Structural Graphics is kicking off a month of awesomeness with a series of posts to help marketers breakthrough the clutter of their competition with insightful posts about what makes marketers, well, awesome.
This week’s post is all about innovation. One of the most distinctive traits of an awesome marketer is the ability to be innovative. Innovation helps marketers set their businesses apart from the competition, gets people excited about the company or brand, and makes waves in the industry.
Let’s take a look at how some big companies are using innovation to keep their audiences engaged.
Awesome Marketers Skew Reality and Fantasy
Americans love to interact with their entertainment. It’s why 24.75 billion dollars went to the gaming industry in 2011 according to a 2012 Entertainment Software Association report, and the top selling game of 2011 was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, a game that positions players as soldiers on extreme military missions.
With an increasing interest in entertainment that feels like real life, it’s not surprising that some of the best marketing campaigns are the ones that bring fantasy right to your doorstep, like HBO did a few weeks ago to promote the premier of Game of Thrones. In early March, New York Times readers opened up a weekday edition to find the shadow of a dragon flying overhead with accompanying fake articles inspired by the show’s plot. The ad got fans talking, creating a buzz on Twitter:
Great marketing ad for Game Of Thrones. fb.me/1zT1TVAop
— Creative Greed (@creativegreed) March 27, 2013
NYT’s “Game of Thrones” Shadow Ad Takes Over The News bit.ly/Y0umTk #printmedia, #print
— Print Media Centr (@PrintMediaCentr) March 21, 2013
Great execution by @hbo on their post #oscar ad promoting @gameofthrones tv.yahoo.com/news/-game-of-… #print #advertising
— Jeff Green (@jeff_halifax) March 22, 2013
“@adsoftheworld: ‘Game Of Thrones’ Ad In The New York Timesyfrog.com/nwt6dobj” this is sick
— Nina Dombalagian (@ninadombalagian) March 21, 2013
Similiarly, when ad agency, Leo Burnett Toronto created an zombie billboard at the Toronto Union Station for the premiere of Walking Dead fans got excited. The agency took it a step further by sawing off zombie fingers to countdown the mid-season premiere and sending them to fans who took pictures with the billboard and posted them on Twitter. This person even made a gif.
In both cases HBO and AMC created a buzz by cleverly interrupting our daily life with something fantastical, and it made people happy and eager to start watching their favorite shows again.
Awesome Markerters Personify Their Brand
Case in point: Allstate Insurance Company. Allstate has the right ingredients in its Mayhem TV ads featuring a smooth-talking, rugged, sneering guy destined to make your life hell. In some episodes he’s a deer, a bad GPS or a blown out water heater and in others he’s a torrential downpour standing over your car’s open sunroof with a garden house.
Allstate’s SVP of Marketing, Lisa Cochrane said in Adweek, “We’re talking about value in an entirely new way,” she says. “With so many advertising messages focusing on convenience and price, consumers had been lulled into thinking of insurance as a commodity. We had to disrupt the conversation but do it in a respectful way.”
That recipe has definitely increased Allstate’s consumer engagement; Mayhem’s Facebook page has garnered 1.5 million fans and Allstate now has over 6 million video views on YouTube.
Awesome Marketers Are One with the Times
Awesome marketers know that the industry is always changing, so they stay on top of trends and figure out new ways to connect with their audience.
The folks over at Volkswagon are well aware that many consumers record their favorite shows on DVR and fast forward through commercials. So in an attempt to reach as many viewers as possible the company developed a “slowmercial”, or TV ad that can be seen at both normal and fast speeds. Volkswagon estimates that the slowmercial will have 50% more impact than their traditional commericals. It’s currently only airing in Belgium, so we’ll have to wait and see how that works out for US audiences.
This innovative approach demonstrates the creativity of the company as well as it’s understanding of its audience.
Have you been blown away by any creative and innovative marketing campaigns lately? Share them with us in the comments below.
