Marketing examples you can learn from and implement

Marketing Examples

What’s the best way to identify a successful marketing strategy? The fact that it is imprinted on consumers’ minds. I’m sure there is at least one brand or advertisement that has impacted you deeply in some way or another. So here in the blog, we intend to focus on some good marketing examples.

The idea is to create something unique and creative; something that stands out from all the marketing clutter. 

You’d be surprised at how the most creative ads are made by global market leaders that already enjoy the majority market share in the industry. 

This itself emphasizes the need for good marketing, no matter where you stand in the industry. 

Here are some of the best marketing examples that you can find inspiration from:  

#1. Samsung Good Vibes 

As a marketer, when you look for creative ideas and marketing examples, you need to think from the perspective of customers. As the marketing professional Al Ries puts it:

“Marketing is not a battle of products, it’s a battle of perceptions.”

In a world where smartphone companies are fighting for market share based on the fastest processor or the best camera, Samsung displayed an entirely different and thought-provoking concept. 

The global conglomerate showed how its new S series phone enabled the deaf, dumb and blind to communicate with their loved ones through code input into text or voice and vice versa: 

The ad gained over 130 million views on YouTube, turning heads globally as it cleverly played on the emotions and sympathy of consumers. 

As a consumer myself, it nearly brought me to tears because of how beautifully it created an accessory for the people who are not able to express themselves. 

When you are able to provoke emotion or make the consumer stop and think, that is when you know that your campaign has been successful. 

#2. Google: Year in Search 2016

As the most widely used search engine in the world, Google enjoys a massive market share of almost 93%. The tech giant shared an emotional video consisting of the highest-ranked search terms in the year 2016:  

Not only is this a beautiful video highlighting the most globally trending topics, but it also fulfils its purpose. 

The campaign reinforced the idea that Google is where people turn towards for answers and learning; thus proving its worldwide influence. This could
also be one of the great marketing examples to consider.

#3. Share a coke

I’m betting whichever article you open when looking for the best marketing examples will list this campaign in its Top 10 category, and rightly so. 

The share a coke campaign was an innovative idea introduced in 2015 by the brand that allowed users to buy personalised bottles of Coke with their name or a friend’s name (if it was a common name), depending upon the country they resided in: 

coca cola

This was one of the most successful marketing examples or tactics in multiple ways: 

  1. It created customer-generated content. The hashtag #Shareacoke went viral on social media, bringing more followers and success to Coke
  2. There was a powerful call to action. Everyone was buying it just to get a personalised Coke bottle 
  3. It was personalised. While Coke caters to the masses, this campaign allowed it to connect with each customer on a personal level.
  4. The campaign continued to change. Coke started from 250 names and went up to a whopping 1000! It even opened up an e-commerce store where customers could order personalised bottles with more than just their name e.g. song lyrics. 

In fact, by 2017, Coke had introduced removable bottle stickers that could be attached to notebooks, clothing, smartphones and other items, thus ensuring that its presence was everywhere! 

#4. Tasty food app 

This is one of my personal favourites. Marketing doesn’t necessarily have to be a single campaign, it can be a whole strategy. 

Before Tasty’s app was developed, the food blog gained fame due to its appealing food videos. They used all the right angles, a great camera, and not to mention recipes that guaranteed a delicious end product: 

Perhaps their fame stemmed due to the simple fact that they used videos instead of text or pictures. 

Did you know that videos get 1200% more shares than both text and pictures combined? That’s because 90% of the information sent to your brain is visual. 

So there’s your answer. If your brand has a blog (well, you should definitely set one up if you don’t, it’ll really boost your SEO) then you need to use interactive and eye-catching visuals with minimum text. 

#5. IKEA: Try Before You Buy 

There are two rules to effective advertising: your campaign should either be entertaining or helpful. 

IKEA hit the bull’s eye with the second one. With the perfect blend of technology and creativity, It’s ‘Try before you buy’ campaign allowed users to test how a piece of furniture would look in their home/office space before buying it, all thanks to augmented reality: 

IKEA: Try Before You Buy

This concept is fairly new and unexplored, but it brings a great deal of convenience to customers who can try out furniture with the IKEA home app instead of buying expensive furniture only to come home to the realisation that it does not go with their interior. 

#6. Introducing Burberry Kisses

Another innovative use of technology, the luxury fashion brand Burberry launched its kisses campaign. 

Every time a customer purchased a lipstick on the brand’s online store, they could send a virtual kiss to someone. 

