It’s always a great idea to be unique, but sometimes we need a little inspiration from existing businesses to give us that boost we need to come up with a creative idea for our consumers. Here are some absolutely stellar business marketing examples that will definitely motivate you to come up with an idea as amazing as theirs:
#1. Alternatives for Zendesk
A lot of us as customers will look for alternatives to a product before we make our final purchase decision.
Zendesk put a clever spin on this idea and used it to their advantage rather than have it work against them.
The brand incorporated the keyword ‘alternatives for Zendesk’ into their content, so every time somebody searched for Zendesk alternatives, Google’s algorithm ranked Zendesk on top!
The brand actually made an entirely new website and video that was optimised for this keyword:
How did we not think of this before? So simple, yet so brilliant!
#2. Jet Blue: Flying with Babies
Some business marketing examples show us what a great idea it is to show off brand values and communicate what the brand stands for.
This is exactly what Jet Blue did.
Crying babies on a plane has always seemed like a nuisance to travelling passengers and it stresses out mothers who have to travel with infants.
While many airlines have negated the problem or avoided the issue altogether, Jet Blue rolled out a beautiful marketing campaign on Mother’s Day:
This is a wholesome business marketing examples which shows how the airline eased the stress that mothers face while flying with babies as well as of passengers around them by offering a 25% discount on their next ticket every time a baby cried.
The video also urged passengers to make babies laugh whenever they cried.
This entire campaign was a reality check for other airlines that babies on airplanes are part of every flight and all passengers are in it together so instead of avoiding the problem, they need to make the best of it.
It is also a reminder for marketers that sometimes empathy is the key to successful communication with customers which goes a long way in building customer loyalty.
#3. Wistia’s behind the scenes
Normally, B2B brands do not need to advertise as they focus more on building long-term relationships with customers.
While Wistia, a video marketing software, falls in this category – it decided to take customers along with its journey.
The brand doesn’t have a specific marketing campaign that turned out exceptional; it’s the entire social media presence.
My personal favourite part of their Instagram is the adorable photos and videos of their dogs:
By sharing their business process with followers, they have created a community and bridged the gap between customers and the brand.
There’s 3 advantages the brand achieves from doing this:
- An approachable brand personality
- Transparency which leads to trust built with customers
- The use of visuals which creates brand awareness
They also often incorporate humor into their posts which is a great way to keep followers entertained.
#4. Airbnb: One less stranger
If I had to choose one great campaign to top the list, it’s definitely this one.
Just like Jet Blue, Airbnb launched a campaign to connect with its audience emotionally.
In fact, this marketing campaign is part of Airbnb’s overall business outlook.
The reason why this brand has gained market share so fast in its industry is because it offers a ‘home’ to people on vacation rather than just a place to stay and the One less stranger campaign is an extension of that:
The CEO, Brian Chesky, donated a total of $1 million in the form of $10 to different people in the Airbnb community. His aim?
For people to use this money as a donation to do a hospitable act for someone.
People gave out free hugs, bought walkie talkies, food and other creative products under $10 to help others get a sense of belonging.
But here’s why this strategy worked.
Chesky asked these people to upload their act on social media with the hashtag #OneLessStranger and with that, the campaign went viral.
This is one of the business marketing examples that reminds us of the power of social media.
Smaller businesses now have the same chances of success as larger businesses because all they have to do is come up with a creative idea and social media users will do the rest of the work.
Any work that is good will eventually be recognised and shared.
Airbnb also frequently does PR stunts which attract widespread attention.
A great one was its cable car rental that suspended 5000ft in the middle of the Swiss Alps with a giant Airbnb logo outside of it:
This is the perfect adventure for those who have no fear of heights and enjoy an adrenaline rush.
#5. Dominos: The Wedding Registry
Dominos is known for its creative campaigns.
Every now and then, it launches an amazing marketing strategy that gives other pizza brands a whole lot to compete with.
The Wedding Registry is another one of its absolutely hilarious ideas.
As the name suggests, couples who are about to get married can register for pizza rather than gifts – which is pretty appealing to the food lovers out there.
You can find a registry and get yourself signed up no matter when your wedding is scheduled.
Couples get gifts and Dominos gets a number of orders so it’s a win-win!
Another great campaign by the pizza restaurant chain was its idea to incorporate flavours from all over the world.
This was a great move considering different ethnicities prefer different flavoured meat/veggies.
By promoting this move, Dominos got a good chunk of the market share which consisted of individuals with specific food choices.
#6. Grant Thornton: Access Granted
Just like Wistia, Grant Thornton is a B2B business that deals in data analytics.
It put together multiple marketing tactics to pull off a successful campaign.
