Written by Annelise Bamberg
Coca-Cola “Share A Coke”
After Coca-Cola tried and tested its 250 individualized bottle labels in Australia in 2011, the beverage conglomerate introduced 2 million unique bottle designs for Diet Coke. This campaign, created in Israel, reversed the brand’s downward slide in the bleak-looking soda industry. In order to include everyone, alternate labels designed to share with “Friends,” “BFF,” and “Family” were created. Consumers could visit www.shareacoke.com and personalize their virtual bottles to share with their friends across social channels. This multi-platform social media campaign initiated a “Share a Coke Tour” that made 500 countrywide stops, where consumers were invited to custom design their own cans. The campaign was hugely successful, with more than 125,000 #ShareACoke posts and a very clear message circulating around the brand.
Honda, “The Other Side” 2014
Honda created a digital campaign that could simultaneously engage with two of its target audiences. Its YouTube commercial promotes that Honda Civic and its sexier sibling, the Civic Type R. Viewers have control of the advertisement by pressing “R” on their keyboard to switch between the concurrent storylines. In one universe, it shows a regular dad driving his daughter to school – clearly demonstrating the ease, comfort and reliability of the Civic as a family car. As soon as “R” is held, the screen changes to the other setting where the dad plays the protagonist of a dangerously gripping action scene. The campaign took the media by storm with many praising its ability to promote two cars in one commercial; where the conflicting storylines strategically demonstrate the different qualities between “the family car” vs. “the getaway car.”
McDonalds’ Super Bowl Giveaway 2015
During the Super Bowl, McDonald’s PR, advertising and marketing teams got together during the Super Bowl of this year to truly demonstrate the future of integrated media relations. The campaign aimed to promote the “lovin’” part of “I’m lovin’ it” and promised to give away all advertised products during the game. As other brand’s commercials landed on viewer’s screens, McDonald’s released live tweet sweepstakes to give consumers the chance to win. The real-time aspect and relevance of the tweets ensured mass-consumer engagement. McDonald’s U.S. chief marketing officer Deborah Wahl claimed that, “The goal was to reach as many people as we could. It was new, we’d never done it before, so we wanted to see how far does the Twitter universe really go. The unknown is what made it more fun.”
Oreo, “You Can Still Dunk In The Dark” 2013
Another brand that capitalized on the consumer’s avid concentration during the Super Bowl was Oreo in 2013 during the game’s blackout. The cookie company released an image of an Oreo in the dark with a slogan, “You can still dunk in the dark” and tweet “Power out? No problem.” This example, shows a brand spotting an opportunity and using fast-paced creativity to make a powerful impact on social media. This clever campaign was retweeted 10,000 times in an hour and won a Cannes Lions Award.
Samsung #Oscars Celebri-tweet, 2014
Ellen Degeneres tweeted the second most retweeted image with the Emmy’s celebrity selfie. Many people are unaware that this was actually a fabulously executed stunt organized by Samsung. This campaign would always be a winner as it piggybacked onto the selfie movement with an eclectic gang of celebrities posing. The best part is that the celebrity endorsement of Samsung is so subtle that consumers can concentrate on the humor of the picture, without getting irritated by pushy product promotion. This iconic tweet was extremely successful in reaching Samsung’s goal of generating mass brand awareness of the popularity of their cellphones.