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In a world where attention is a commodity, creative marketing campaigns have become a necessity for brands to break through the noise. Brands, no matter the size and scale, pulled the best gimmicks, relied on the best intentions, and sought to plant their relevance in the ever-changing market firmly.
As we inch closer to the second half of the year, we’ve rounded up some of the best campaigns we’ve seen the past years, and hope these can inspire you to build a campaign that will showcase your imagination.
1. Flat Pack Chocolate Easter Bunny
Brand: IKEA
IKEA is one of the most recognisable brands when it comes to household furniture and items. Their claim to fame is the variety of their flatpack furniture that people can assemble, or at least try to assemble, on their own.
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For Easter, the company decided to create something that’s unique, memorable, and faithful to their brand. What they came up with was a smartly-designed table piece – a bunny made of milk chocolate.
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IKEA said on their website that the cocoa they used was sourced from certified sustainable sources. One can buy a pack and build it themselves or gift them to someone else. The campaign was so successful that they had to do it again this year.
2. “The Closer”
Brand: Heineken
Heineken has brilliantly captured the current iteration of hustle culture where employees are answering calls during vacation, bringing their laptops to dinners, and working way later than they should.
Their solution? Heineken introduced the Closer, a beer bottle opener that can put nearby computers into sleep mode. The advertisement follows different workers who are facing the same challenges – they just don’t know when to stop working. As the bottle opener does its job, the employees panic as they helplessly stare into the blank screens. Then, the realization hits them. One by one, they closed their devices and raised their hands to order a cold one.
The message is simple: Working hard doesn’t mean working all the time.
To push its campaign further, the brand searched around New York City for office spaces with lights on. They then projected their messages right beside these real-life dioramas and turned them into advertisements about working late.
The best part of the campaign, however, is pointing out that no one really needs the Bluetooth-operated bottle opener. The device itself was sold in limited quantities. And instead of resupplying, Heineken reiterated to the audience that they should be their own “closers” while also providing simple tips to mark the line between work and play.
3. Bologna Face Masks
Brand: Oscar Meyer
If you want to get noticed and get catapulted into virality, it’s worth looking into promotional marketing products that are way out of your industry’s theme. Oscar Mayer is one of the leading processed meat brands in the United States. So it took everyone by surprise when they introduced a mind-boggling product – a face mask.
Bologna that rejuvenates? Bologna that hydrates? Indulge in your Meaty side with Oscar Mayer® Bologna Face Masks. Available on Amazon. https://t.co/5tnYONXe4M #KeepItOscar pic.twitter.com/iUCAeV34Kx
— Oscar Mayer (@oscarmayer) January 19, 2022
This wasn’t the first time Oscar Mayer brought levity into the scene. During the Great Depression, the brand rolled out a 27-foot-long wiener on wheels. This time, they’re playing on the childhood nostalgia of people who bit holes into their bologna slices and made them into masks.
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They partnered with Seoul Mamas, a premier beauty brand based in South Korea, to make this campaign a viral hit. The face masks were sold out almost immediately, which made others speculate Oscar Mayer might be forced to consider creating a beauty product line.
4. “Fighting is a good thing”
Brand: Monopoly
If you’ve played Monopoly, chances are, you’ve fought with friends and family members. We get it, it’s frustrating when the die roll isn’t in your favor, your target lots are being bought left and right, and you always end up paying whenever you pass.
But instead of leaning toward stopping these kinds of interactions, Monopoly even encouraged them. In their new campaign, they showed that screaming, arguing, and being frustrated are good things.
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The campaign was created by KesselsKramer based on Hasbro’s research that revealed 8 out 10 people fight during a Monopoly game. They then repackaged this idea as a developmental milestone, especially for younger users of the game.
The campaign showed that Monopoly can be an avenue to reveal one’s level of frustration tolerance, cope with defeat or when things don’t go your way, or a way to express emotions and hopefully be much more aware of them.
So where’s the promotional product? It can be the board game itself. Red Tomato did a case study back in 2018 for Kennards Hire’s 70th anniversary. The promotional marketing company thought of a creative way of strengthening family bonds, especially over the Christmas season. Red Tomato decided to use Monopoly as the centerpiece of the gift.
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As word got out, fans of the Kennards Hire brand and the game Monopoly attempted to get their hands on this exclusive Kennards Hire merchandise.
5. Sausage Roll Fashion Line
Brand: Greggs and Primark
Another fun way to promote your brand is to make it wearable, especially when people aren’t really expecting you to become a fashion trend. Greggs, a food company specialising in sausage rolls and steak bakes, teamed up with Primark to launch their own fashion line.
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It’s something you wouldn’t expect from a sausage company which made the entire thing much more attention-grabbing. The first release was sold out and people were reselling the pieces two or three times the original price. The clothes and other accessories were charmingly novel, especially to those who were fans of the brand.
“For the first time in Greggs’ 83-year history you will officially be able to wear your Sausage Roll-loving heart on your sleeve and look like a snack thanks to our incredible new clothing range,” Greggs said, as quoted by Reuters.
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The designs were simple but easily recognisable, which made the entire fashion line wearable on most days. We could only imagine the amount of impressions these pieces of apparel generated but the good news is, your brand can do this kind of campaigning too!
Let’s work together!
Promotional marketing products are a great and effective way to create brand awareness, increase customer loyalty and engagement, and boost sales. By playing around with different ideas, you can help your brand stand out from the competition and build a lasting impression on your potential customers.
Schedule a call with us today and we’ll help you create your dream promotional marketing product that will go perfectly well with your campaign.
