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Recently, my roommate and I were watching TV (like good students) and realized how many bad commercials were out there. Building on this thought, we realized how easy it is today to ignore traditional marketing platforms. We can easily fast forward through commercials, and are immune to the spamming of online ads. We wondered: how are leading marketers today getting through to their target market?
After some research, I managed to find some pretty cool examples. There’s definitely a shift now from traditional marketing tactics to content marketing—instead of just spamming and trying to “sell you stuff”, companies are now offering great content in their marketing which makes the consumer stop and think.
One great example is Labatt Brewing Co.’s unconventional take on marketing their Kokanee brand. Instead of a 30-second ad, they filmed an entire 90-minute movie, which was released in theatres across western Canada. The film was targeted directly at their target demographic of 19 to 25 year old males, and they took product placement to the extreme. They were also extremely effective in rolling out movie-related promotions which boosted their sales like unprecedented before. For example, fans were able to audition for roles in the film, and regular customers could even get their names included in the credits if they registered on the website with an email. Bars could compete for a chance to be used as a location in the movie by getting their customers to vote for them—but customers could only vote by ordering a beer with the voting code on it. As a result, bars aggressively promoted Kokanee and sales SOARED.
I never really thought about the challenges marketers face now that traditional marketing techniques are becoming less effective. But it’s super cool how innovative marketing can be in bringing brands and slogans to life.
Other amazing examples include Red Bull’s sponsorship of Felix Baumgartner’s jump from space and TNT’s “Dramatic Surprise on a Quiet Square”.