When starting a creative marketing project, you’re likely going to look at various channels for guidance. You’re studying your industry’s current landscape to see what your competitors are doing, and you’re trawling through news headlines to identify topical opportunities.
When processing this inspiration, it’s important to remember that originality is key—to avoid being derivative you must think outside the box. Make sure you don’t miss out on strategies that could give your final campaign some extra oomph.
For example, use a unique medium, incorporate heartfelt messaging or turn to celebrity connections to add a layer of familiarity. And when your go-to outlet is the web, consider using a creative domain like .SUCKS to boost awareness of your promotional campaign with head-turning flare.
Here are four examples of advertising campaigns that hit the mark with not only their creative assets, but also with their intelligent execution.
The New York Times and the Politics of “Fake News”
The New York Times launched a multi-platform ad campaign in reaction to the “fake news” and “alternate facts” discourse surrounding the Trump presidency and his media supporters. The ad—spotted online, on TV and in print—addressed the growing reluctance to face hard truths in the face of political and social upheaval.
The 30 second ad launched during the Academy Awards in February and has garnered over 15 million views on YouTube alone. The language is short and to the point and the images are sparse. Through this design the message is loud and clear: “The truth is hard”, the ad copy reads. And it’s true, TheTruth.Sucks.
Gucci Gets Meme-ified
https://instagram.com/p/BR37xlaBkRU
In trying to appeal to a younger audience than their typical buyer, Gucci launched the #TFWGucci (AKA “That feeling when Gucci…”) campaign. Each component of the campaign riffed on popular internet memes in order to create buzz around their products. A favorite and much-shared component of their memeification was the “When your girl doesn’t notice your watch” image that mimicked the Arthur’s fist meme.
This series of posts averaged 67,000 likes and 768 comments, successfully engaging the brand’s targeted demographic. Their team thought creatively about how to get into the heads of that demographic by speaking their language through a relevant outlet (the web).
The popularity of this post could have springboarded further messaging with ThisFeeling.Sucks or NotBeingNoticed.Sucks. There are plenty of opportunities to take a successful campaign to the next level.
“Pass the Heinz”, a Ketchup-less Ad and Mad Men
https://instagram.com/p/BRoZajog_zY
Four years after Don Draper, leading man of the hit TV show ‘Mad Men’, fictionally pitched this ad, Heinz approved it for real. The ketchup-less ad appeared on billboards everywhere and gained approval through its brazen interaction with a contemporary pop culture phenomenon. The ad got rejected on the show, which is what makes the real life Heinz adoption all the sweeter.
It has an irreverent, quirky “Who knew they’d actually do it!” vibe that .SUCKS totally digs. But what about NoHeinz.Sucks to really expand on the idea and make the campaign their own?
“Play This At My Funeral” with Spotify
Morbid yet funny, Spotify created a series of ads that encourages users to make playlists of songs for their own funerals. The joke stems from ironic YouTube and Twitter comments that read “play this at my funeral”, which is often posted in response to music that would not typically be appropriate for such an event. The Thomas the Tank Engine theme, Biggie Smalls and “Never Gonna Give You Up” are just some of the songs and artists that have made hypothetical funeral lists.
It makes you think, it makes you laugh and it capitalizes on a digital trend that already has traction across social media. This shockingly honest and totally cheeky campaign could have pushed the envelope even farther with a witty tagline: “Death.Sucks—but your playlist doesn’t have to.”
The Takeaway
Unique and memorable marketing campaigns can be tough sometimes but these brands are paving the way for customer engagement through laughter, innovation and forward thinking.
You’ll need to use every resource at your disposal if you want to make waves in the overcrowded digital marketplace, and a .SUCKS domain could be the edge you need to get ahead.
AMissedOpportunity.Sucks so integrate a .SUCKS domain into your marketing messaging if you want something that stands out, makes people laugh or simply doesn’t suck.
Photo Credits: Shutterstock / WAYHOME studio