Marketing Campaign Examples

Are you curious about the marketing campaigns that have made some of the world's biggest brands stand out? Look no further! In this article, we're taking a closer look at the successful marketing campaign examples that have helped Coca-Cola, Apple, Budweiser, Dove, and KitKat become household names.

Marketing campaigns can be divided into various types, from integrated marketing to direct marketing, product marketing to mobile marketing; we'll examine real-life examples that have proven to be a hit with consumers. Get ready to be inspired by the creativity and ingenuity of these campaigns and learn what it takes to make a marketing campaign truly stand out.

Successful Marketing Campaign Examples

Successful marketing campaigns are the ones that reach their intended goals. Marketing campaigns require innovation, imagination, and research to be successful. The type of marketing campaign a company develops depends on its budget and what they are trying to achieve.

Successful Marketing Campaign Examples: Apple

Apple came up with its marketing campaign titled "Creativity goes on" in 2020 amidst the coronavirus pandemic. When people were locked up in their homes with little to nothing to do, Apple tried to bring a touch of hope and joy to everyone. This simple yet warm campaign showcased how people entertained themselves and shot their daily activities or things they did for fun with an iPhone or MacBook. The advertisement showed different ways in which people engaged themselves with an Apple product, like drawing on an iPad, shooting videos or live-streaming with an iPhone, working on their projects with a MacBook, and so on. It also featured celebrities such as John Krasinski working on his project SomeGoodNews using his MacBook and Oprah Winfrey addressing her OprahTalks viewers on her Apple TV+.

Apple wanted to show that it supported creativity and emphasize how we would get out of this unfortunate situation together. This sentiment gave the audience a feeling that the company cared, making them feel hopeful, resulting in the campaign being a huge success that captured the attention of all its viewers.¹

Successful Marketing Campaign Examples: Coca-Cola

The "Share a Coke" campaign, published by Coca-Cola across multiple marketing channels, was yet another successful campaign. It was first introduced in Australia and then broadcast worldwide. The advertisement encouraged people to share a coke with friends and family and have fun together. As a part of the campaign, Coca-Cola printed popular names on its bottles. People now started buying bottles with their names and friends' names. This made shopping for Coke a lot more fun and frequent.

Fig. 1 - A store selling the new Coca-Cola bottles released as a part of the "Share a Coke" campaign

Although the campaign was published across several channels, such as print advertisements, commercials, and banners on buses, publishing it across social media platforms was the most successful. People shared videos and pictures of their friends and the Coke bottles with their names on them on social media. Coca-cola analyzed its target customers' behavior and delivered its content on the appropriate platform, which led to its success.²

Integrated Marketing Campaign Examples

An integrated marketing campaign uses multiple channels to spread a message to its audience. Some of these integrated marketing campaigns have gained worldwide success. Let's take a closer look.

Integrated Marketing Campaign Examples: Dove

Dove's "Campaign for real beauty" was a huge success. The campaign started with banners - a type of display marketing - across Canada and London. The banners featured pictures of women with diverse body types and ages, highlighting how everyone is beautiful. The banner posed questions like "wrinkled?" or "wonderful?" and "44 and hot?" or "44 and not?" next to pictures of women. The billboards sparked conversations among viewers who interacted with the campaign and shared its message on social media. This authentic campaign raised Dove's sales from $2.5bn to $4bn.³

Integrated Marketing Campaign Examples: Budweiser

Budweiser's "Wassup" campaign was very innovative and clever. This campaign started airing on television during the 2000 Super Bowl. The advertisement featured friends repeating the word "Wassup" to each other over the phone as they watched a football game with a Budweiser.

It also caught the attention of celebrities such as Howard Stern and Katie Couric. People made parodies of the advertisement, and it soon became popular among everyone. What is more interesting is that customers could learn how to say "Wassup" in 30 different languages on the company's website. The campaign was not only very successful and won many awards, but it was also highly memorable for the audience, driving Budweiser's sales higher than before.⁴

Fig. 2 - Budweiser's marketing campaign during the SuperBowl was a huge success

Integrated Marketing Campaign Examples: Nike

Nike's new shoe range - Zoom Vaporfly Elite - was marketed on social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook in collaboration with influencers in 2017.

The campaign was called "Breaking2", in which the company live-streamed an attempt to complete a marathon in under two hours. Taking part in the marathon were Eliud Kipchoge, Zersenay Tadese, and Lelisa Desisa. Interested people could follow the campaign and view the marathon using the hashtag #Breaking2. The campaign experienced huge success on social media as Nike received 584,000 mentions on various social media platforms, where people used its hashtag over 400,000 times. As a result of the campaign, the brand's digital engagement multiplied by 5.2.⁵

Direct Marketing Campaign Examples

All marketing techniques that use channels to communicate directly with customers are known as direct marketing campaigns. Some of the very successful direct marketing campaigns include the ones discussed below.

