at the end of every commercial makes it more considerable. He says, “I don’t always drink beer, but I prefer Dos Equis when I do. Stay thirsty, my friends.”

The hysterical hyperbole in the campaign commercial makes it unforgettable the next time customers go out to get some beer. Recently, Dos Equis has replaced the most interesting man with a new advertising model. However, fans forever remember him and continue to live on in the meme culture and liquor stores.

Lesson:

Introducing a face to your product can be a good idea

California Milk Processor Board: Got Milk?

The “Got Milk?” campaign by the California Milk Processor Board increased milk sales in California by 7% in just a year. The impact of it crossed state borders, and even today, you will find it difficult actually to escape the thousands of “Got ….?” parodies.

The campaign did not focus on people who were not drinking milk. It targeted consumers who were already drinking milk to make them appreciate the product more.

Lesson:

It is not always about creating a new market or getting new audiences for your services and products. Often, it is wise to convert your audience into your advocates and make proper marketing use to make them understand the importance of your product and service.

Metro Trains: Dumb Ways to Die

To get across a clear message, “No horsing around near the train tracks.”, Metro Trains of Melbourne, Australia, came up with a song called Dumb Ways to Die which went viral online, getting 157 million views on Youtube since it first debuted in 2012. Instead of using the old warnings and announcements in the train station, Metro Trains created something unique that stuck around with people.

The song about dumb ways you could die or kill yourself gives the various situations in which you can die, for example, eating expired medicine or inviting a psycho killer to your house. It features a very catchy chorus that people could not stop humming to themselves: “Dumb ways to die, so many dumb ways to die.”

Towards the end of the video, you get to understand the moral of it. Although there are various dumb ways to die, the dumbest of them all is driving through the sign of the railroad, crossing the train track, or standing on the train station platform.

This was also called out by several as an unethical marketing campaign as it gave options for suicide. However, more people liked how unique and creative the campaign was.

Lesson:
If the subject of your product or service is boring, be more creative to ensure your message gets across.

Apple: Get a Mac

“Get a Mac” takes the cake of many successful Apple campaigns. The ongoing debate between PC vs. Mac became Apple’s most successful campaign ever. In its first year, it experienced a straight 42% growth in its market growth rate. The campaign cleverly lets the audience know everything about their product without being over the top.

Lesson:

Just because you have created a fantastic product does not mean you must give every detail about what your product does to the audience. It is always effective if you can explain your product to your audience in a language they understand so they can picture themselves using it.