The Marketing Society Scotland is seeking out brave and bold marketing ideas from across the globe. Having scoured the global Award schemes, to seek out the ideas which have gone above and beyond.
The Society has created a shortlist of 20 ideas which reflect the pioneering spirit of marketers today.
In a grand event to be held on 21 August 2012, these 20 will be cut down to just ten, over the next few days The Drum is asking our readers to help decide The Drum’s Top Ten.
Day one sees the shortlisted entries from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil and Canada.
Voting for Day One closes at 12pm (noon) tomorrow (Wednesday 15 August).
Argentina - Coca-Cola Zero’s “Cambizo”/ “The Big Switch” Campaign by McCann Erickson
Award Scheme: Festival Iberoamericano De La PublicidadThe brief from Coca Cola was simple: convince consumers that Coca Cola Zero tastes just as good as regular Coca-Cola. The budget, amid recession and economic crisis, was a fraction of the usual advertising spend, and research had shown that consumers do not believe adverts that talk about taste – thus some creativity and innovation was needed.The approach was to base their TV commercial around an experiment tricking consumers into believing they had bought a regular Coca Cola, when in fact they had purchased the Zero sugar version, but ultimately could not tell the difference. This was achieved by coming to an agreement with a cinema chain and secretly filming the experiment in action before directly confronting the consumers with the reality that they had been duped.In return for their good spirit, consumers were invited to claim a free Coca Cola drink of their choice upon leaving the cinema. The results speak for themselves: 43 per cent switched from Coca Cola to Coca Cola Zero and 100 per cent of consumers had fallen for the trick.
Australia - Tontine’s “Dated Pillows” by Happy Soldiers
Award Scheme: Australian Creative Hotshop AwardsTontine, the largest pillow maker in Australia, was troubled by the trend that consumers did not replace their pillows regularly enough. Research showed that this was unhealthy - both for consumers’ personal hygiene and, of course, for Tontine’s sales figures. The response was to introduce “Best Before” dates on each pillow. This was accompanied by a series of tongue-in-cheek TV Ads, screened just before bed-time, informing consumers of the “ugly truth” and “entire eco-systems” that can lurk in a pillow if used for too long. The ad created real buzz and discussion through radio, print and online. It clearly worked: sales up 345 per cent and the pillow category revolutionised forever.
Belgium - William Lawson’s “No Rules, Great Scotch” by Famous
Award Scheme: EFFIE AwardsDespite still being the most popular spirit in Belgium, the whisky market has been contracting in the face of increasing consumption of cocktails containing primarily vodka and rum. William Lawson sought to reverse this trend and also gain an advantage over their major competitors – Johnny Walker and J&B – by differentiating themselves as the wild, rebellious yet savvy whisky brand, and extending their appeal to both younger and more mature consumers. The TV ad centred on a gutsy Scottish character – “The Highlander” - who, in a somewhat stereotypical fashion, is seen sawing down a tree dressed in only his kilt and boots. However, by embodying the key William Lawson brand values - using a combination of wit and bravery - this man decides not only to chop down the tree but also trap an unsuspecting deer by angling the tree’s descent in its direction.The ad concludes with the triumphant men enjoying their feast and toasting to the “No Rules, Great Scotch” mantra. William Lawson’s sales increased 51 per cent, with market share up a staggering 73 per cent, allowing the premium whisky to be priced up 23 per cent, as well as a notable “aging down” of the Belgian whisky drinking market – making this campaign an undoubted success.
Brazil - Nissan’s “Damned Ponies” by Lew Lara / TBWA
Award Scheme: Marketing Best AwardsWith a meagre 2 per cent of the Brazilian 4x4 market, Nissan were looking to increase their profile and boost sales in the region. Nissan’s strategy was to focus on the powerful credentials beneath their cars’ bonnets and poke fun at competing 4x4s aimed more at parents doing the school-run. In doing so, they asked consumers: “Would prefer a pick-up 4x4 with the power of horses or ponies?”Using an abstract and humorous TV ad, supported by an online campaign, the “Curse of Ponies” was created. In the ad, a man struggles to drive his non-Nissan 4x4 through the mud. He opens his car bonnet to find dancing ponies, signing an annoying (yet catchy) song about avoiding mud, sludge and not being able to budge! Devastated, he realises he has the curse of the ponies. Online, the curse was spread through social media with consumers freeing themselves by sending it on to at least 10 friends and driving huge traffic to the Nissan miscrosite. Facebook fans grew from 2,000 to 75,000 in five days, #poniesmaltidos (curse of the ponies) was a trending world topic on Twitter for 6 days, and the online video received 730 views per hour. Crucially for Nissan, this online buzz translated to top line sales growth – up 21 per cent.
Canada - Mars Canada’s “Find Red” Campaign by BBDO/Proximity
Award Scheme: Canadian Marketing Association AwardsWhen Mars heard that Google were coming to Canada to capture images for the online map service, Google Street View, they took the opportunity to strategically place red M&M’s throughout the city in the hope that they would get snapped by Google’s cameras and etched forever in the online history books. They were successful, and these images served as a platform for the “Find Red” campaign. A YouTube video invited people to participate in a virtual scavenger hunt. Once the four-week contest began, consumers were tasked with searching out the red M&Ms on the Google Street View map hosted on a contest microsite. Clues to the whereabouts of the red M&Ms were presented in the YouTube video, the website, Twitter and Facebook, as well as posters outfitted with codes that gave hints to mobile users. Clues could also be found by scanning M&Ms codes with smart-phones. Turns out chocolate lovers also love a scavenger hunt. Participants in the contest spent an average of 19 minutes at FindRed.ca (four times the industry average). The campaign also generated 225,000 Twitter comments and seven million codes entered from the poster campaign.