But how did the brand manage to run this campaign? 

Burberry partnered with Google which used image capturing technology through an app, allowing users to press their lips on the screen and capture the kiss: 

Not only was this campaign fun for users, but it also allowed people to connect through the brand. 

If a consumer wasn’t pleased with their kiss, they could simply redo it or even change the lip colour! 

Sometimes, all it takes is something fun to get your customers engaged with your brand. The activity doesn’t necessarily have to be related to what your brand sells, it just needs to be good enough for consumers to want to be a part. 

#7. Airbnb: One Less Stranger

Airbnb only started operations in 2008, but it has dominated the market in several countries within a decade, and that owes partly to its great marketing. 

Take a look at Airbnb’s market share in Toronto, Canada:

Airbnb’s market share

Airbnb’s ‘One Less Stranger’ campaign aimed to create a sense of belonging and provide more than a place to stay – a home with hospitality and comfort. 

This was insanely successful. Why? Because many travellers are hesitant to stay in unknown places, which is why Airbnb connected hosts and travellers to put both parties at ease. 

More people are now willing to list their homes with the brand and more people are willing to rent them out, thus generating more revenue for Airbnb. Here is the original campaign filmed in New York: 

#8. Old Spice

If you’re looking for where it all started, this is your answer. 

The Old Spice ‘The man your man could smell like’ advertisement is a classic that marketers still quote as one of the best campaigns of its time: 

The reason behind the success of this ad is (well, partly) Mustafa. As an attractive actor of his time, he appeals to not only men but women who would buy the product for their men! 

This clever tactic appeals to both genders and the interactive phrases used make the audience hooked from the start to the end. 

If you watched the ad, I bet your eyes were on the screen the whole time!

At a time when there was little advanced technology in the advertising industry or powerful social media platforms, this ad managed to successfully break through the clutter and reach its audience just by using old-school but creative marketing techniques.  

#9. Doritos Time Machine 

Let’s be honest. Doritos has an exceptional marketing team that makes the best super bowl commercials. 

Their advertisement in collaboration with Mountain Dew created a riot among Game of Thrones fans. Similarly, their time machine ad was a light-hearted commercial that gave their audience a good laugh:

Sometimes, all you need is humour to break away from all the marketing clutter. Amidst a tiresome day and wanting to relax, sometimes it’s all your consumers need. 

#10. Charmin’s Sit or Squat app 

The toilet manufacturer Charmin came up with perhaps the silliest yet entertaining and useful marketing idea. 

They build an app called ‘Sit or Squat’ and simultaneously launched a social media campaign around it to get the word out. 

But what was the idea that made it so special? 

The app allowed users to check if toilets around them were clean or not, and when you think about it, that’s actually pretty useful! 

Charmin’s Sit or Squat app

Not only was this funny, but it was also a real problem that was being addressed by the brand which automatically lead to it going viral because everybody was talking about it! 

The important thing to note here is that Charmin’s idea did not directly improve or impact their sales. 

However, the idea made their brand name famous and sometimes, brand identity is all it takes to increase sales. How? Because if consumers in the market get to know your brand and that too, because of a good idea, they’ll be willing to try your products. 

There are 170000 restrooms listed by consumers on Charmin’s app, which is why the brand has become the go-to for customers looking for clean restrooms, thus making it a clear market leader. 

#11. Dove’s Real Beauty Campaign

In the past 2 decades, with the help of social media, women and individuals have begun to point out the distorted perception of beauty. 

It’s quite a thought-provoking and prevailing issue as women spend thousands, and in some cases, even millions, just to look or feel beautiful.  

As a personal care brand, Dove has been taking steps since 2002 to create awareness about the highly materialistic perception of beauty and launched campaigns to change this perception: 

This smart move was applauded all over the globe, and people began to believe that the brand actually cared. 

By bringing together women of different races, skin colour and size, Dove successfully built the perception that every woman was beautiful: 

different skin woman on dove ad

Not only did people feel self-love through this campaign, but every woman could relate to it, and thus, purchased the brand’s products. 

Conclusion

The key takeaway from these marketing examples is that you don’t always need resources or money to launch a successful campaign. A creative and unique idea will automatically make your brand stand out from your competitors. 

These ideas need to be bold, but in a world where consumers have more influence, brands need to be careful about creating ideas that are acceptable to even the smallest of market segments. A negative campaign can harm your brand much more than a positive campaign helps it. 

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