In the fiercely competitive market of today, brand success largely depends on creating such impactful and memorable campaigns which really touch the hearts of consumers. When it comes to the best marketing campaigns, they go far beyond trying to sell a product; but hold deep messages and emotional connections with their audiences. This article will shine a light on ten ultra-famous marketing campaigns that not only got people talking, but also secured brand identity and increased customer retention. From Apple’s ‘Shot on iPhone’ to KFC’s cheeky ‘FCK’ ad, learn what these campaigns teach us about the art AND science of marketing.
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Apple: ‘Shot on iPhone’ (2015 – today)
The 2015 launch of Apple’s ‘Shot on iPhone’ campaign is testament to this; utilizing user-generated content (UGC) as a powerful and evergreen marketing strategy. It was disarmingly simple: Apple asked owners of its then-new iPhone to send in the best photos they’d taken with it, showing off the camera at work. This campaign demonstrated what the iPhone could do while also amplifying their own customers into unofficial spokespeople for the Apple Brand, through this careful form of crowd-sourcing advertising.
Impact:
- User Engagement: Involving users incentivized the iPhone experience and generated a culture of participation, which fed directly into brand loyalty among other Apple enthusiasts.
- Brand Advocacy: This campaign helped reinforce the iPhone as a premium camera device, which has long been a focus for Apple.
- Global Scale: The campaign went global with user photography featured on billboards around the world and online galleries that helped enhance Apple as the aspirational, community brand.
Spotify’s Wrapped Campaign, launched in 2017 | Source The service has long created personalized playlists and insights for listeners, then used them to get people to share their stats via social media. The outcome is a month-long social media hijack, with every user smugly showcasing their music of choice.
Implication: Social Media SurgeThe FOMO campaign makes the users’ Wrapped playlists an event in themselves, with millions choosing to share their stats on social media about what songs and artists they listened to most throughout the year.
User-Centric Brand Image: WrappedReiterates Spotify as a company that cares about what their users want, which in turn leads to strong customer loyalty.
Data Use: Spotify uses data from users to personalize with the user and create more content that people want to share increasing brand presence.
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Recently in 2014, IKEA done a great job on their “Bookbook™” campaign which is world famous for its humor and creativity. Promoting IKEA’s annual catalog as a high-tech product via a campaign that parodied tech launches — including a video showing off the ‘features’ of the catalog (like infinite battery life and instant page load).
The Takeaway: What Went Right: One of the reasons behind its success 13,000 miles away was that Rand Fishkin created a funny approach to an otherwise serious situation when physical space in New York or Menlo Park where people work together is being rented out.
Brand Image: The creativity in the campaign bolstered IKEA as a brand that is forward-thinking, fun-loving, and savvy of current trends. IKEA could forge a connection with a tech-savvy audience and enter the world of lifestyle goods through parodying technology launches under this engagement.
In 2017, Nike attempted to do this with their “Breaking2” campaign where they tried breaking the two-hour marathon barrier. The event was livestreamed in 159 countries and tracked three of the sport’s most ambitious runners as they looked to cement their names into history. While the target was narrowly missed, the hyped campaign created a large amount of attention and presented Nike as forward-thinking in sport science and innovation.
Impact:
- Global Buzz: The campaign had huge mainstream and traditional social media pick-up among sports fans.
- Brand Leadership: Reinforced Nike leading the way not only in innovation, but sports science and athletic performance as well.
- Emotional Connection: The campaign reinforced human limits and strikes a chord with its viewers, has Nike appealing more than ever to the hearts of their customer base.
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Top: In 2018, there was a supply chain issue that caused KFC to run out of chicken across the nation in Britain. Rather than sweeping the controversy under a rug, KFC faced it head-on with an ad that commanded attention and even inspired laughs by reshuffling its logo into “FCK” before offering customers a heartfelt apology.
The good:
- Crisis Management: If you ask me, the campaign should run for office after all of this because any publicity is sure to be better than none.. it was also hilarious and super transparent on their part.
- Public Relations Win: The way KFC responded to it, both from a consumer and media standpoint, indicates how much good can come if we are willing to apologize for our mistakes with grace.
- Branding Personality: The cheeky and humorous tone of the campaign served to strengthen KFC’s imaging as a fun, irreverent brand which appealed directly to their target audience.
That same year, Heineken released the tagline “Worlds Apart,” a sales activation campaign that took an unforgettable chance at promoting social dialogue. The campaign aimed to get people with different perspectives on both sides of the political aisle to sit down and hash out their differences over a cold one, creating greater empathy between them.
The impact:
- Social Responsibility: The campaign was hailed for tackling polarizing social issues in a sensitive and positive way, underscoring Heineken as a socially responsible brand.