Direct Marketing Campaign Examples: KitKat

Nestlé's KitKat came up with a very intriguing form of direct marketing. They reached out to their audience via post. The company sent out a mail to their customers, which looked like a missed mail. The mail read the name and address of the recipient, stating that their packet could not be delivered because it was too chunky for their letterbox. Recipients of this letter could exchange this at their local news agencies for a bar of chunky Kit-Kat. Many customers engaged with the product, increasing KitKat's sales.⁶

Direct Marketing Campaign Examples: Marriott

This famous hotel chain uses email marketing tactics and has been very successful with it so far. They send their guests personalized emails reviewing the customer's year with Marriott. The email provides an overview of the number of nights the guest has stayed and the number of countries they have visited. It also includes information on earned and redeemed loyalty points, the number of properties the guest visited, and the sub-brands the guest has stayed in. They also included an overview of the overall community data of Marriott members. This personalized message gives their guests a sense of belonging, encouraging them to remain loyal to the brand.⁷

Direct Marketing Campaign Examples: Land Rover

Land Rover chose a direct marketing method to invite its customers to the opening of one of its new showrooms. They sent their customers gift boxes with balloons inside them. The tags at the end of the balloons contained the message inviting them to the event. The gift felt very personal to customers, increasing their loyalty to the brand.⁸

Product Marketing Campaign Examples

Branding a product, promoting it, and selling it to the market is known as product marketing. It is used by companies when they want to introduce a new product into the market. We outline examples of successful product marketing below.

Harry's Inc. gives its new customers a highly discounted starter kit with free shipping. Customers also have the opportunity to experience the products first-hand, so they know the quality of what they are buying beforehand. The company sells at a direct-consumer price, which means that the price is considerably lower as they avoid intermediaries. New customers can test the company's products for a reduced price. Harry's Inc. is confident that the customers will want to pay full price once they have tried the product.⁹

Product Marketing Campaign Examples: Mailchimp

Mailchimp, an email and newsletter platform, rebranded the company when they discovered that their customers used their service to grow their businesses. The company rebranded itself into an "all-in-one marketing suite." The rebrand resulted in the company's "Growing Businesses campaign." The campaign showed the company's various features entrepreneurs can use to grow their businesses.¹⁰

Product Marketing Campaign Examples: Apple

While marketing its products, Apple focuses on conveying the product's convenience or user-friendliness. The company introduced the first iPhone in 2007, addressing the viewers that it was an iPod, a phone, and an internet communicator, all-in-one. He described it to potential customers as the most user-friendly combination. During the launch event, the company focused on conveying the message that the iPhone is the most convenient and user-friendly option for people.¹¹

Mobile Marketing Campaign Examples

Mobile marketing campaigns reach customers using channels such as smartphones and tablets via websites, apps, and other options. Given below are a few successful examples of mobile marketing campaigns.

Mobile Marketing Campaign Examples: Domino's

Domino's developed a rewards program to compete with Pizza Hut's success. This program encourages customers to sign up for it and earn 10 points by scanning a QR code every time they buy a pizza online that is over $10. Once a customer earns 60 points, they can redeem it to get a medium-sized pizza for free. Customers found this very attractive, and it raised Domino's sales.¹²

Mobile Marketing Campaign Examples: Burger King

Burger King came up with a radical mobile advertisement campaign. The campaign was called "Burn That Ad," in which the customers could download the Burger King app to use an augmented reality (AR) scanner whenever they saw Burger King's rivals' ads. The users could virtually burn the advertisement and win a free Burger King Whopper burger. This campaign was a fun activity for the users as it was very different from all other promotional campaigns that have happened so far. And the Whooper is a delicious bonus.¹³

Mobile Marketing Campaign Examples: Nivea Sun

Nivea Sun's "The Protection Ad" helped the company spread the message that it cared. They gave away tear-out bracelets that appeared inside the pages of a Brazilian magazine. Parents could tear out this band and have their kids wear it around their wrists. They could then download the Nivea Protects app that would make a sound if the kids were to go off into long distances away from their parents. This campaign was a huge success as it increased the company's sales by 62% in Rio de Janeiro.¹⁴

These are a few very successful ways of marketing a business's products. The campaigns stand out because of their creativity and ability to engage customers. The marketers understood their customers and target audiences and used channels that best catered to the situation.