First, it sponsored the 2016 Tony Awards in order to boost brand awareness.
This was the company’s first ever sponsorship since B2B businesses do not set aside a significant budget for advertising.
Normally, sponsorships involve compensating the event holders through cash payments or free products and services.
However, Grant Thornton went one step ahead to really create brand awareness.
Firstly, it used the hashtag #AccessGranted, which created hype about what was going on with the brand online.
Secondly, the company created exclusivity.
The hashtag and campaign name made it seem like there was a lot going behind the scenes and only attendees of the Tony awards would have access to it.
Lastly, it was the content itself which made the sponsorship so successful.
The brand did not let people let down because they lived up to the hype of what they were hiding behind the stage.
The content? Exciting information about the Tony nominees, because who doesn’t want to know more about their favourite celebrity, right?
The result? A much higher Facebook reach, Youtube views up by 115% and 3.7 million impressions on Twitter.
#7. WWF: Earth Hour
Sometimes, it takes the right idea to create brand awareness.
It’s not just brands looking to create awareness or make huge profits that market effectively; sometimes, NPOs come up with the most creative ideas that set an example for brands.
WWF highlighted something that is crucial nowadays: climate change.
Its first Earth Hour campaign was a success with the help of volunteers who turned out their lights for an entire hour in solidarity to show how easy it is to battle climate change.
However, the organisation’s creative idea and execution was also a major reason behind its success.
WWF chose Norway as its main location to promote the event because the country faces odd daylight hours as compared to most countries around the world.
A digital banner was placed on different platforms. When a user clicked on it, their screen went black and after they swiped, they could see a countdown to earth hour.
This unique stunt got WWF 1 million impressions across all platforms and an MMA award for Global Mobile Marketing (2012).
Today, the Earth Hour movement takes place annually as more and more people join each year.
It has not only created awareness for the brand but also for the importance of eradicating global warming to battle climate change.
This campaign goes to show that if you’re fighting for the right cause, it not only counts towards your Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) but it automatically gets huge support from individuals who care about the cause.
#8. Spotify
Another one of my personal favourites, Spotify tops the list because it entered a global market with so many competitors and still managed to come out on top because of one simple strategy.
Normally, with music apps, you’ll see little to no categorisation.
If there are categories, they don’t vary much from back in the day i.e. classical, hip hop, trance, rap etc.
With Spotify, however, music is categorised into lifestyle, hobbies and psychographics.
Its marketing campaigns over the years have focused on the emotions of its listeners, and at the end of the day, isn’t that what defines music choice?
Again, it is a shocker that nobody thought of this before.
Every time that I had to workout, I used to create a new playlist of all the up-beat songs that I knew.
However, Spotify does this job for me – and convenience is one of the biggest ways you can attract and retain customers.
#9. Krispy Kreme Australia
This is an example of another brand that entered into a market full of suppliers; yet, it managed to become an industry leader.
In fact, the trend of buying from multinational food chains is slowly changing as home-based food businesses are providing more personal services with much lower prices.
This meant that Krispy Kreme did not come out on top without its fair share of struggles.
Almost 2 decades ago, the brand launched in Australia.
It opened 80 stores around the country because it’s donuts were so loved, but unfortunately, it was a bit too much.
Since there were stores everywhere, people got tired of the brand and soon enough, sales dropped to the point where the donut chain had to downsize.
However, it did not give up and launched an entire business marketing campaign to focus on building love for the brand rather than boosting sales:
It launched an entire range of donuts that would make customers nostalgic about their childhood while eating Krispy Kreme donuts; thus, invoking love for the brand.
They encouraged user-generated content as customers shared stories and instances which boosted engagement as well as sales incredibly.
This shows that research and knowing your clientele is extremely crucial for success.
Krispy Kreme put a lot of thought and effort into knowing the Australian culture specifically, which is something every multinational brand needs to do when marketing in a new locality.
#10. McDonalds: Search It
Marks & Spencers is a brand that has been out there forever, which is why it is being replaced by newer and trendier brands.
KFC has been overtaken by both local and international food chains.
But McDonalds is a legendary brand with business marketing examples so exemplary, everybody should take note.
Its ‘Search It’ campaign was so subtle that there was not even a single mention of the brand name in the video but hidden clues made it so obvious that it was a McDonalds advertisement.
See for yourself:
Conclusion
These are only some of the best business marketing examples out there, but each example shows a different strategy that the business used.
This goes to show that there’s no formula for success, but it’s a lock and key situation where one strategy works perfectly for a business.
The same business marketing strategy may not work for yours, so to find the right business idea, you need to do your research and connect with your target audience to better understand what works for you.