One of the most important tasks every business faces is the very best presentation of its activity to the mass audience. Considering that we are constantly overwhelmed by the amount of information that is thrown at us, it’s really a sign of mastery to capture the audience’s attention long enough and make them do/think what you want, thus standing out from the herd.
Nowadaws it’s really not enough just to be really quick and catch the upcoming wave. You have to sense the approaching trend, to have the ability to influence a large group of people on multiple levels, and to make the most of it.
And oftentimes this is happening against all odds. Not every single company has a team with such particular purpose, or can afford to rent studio, animators, equipment, extra people and so on. It becomes clear that most of the times good humor, fast reaction, and extraordinary creative thinking really are enough for a successful recipe.
This article will introduce to you some of our favorite marketing campaigns (Bulgarian and foreign). 10 of the kind that not only leave you with admiration, but for which every marketer would say “Well, I wish I had thought of it first”.
1. Samsung Ostrich – advertising campaign that wants to inspire and empower
Samsung believes the only way to achieve the impossible is to refuse to believe that something actually could be impossible in the first place. Their advertising and #DoWhatYouCant campaign quickly and successfully spread inspiration and motivation amongst others. Naturally, that made it quite successful in a very short period of time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjKd24UCPYY
2. Lacoste – Timeless – a movie that will leave you breathless
Great creative from Lacoste. The short film motif alone is influential and timeless enough to plant the thought and desire in the viewer of being in the lead role and feel such emotions. And when it’s combined with the music… the musical background contributes perfectly to delivering the inspirational message.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZC02EQqcXc
3. The Honest Coca-Cola Obesity Commercial
Not many companies can afford to be so sincere about the product they offer. Still, it would really be illogical to claim that Coca-Cola and its products are the only one to blame for such important health issues. It is really commendable that even as they have a partial blame, they are still willing to share the dark side of their products and talk openly about such topics. If nothing else, customers love the truth.
4. UNDER ARMOR | RULE YOURSELF | MICHAEL PHELPS
The Under Armour campaign under the #RuleYourself slogan is extremely inspiring and motivating. And this is not due only to the celebrity participation in it, but mostly because of the following truth – It’s what you do in the dark, that puts you in the light. The video with Michael Phelps is the second most popular Olympics 2016 ad (after “We Are The Superhumans”) and the fifth most popular ad of all time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh9jAD1ofm4
5. Coco Mademoiselle: The Film – CHANEL
Everything with the Chanel trademark on it is branded with class and timelessness. This short film (we would never call it an advertisement) is no different. It is laced with perfection – from the intentional use of the song “It’s A Man’s Man’s World” to the refined touch and taking care of such details as the hand-painted wallpaper especially for the film. It’s minimalistic so we too won’t be wordy and will let you enjoy the movie and draw conclusions about it yourself.
6. DnB NOR – Some People Have All The Luck
Some campaigns manage to fully benefit from the power an ad has. Great creative by DnB NOR (the largest financial group in Norway). The video is kinda mushy and sappy, but really sweet, makes you laugh and dream (George Clooney has such an effect on people (women mostly)). But after all, not everybody is born so lucky.
7. FANTA – Teens Take Control!
Fanta knows its audience perfectly well and rightly directs its massive marketing campaign to the younger generation. That is one of the reasons for their success. One of their latest campaign, launched in many countries, among which Bulgaria, not only became viral, but also showed how one can achieve amazing results with proper marketing research, strategical thinking, and creativity.
8. Mentos Says Hello
Sadly, nowadays our communication often is only on a superficial and distracted level without any depth of interaction. Mentos addresses this in a very straightforward way. The simple challenges the candy puts before us intend to shorten the distance between the people and help us go back to our humanity, all this while having fun. This is what turns it into a success. A wonderful example of how a seemingly ordinary idea can have such a strong and profound resonance in our everyday life.
9. Audi and the quick reactions
One of the most important parts of a successful advertising campaign is to capture the right moment. Audi Bulgaria’s team combined this with a wonderful creative thought and the result was imminent and instant. Really well done, with a perfect pinch of humor and dignity about the situation.
10. Orchard Thieves – Bulgarian edition
We are much more familiar with the work of the Orchard Thieves Bulgarian edition’s team, called “The Apple Thief”, so in this paragraph we will talk only about their line of work. We are huge fans of the Heineken marketing team and their creative, so we are sure they too are doing an awesome work. In the last months, when it comes to the perfect combination of quick reaction, relevance, creativity, and humor, they are truly the winners. We are not just talking about a certain ad, but also about their overall communication with users and creative campaigns. It really makes us say “Ah, I wish I had thought about it first”.
These were just some of our favorite campaigns – ones that impress and motivate us greatly. We will be happy to share your favorites too, or if you would like to read a second part of this piece. After all, inspiration really is all around us, and we really love to nurture, use it, and contribute to it.
