To appeal to the new generation of consumers, brands have to tirelessly look for innovative ideas to entice them. But in the face of growing competition, how do you establish an identity for yourself in the sea of competitors? It seems the answer lies within video marketing.
With more than 50% of consumers preferring video content, a video marketing campaign has become the best selling tool and platform. If you hook your consumers within the first 5 seconds, you will get them to learn of your campaign.
To help brands create an effective video marketing campaign, here are 5 successful examples that are worth emulating:
“World’s Toughest Job” – American Greetings’ Cardstore
How does it feel to work long hours, standing for most of the time but not get paid? Inarguably, mothers are the embodiment of the “job description” provided.
“World’s Toughest Job” was produced to drive customers to create their own greeting cards with American Greetings’ Cardstore. With this tactical approach of expressing gratitude and awe, it was a great way of hooking in viewers by tugging at their heartstrings.
Released just a few days before Mother’s Day, it built on their customer base, increased sales and made an immediate impact. By using a video, it guided consumers through a brand’s online sales funnel. Sales actually increased to 20% within that year and they clinched the best video award at the Effie’s.
Learning point: Build on timeliness and know your unique selling point (USP) so that it generates desired results. By connecting consumers with their USP, they pushed a message that drives traffic to their services.
Creating a campaign with a smart marketing strategy is key in this digital era.
“You Are More Beautiful Than You Think” – Dove
Encouraging women to be kinder with their own appearance, Dove took on a thought-evoking yet emotional approach to get their message across.
The ad revolved around a forensic artist who drew portraits of women solely via verbal descriptions by the women themselves and description by someone whom they just met.
With the increasing expectations on unattainable beauty standards, Dove took a perceptive approach to tell girls to be kinder to themselves. By comparing how others view them as compared to how individuals viewed themselves, they relayed the message effectively.
It was uploaded in 25 different languages and viewed in more than 110 countries, increasing its shareability of the content. The pace of sharing proved to be phenomenal when it attracted an incredible 3.17 million shares.
Learning point: Know your consumers, tap on notable trends and utilise a key message that has the consumers at the heart of it. By focusing on their consumers, Dove launched another campaign that resonated with their target audience.
Like A Girl – Always
Launched in 2014, the video has made an impact on the world and how it viewed the phrase “Like A Girl”. Always embarked on a mission to tackle social issues girls face during puberty and took it up a notch to appeal to the younger audience.
The main purpose of the video was for people to share and participate. Building on the idea of the term ‘Like A Girl’ as a derogatory term, Always took on the challenge of changing people’s perceptions.
The Youtube video consists of engaging youths and discussing their views on what ‘Like A Girl’ meant to them. Garnering over 66 million views, they became a brand firm in their standing of changing norms set by society today.
Learning point: Look for something that unites us, rather than divides us. By adopting a familiar phrase we use daily, Always connected with the masses and created a wave of social change.
My Spicy Love – McDonald’s Malaysia
McDonald’s had so much success with this particular campaign that they actually ran out of the new burgers.
Just like how the Korean Wave has taken the world by storm, McDonald’s Malaysia took the country by a storm with its Spicy Korean Burger in 2017. Using the creative approach of imitating a Korean drama, the video showed a couple seemingly leaving each other. The video showed the dramatic separation was actually for a water break as the burger was too spicy.
The fast-food brand strategically picked two of the most iconic approaches to represent the burger – K-Dramas and spicy food. Within 2 days of release, the Spicy Korean Burger went out of stock.
Learning point: Combine wit with current trends to market your products or services. Wit is always effective when utilised well, and McDonald’s Malaysia did in this case. If you are struggling to come up with a witty and strategic campaign, approach creative experts to identify and help your brand.
A Social Experiment on Mental Health Stigma – Beyond The Label
“Mental health illness does not discriminate, so why should we?”
You may have seen this video across many platforms – from cinema ads to poster ads around public transport in Singapore. ‘Beyond The Label’ was the talk of the town for a period of time, having garnered over 520,000 views on Youtube and 899,000 views on Facebook alone.
The video starts off in an interview setting with people being asked on their views of mental illness. The catch? Nicole and Nicholas, who have once been diagnosed with clinical depression, were the ones engaging them. Claimed as a “no-filter” interview, the feedback received weren’t comforting.
In the end, interviewees read a letter by Nicole and Nicholas after beating the illness. Tears were shed and the message was delivered – view people as individuals, not labels; to see sufferers of mental illness as a person, instead of letting the label define them of their capabilities.
Beyond The Label took it a step further and replied to comments on Facebook either comforting the loss of a beloved or offering helplines when individuals sought for help. Unquestionably, the essence of their campaign effectively stood out and the awareness raised with the high number of shares and discussion on social media.
Learning Point: Utilising real-life examples instead of actors to convey the message. With the amount of advertising content out there, real-life cases connect well with audiences.
Ending Note
Instead of marketing a product or service directly, these videos stray far away from being an advertisement. So why does video marketing work wonders? Simply because they don’t feel like a marketing tactic.
Create videos to let people know of struggles and challenges that they can resonate with. Instead of hard-selling an item, brands and agencies should aim for results like an increase in sales or awareness on a topic of interest. Engage a creative agency to tactfully craft out a strategy for your brand.
Table of Contents
“World’s Toughest Job” – American Greetings’ Cardstore
Like A Girl – Always
My Spicy Love – McDonald’s Malaysia
A Social Experiment on Mental Health Stigma – Beyond The Label
Ending Note
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The once photo-and-video-sharing application has turned into more than just a platform for you to share your selfies or stalk your favourite brands or celebrities. Now, you can look to purchase your desired items straight off Instagram, changing Instagram marketing forever.
Last year, Instagram introduced shoppable tags, where brands could tag up to 5 products in a photo. The feature was then developed to be included in stories and videos. This allows users to access their favourite products by viewing a short description and its price with a single tap.
