Drawing New Inspiration From Last Year’s Top Marketing Campaigns

At the start of a new year we like to look back to consider where we've been and make a plan for the months to come. I wanted to take a look back at some of the creative and inspiring work that has come from public relations and marketing professional in 2013. In my opinion, these days a campaign must be integrated to be truly great, so many of these have elements of public relations, marketing, social media and advertising. But however you define them, these campaigns inspired and moved us. Or they made us laugh. We were in awe of some. Whatever the reaction, these campaigns got us talking this past year.

(To make my rankings slightly less subjective, I ranked them by the number of search results on Google.)

#13. The Smart Phone Line by Samsung

For the launch of the Galaxy S4 in New Zealand, Samsung worked with Colenso BBDO to create a digital queue where fans could jump up in the line by sharing about the phone in social media. The lucky fan who worked his/her way to the front of the line would win a free Galaxy S4. The virtual line was even projected on a large screen in Auckland and showed the avatars under umbrellas during the rain and curling up in sleeping bags at night. People could come watch the line and see the fans sharing in real time. 12,000 people joined the line in the two weeks leading to the launch. Those fans shared 85,000 stories which reached over 15 million people organically. Since the launch, Samsungs market share has grown 12%. The stats are strong; especially considering this campaign was only in New Zealand which has a population of 4.4 million.

Why it Worked

What was great about this campaign is it got the fans to launch the new phone. Samsung identified 36 key features of the device. Thats far too many to highlight in a commercial or any public relations materials. But if you release those features to fans over a couple weeks, they can help tell your story for you. Fans will share the features that they care about the most, which will also give some good consumer feedback for Samsung.

#12. Fruit of the Loom's Fresh Gigs

In the fall of 2013, Fruit of the Loom sent LinkedIn messages to users who announced a new job on the professional networking site. The message offered a pair of new underwear to celebrate the new job. The message read: Were all excited for you about the new gig. To show this, were hooking you up with a complimentary pair of Fruit of the Loom. Because great-fitting underwear can help you start your workday in a great mood. The campaign, which was thought up by Crispin Porter + Bogusky, started October 15^th and ran for five weeks. Each week, Fruit of the Loom messaged 5,000 eligible LinkedIn users to offer them some fresh undies.

Why it Worked

Crispin Porter + Bogusky did their homework. They talked with consumers, even visited some in their homes, and talked about the impact underwear can have one the day. Other research shows this is true. According to a 2010 phone survey by Consumer Reports, 47% of women feel self-assured at work and socially when wearing a nice pair of underwear. Also, this campaign was just wild enough to get people talking and increase buzz. While many brands are tapping Facebook and Twitter for marketing, not many have used LinkedIn yet. Since it is a professionally focused social channel, this quirky campaign congratulating users on their new job is a great way to get attention.

#11. Belize Tourism to Breaking Bad

(Spoiler alert if you havent watched the final season of Breaking Bad!)

What do you do when your country is used as a euphemism for murder? Well, if youre the Belize Tourism Board, you take it in stride and turn it into a PR win. When Saul suggested Walt send Hank on a trip to Belize, the country couldve been insulted or even just let it go. Instead, they jumped on twitter to send several tweets about the episode and some directly to the actors. Then the tourism board created an invitation to the cast inviting them to on their own trip to Belize after the series ended. The letter was sent to the New York Times and made the rounds on the internet.

Why it Worked

Breaking Bad was insanely popular, and many brands wanted to get in on that fame. However, most of the time it was poorly done. The Belize Tourism Board did a great job taking something that couldve been a negative and turned it around. They had fun with it and didnt take themselves too seriously. It was timely and connected well to the popular series.

#10. Coca-Cola's Share a Coke

While this campaign actually started in Australia in 2011, it went global in 2013. The simple concept of putting popular names on Coca-Cola bottles exploded in countries worldwide. Some countries, like China, did their own take on the campaign. China used nicknames instead of common first names. The UK released Coca-Cola products with 150 of the UKs most popular names replacing the usual branding in early 2013. Fans around the world captured pictures of their names and friends names on the Coca-Cola bottles and shared them on social media. As a result, Coca-Cola has seen the Facebook community grow by 3.5% in the UK and 6.8% globally. Also, the hashtag #shareacoke was used 29,000 times on Twitter.

