Taking inspiration from other industries to improve your brand’s marketing campaign

Marketing campaigns have the potential to either make or break your brand. Get it right and your revenue will surge. Get it wrong however and you can cause some serious damage to your reputation. It’s vital that your campaign is planned properly. At the end of the day, they can be costly, especially if they’re not very effective!

There are an abundance of different options out there to ensure you get the most from your campaign, including how your campaign should be managed and monitored. However, prior to getting to that stage and reaping the rewards, it’s helpful to explore how other industries and brands have mastered their marketing. In this guide, we delve into successful campaigns and the key points you should take away from them:

Television Adverts

Although TV advertisements can be expensive to place — it can cost up to £30,000 for a 30-second ad at peak time on ITV — they can be a very effective method to raise significant brand awareness and get you noticed by lots of potential customers.

The run-up to Christmas wouldn’t be the same without the Coca Cola lorry decorating our screens. For many, Christmas excitement begins the first time they see the advert. This excellent use of marketing has been running for over 20 years, although their festive advertising actually started in 1920. Having this much influence over a season shows just how well a marketing campaign on television can be.

In contrast, some adverts stay in the memory for different reasons. Take the Renault Megane advert in 2003, for example. It was controversial to say the least. While it prompted 139 complains to the television watchdog, it’s still one of the most memorable car ads of all time. Its Groove Armada soundtrack referred to the model’s new ‘rump’. This use of a catchy backing song and its play on words proved popular and certainly had people talking. It proves that sometimes thinking out of the box and being a bit risqué can be beneficial, but it certainly is a fine line.

Billboard Advertising

Billboards can be a very smart choice, especially for companies who can’t afford to splash out millions on short television ads with celebrities in the way the likes of Nike or Coca Cola have done. Two weeks’ exposure on a busy UK high street’s bus stop could cost in the region of £300. For a regular 48-sheet hoarding, you’ll be looking to pay approximately £200 each week.

For a billboard to be successful, there should be a concise message, with eight words being a good rule to follow. Including a human image where possible is a good way to grab the public’s attention as people are drawn to this. A good example of this was Formula Toothcare. By playing on its slogan ‘builds strong teeth’ the billboard pictured a man biting up the advertisement to show how strong his bite was. The realistic-looking design which looked to show ‘broken metal’ was eye-catching, which ensured it had a strong delivery to its intended audience.

Social Media

Like billboards, social media can be another relatively cheap way to market your brand and has become a great tool. However, while you may feel humour can grab a user’s attention, you must be careful. According to research, only a third of consumers feel compelled to purchase a product due to a brand’s humorous social media campaigns.

Instead, offering promotions and being responsive should take focus. Respectively, 46% and 48% of respondents lists these as being reasons to buy a product. ASOS were one company who successfully managed to be responsive. By taking to Instagram and starting a hashtag campaign (#AsSeenOnMe), the company invited their seven million followers to share their latest purchases and in return gave them the chance to be shared on the brand’s accounts for huge exposure.

As well as this, influencers are also used in their campaigns, building genuine relationships with the public. If you have an active and prominent social persona, you should definitely follow ASOS’s guide and develop such strategies.

Slogans

The slogan is arguably the most memorable part of your campaign. McDonald’s has ‘I’m lovin’ it’ and this worked because it was short and catchy. Your slogan is used to ‘tell’ your customer something. Subway is another example. Their ‘Eat fresh’ tag line allows consumers to recognise that the company uses fresh ingredients. The same goes with Tesco and their ‘Every little helps’ line. This indicates that the supermarket is proud of their cheap prices.

Slogans are fundamental as they can help create a lasting impression and can be used to improve your credibility with customers. Nike’s ‘Just Do It’ campaign, created in the late 1980s is still present today. This campaign began when the company was predominantly for marathon runners and sales sat at $800 million in 1988. By 1998, their sales had surpassed $9.2 billion and the short and sweet slogan is known worldwide and is a statement we can all relate to.

When a marketing campaign is in the early stages of being planned, it’s important to carry out a detailed competitor analysis. By doing this, you can compare what works, as well as what doesn’t, and stand your brand in a better position to know what will be a success. Don’t be afraid to praise your competitors and use their experience to help better yours!

James is an Outreach Executive at Mediaworks Online Marketing and covers a number of clients across a wide range of business sectors, helping them to grow their online portfolios through engaging content.