4 content marketing campaigns that went viral

4 content marketing campaigns that went viral

You are not yourself when you are hungry! Well, maybe you are, but I'm sure you've heard this countless times.

This slogan is an important reminder for many people. But why do some of the ads we receive every day go viral and others don't? It's all down to the way some companies build their content marketing strategies. Instead of bombarding customers with spam, they create an experience that puts them at the center of the brand message.

Let’s go through some of the most well-known marketing campaigns.

Snickers – You are not yourself when you are hungry

In 2009, Snickers realized that its brand needed to make a bigger impression on potential customers, a reason why they should choose Snickers as a snack. To do this, Snickers worked with BBDO to develop a new marketing strategy. This campaign revolved around mood swings caused by hunger.

This theme was brought to life in a series of commercials showing people turning into bizarre caricatures of themselves when they can't satisfy their hunger. The value of this campaign lies in showing that Snickers can solve this problem and help you become yourself again.

The advertising focuses on the customers and their needs, using humor to address a simple aspect that appeals to everyone, especially teenagers. Before this campaign, Snickers' target audience was primarily young men. This was a huge shift from this narrow target audience to a broader market. In addition, marketing efforts were kept fresh with limited edition flavors and seasonal specials.

Old Spice: The man your husband could smell like

In the early 2000s, Old Spice had a good position in the US men's hygiene market. However, it was considered out of fashion and was largely dependent on the aging reputation of Procter & Gamble.

In 2006, Wieden+Kennedy replaced Saatchi & Saatchi as the brand's advertising agency. After having been associated with a more traditional image for a long time, W&K decided to add a humorous element to the brand's message, taking advantage of every stereotype of masculinity. By encouraging men to buy things that make them smell like a man, The campaign “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” was launched.

Already growing sales of Old Spice shower gel increased 55% in the three months following the first TV ad. Then P&G made another clever move: Marketers used Twitter's sponsored trends advertising platform to ask Old Spice fans to ask questions of the Old Spice Man on Twitter and Facebook, as well as Reddit and Digg. People voted for their favorite questions, and the winners received personal answers from Isaiah Mustafa, the man who on the ad. The interaction they received was seen as a major social media win.

But then came the turning point: after the big sales increase at the beginning of the campaign, communication with the target audience broke down, which was a real mistake. P&G didn't use what it had properly. Instead of keeping the interaction with followers on a more personal level, the company disappeared from the scene and stopped interacting with its followers.

Coca-Cola: Share a Coke

While Old Spice didn't take communication with its followers seriously, Coca-Cola knew that communication was the most effective way to maintain its position in a market saturated with choices, especially among younger consumers.

In the early 2010s, the Share a Coke campaign replaced the traditional Coca-Cola logo with common names and encouraged consumers to find and share a Coke with friends, family and even strangers.

The campaign gained widespread traction on social media, encouraging consumers to share images of their personalized Coca-Cola bottles on platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag #ShareACoke, fostering a sense of community around the brand.

One of the strengths of the Share a Coke campaign was its ability to adapt to different markets. Coca-Cola replaced logos with culturally relevant names, demonstrating an understanding of potential and current local audiences. According to Coca-Cola, over 80 countries participated, resulting in more than a billion personalized bottles being sold. I still have one that friends gave me with my name on it.

But the Share a Coke campaign also faced challenges. Producing personalized bottles on a large scale presented significant obstacles, given the many names and variations possible, and the challenges of distribution and inventory management. And of course, even then, not every name made it onto the Coke bottle.

Oreo: Diving in the Dark

“Twist, lick, dunk.” For 33 years, this has been Oreo’s slogan to show how to best eat their Oreo cookies. After all this time, Oreo has still been able to show that the brand still holds its position in the market.

Oreo played it simple but clever with a tweet during the 2013 Super Bowl. In the middle of a thrilling third quarter between two American football teams, a power outage left the stadium at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans in the dark for about 30 minutes, and television viewers were confused as to why the football coverage was suddenly interrupted.

Oreo responded quickly and cleverly, posting a simple tweet on its Twitter account. The post showed a dimly lit Oreo cookie with the words “You can still dunk it in the dark.”

The day after it was posted on Twitter, the tweet received around 15,000 retweets, while the Facebook post received around 20,000 likes. The “Dunk in The Dark” image also garnered $525 million worth of media impressions. The Huffington Post even said that “one of the most eye-catching ads of the 2013 Super Bowl… wasn't even a commercial – it was a simple tweet from Oreo during the blackout.”

Give them something to think about

Launching a marketing campaign should never be your goal. Finding ways to use the campaign to build comprehensive communication with the audience is a major key that marketing strategies should consider.

With so many ads being shared every second, marketers and advertisers need to spice things up by looking beyond traditional advertising methods. It's crucial for brands to speak to customers' experiences and use their communication channels to reach them. This allows brands to develop campaigns that not only make an impact, but also stick in the minds of their target audience.

This article was syndicated from MediaFeed.us

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