Why it Worked

By personalizing Coca-Cola products, it got people excited to seek out their own name or their friends names. People lined up to use the vending machines that let fans to create their own personalized Coca-Cola bottle. This campaign was fully integrated and encouraged fans to create their own user generated content. Giving consumers a unique and personalized experience makes them are eager to share with their friends.

#9. Fun My Life by Jell-O

Since Twitter began users have gone there to tell the world about their problems, often adding the hashtag #FML (f@#$ my life). But Jell-O decided to turn it around and have it mean something very different. The brand tweeted, It's time someone answered these #FML tweets. Because Fun My Life moments should be taken seriously. Jell-O then responded to #FML tweets with sympathy and coupons for free Jell-O products. Jell-O isnt the first to turn around a common Twitter hashtag. Water is Life did a very successful campaign in 2012 hijacking the #FirstWorldProblems hashtag. The Water is Life campaign put complaints in perspective, but the Jell-O Fun My Life campaign just looks to brighten users day. Nothing like some jiggly Jell-O or yummy pudding to turn your day around!

Why it Worked

There are some who will argue with me and say it didnt work. Many thought the campaign was a terrible idea and tied a family brand to a not-so-family-friendly phrase. While that is true, they did get a lot of people talking about the campaign because it was creative and edgy. And when you take to social media to complain, sometimes someone listening and offering you a little treat is all you need. One thing that couldve made this campaign even more effective wouldve been better community managers. Some of the responses were canned and repeated over and over. It wouldve been better to personalize the responses more to each #FML tweet.

#8 Adobe Photoshop Live - Street Retouch Prank

Adobe took to the streets to promote Creative Days events across EMEA in the summer of 2013. Adobe enlisted the help of Erik Johansson to prank people at the bus stop and put them into the digital ad in real time. Johansson sat in a van across from the bus stop and quickly put his Photoshop skills to work while unsuspecting people watched as they became part of the ad. The YouTube video of the prank has nearly 20 million views.

Why it Worked

When promoting something like Creative Days, of course you want to take a creative approach. It was also real-time, which gets people talking. But even if you werent able to be at the bus stop, the video is creative and fun. People wanted to share it with their friends, which helps increase the buzz even more. While this was a specific promotion for Adobes Creative Days, it serves as a great promotion for Photoshop as well.

#7. Real Beauty Sketches by Dove

Dove brought in Gil Zamora, a Forensic Composite Artist, to draw women how they describe themselves. Then he drew them how they were described by a complete stranger. The women were much harder on themselves when they described how they looked. The women then saw the two drawings next to each other and were able to compare how they saw themselves with what a stranger saw. The videos end with the line, You are more beautiful than you think. This campaign certainly hit an emotional chord with many people. The main YouTube video had more than 61 million views and all together the campaign garnered more than 114 million views. It has been viewed in more than 110 countries in 25 different languages on 33 of Doves YouTube channels.

Why it Worked

This topic is certainly an emotional one and this campaign does a great job of eliciting a strong emotional reaction. It has a positive message that people want to hear and they want to share with others. But Dove did even more to make sure this campaign was a success. It's important to lay the groundwork before you release a video and they knew this. Dove worked with YouTube and Unruly on a distribution and seeding strategy for the launch of the campaign. They also did a lot of PR outreach gaining coverage in The Today Show, Huffington Post and Mashable. In fact, the campaign has had over 4 billion PR and blogger impressions.

#6. I Can Has Uber KITTENS

If there is a way to win the internet, it is with puppies or kittens. In celebration of National Cat Day, Uber partnered with Cheezeburger to bring kittens to the world! (Well, at least New York City, San Francisco and Seattle) For one day only, the on-demand car service became an on-demand kitten service. Users could request to have 15 minutes of playtime with the furry friends, as well as some tasty cupcakes and an Uberiffic Cat Pack. All the kittens were adoptable, so if users fell in love they could keep the kitten for good. The $20 fee was all donated to local animal shelters. The promotion was such a huge hit; there was even a kitten shortage in all three cities. While the Sorry, all Kittens are currently being snuggled. was a cute message, it was sad when you saw it for the 40^th time when trying to order up some kitten loves. But Uber thought of that, too. For users who tried for kittens and werent able to get them, Uber gave users a $20 credit toward future rides.