- Engagement: The emotional and provocative nature of this campaign generated a huge amount of discussion both on- and offline.
- Brand Differentiation: Heineken even decided to differentiate the brand by highlighting differences in social issues and seemed as though they have positioned their strong image, that it is more than just selling beer.
Netflix debuted a full-blown multi-channel campaign featuring hundreds of brand partnerships and experiential events for the release CD3 in 2019. One of the more interesting elements was a mall turned into an experiential “Stranger Things” haunt. The immersive experiences and brand partnerships produced an enormous amount of anticipation surrounding the season premiere, which paid off in a big way by turning it into a major event.
Impact: The campaign not only helped in the success of “Stranger Things” Season 3, but this works as a reminder for all of how Netflix has maintained its dominance over any other streaming platform.
Brand Partnerships: Netflix teamed up with brands to drive big impact, branching out from earned media and creating immersive brand experiences that drew fans in.
Under its Always brand, Procter & Gamble ran “The Talk,” a campaign that spoke to the difficult conversations African American parents have with their kids about racial bias. A big message for that endeavor was electrified by a campaign on race designed to start conversations and create meaningful dialogue.
Impact:
- Social Impact: The Talk created a relevant and courageous conversation around an important issue, emphasizing Always’ commitment to social issues.
- Brand Trust: The campaign increased trust in the Always brand as a good social conversation opener.
- Public Dialogue: This launch resulted in a significant conversation and was praised as being an addition to the ongoing discussion around race in America.
Samsung’s campaigns, in 2017 was their “Over to You” campaign which enabled real-time activations that allowed you to have a say and control live events via social media, e.g., the launchers on Channel 4 – showcasing how they could overpower everything from sport to movies with its new mobile phone device (Samsung S8). This newfound methodology worked better to bring the users in accordance with very few campaigns that did like it.
Hospitality Factor: Impulse Purchase During Live Engagement: Designed to build interest and excitement in the moment, driving real-time engagement around Samsung’s Galaxy S8 innovations.
Brand Innovation: The Over to You campaign highlighted Samsung as a brand that innovates, especially when it comes to technology in the context of user experience.
COMPLEMENTARY ELEMENTS Consumer Engagement: Enabling consumers to participate directly in a campaign allowed Samsung to create more loyal customers.
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Conclusion
Here are the ten campaigns that prove how creative marketing can be used to build and reinforce brand identity. The campaigns were featured for their humor, innovation, social responsibility, or just user-generated content, and they have been successful in creating interest by some buzz and also created a long-lasting impression.
For brands that want to make a splash, these examples illustrate the power of creativity along with authenticity and connecting at a human level as key takeaways. While the marketing landscape has changed over time, by and large, these campaigns exemplify principles of note that still hold true to this day—signposts guiding us away from certain uncharted waters in favor of a more constructive course for brand building and consumer engagement.
FAQs
What did Apple get right with its “Shot on iPhone” campaign? The reason Apple was successful with their “Shot on iPhone” campaign is because they were focused more on user-generated content than anything else, turning all of the customers into brand advocates. Not only did this highlight the iPhone camera skill level, it was also a community development and pride experience for all its users.
So why was everyone so stoked about Spotify’s “Wrapped”? The most exemplary case being Spotify’s Wrapped campaign, which turned a personalized user experience into social currency. Every year, people get excited to show their Wrapped playlists off and reveal who they are via what they listen to on the internet.
KFC — ever heard of this iconic chicken outlet that was celebrated for its “FCK” ad, despite the fact that the brand experienced a Chicken shortage crisis!! KFC FCK ad — celebrated for a humorous and transparent response to its own mess-up. KFC even managed to turn the incident into something positive, a PR win that resonated with customers by owning up to their mistake in good spirits.
How did the “Breaking2” campaign affect Nike? Nike reinforced its role as a sports innovation leader with the “Breaking2” campaign. The two-hour marathon barrier was not broken, but the campaign created a deafening buzz and proved Nike wants to push human performance.
What social issues did Heineken address in the “Worlds Apart” campaign? Heineken attempted to tackle social issues with its “Worlds Apart” campaign in which people from opposing perspectives were brought together, over a beer. With people agreeing the ad helped bring about empathy and cohesion, it was a win-win for Heineken in terms of being further established as an ethical brand.
So what can we learn from IKEA and the “Bookbook™” campaign? The shoe company Toms demonstrates the “pay-it-forward” concept without saying a word, while IKEA explains that in marketing, creativity and humor win—with their Bookbook™ campaign. Ikea used its parody of a Tech Launch to not only engage with this tech-friendly audience but at the same time keep reinforcing its brand as playful and innovative.
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