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Vox Pop: Brand marketing stunts to remember (Part 2)

By Andy Black | Editorial Account Executive

Propeller

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The Drum Network article

This content is produced by The Drum Network, a paid-for membership club for CEOs and their agencies who want to share their expertise and grow their business.

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March 20, 2017 | 7 min read

Beer giant Budweiser has just launched its new campaign at SXSW which involves a push to be the first human product to be consumed when man eventually steps foot on Mars.

Clockwise from top left: Rocketmill, AB UK, Propeller, iCrossing, Underscore, That Lot, Connect Group, Navigate Digital

Clockwise from top left: Rocketmill, AB UK, Propeller, iCrossing, Underscore, That Lot, Connect Group, Navigate Digital

As scientists search for life on Mars and plot a way for people to live there in the future, Budweiser is hard at work figuring out how to make life in space a little more fun by developing a beer made just for the Red Planet.

We asked our Drum Network members what their favourite brand marketing stunts have been in the past few years and why?

Sian Leaker, head of strategic services, RocketMill

'Meatspace' - this stunt consisted of a lamb chop from a well known Indian restaurant in London being sent into space to promote a new book called Meatspace by Nikesh Shukla from the publisher Foyles. A simple but brilliant idea of taking the title literally, and marketing it through a truly off the wall stunt that captured peoples attention and got them immediately asking the question “why has this been done?” and “whats it for?" which led to the video going viral overnight. What seemed like a small and fun campaign gained a huge following for the book and great publicity for the brand.

James Murphy, digital marketing executive, AB

Marketing stunts aren’t defined by the agreeability or unanimous approval they receive, the success of them is defined by how they get people talking. For me, Peta’s 'Animal Milk' prank did this. Using innocent bystanders as willing participants they offered free samples of a "new milk." The drink itself was soy milk, a Vegan product, but those who tried the drink were told it was dogs/rats milk. The purpose of the campaign was to spark a debate about the dairy industry, which it definitely did, so for me, a job well done and a stunt well pulled off.

Tamara Gavriloff, marketing and brand manager, Propeller

KFC has definitely not missed a beat with its extremely on-trend use of the millennial zeitgeist: wellness and bloggers. Obviously its product catalogue of deep-fried poultry and potatoes doesn’t exactly lend itself to the clean eating trend and so they worked around this by creating their own 'clean-eating' blogger, Figgy Poppleton-Rice and then trolling her by ‘crashing’ her content with their latest products. Fun and laughs all round and most importantly, #OnPoint.

Sam Mangialavori, seo analyst, iCrossing

Without a doubt, Spotify's 'Thanks 2016, It's Been Weird'. It’s the brand's largest global campaign to date, and it succeeded in keeping a very consistent core message, while making it as relevant and local as possible across countries. The banner with 'Dear 3,749 people who streamed It's The End Of The World As We Know It the day of the Brexit Vote. Hang in There.' was undoubtedly the best out of the ones I spotted in London, but the company also ran similarly witty ads in New York. It has also been rolling out emails that are tailored to their customers' personal usage/taste in music, which is one of the best examples of personalised marketing I have come across.

Pippa Calvin, account manager, Underscore

In December 2016, Nike announced 'Breaking 2', its moon-shot attempt to break two hours in the marathon- a feat previously thought impossible. While the audacious project has faced criticism as being just another publicity stunt, these critics missed the point. Whether or not these athletes are successful, and regardless of the project’s motivations, the attempt itself will add incredible value to the sport of running, as well as the sports science community at large. And after all, that’s what a great campaign should be about.

Barney Worfolk-Smith, business director, That Lot

Although not strictly a brand campaign, BETC's 'Like my addiction' campaign for the French addiction charity Addict Aide was something else. I love campaigns that have the balls to slow burn in the background, building up to a crescendo. T​his did that for 2 months. It was also timely, deftly parodying how shallow some aspects of Instagram can be, just as influencer marketing is back on the marketing agenda. Using bots was uber smart also, gaming the system whilst saving the client money. Finally, creatively, it really got me. The juxtaposition of the heavy message and the bright, breezy shots of Louise Delage made a big impact.

Claire Parkes, PR and marketing manager, Connect Group

I was seriously impressed by Amazon Prime's activation promoting its original series 'American Playboy' at SXSW this year. After RSVP'ing to a secret invitation, we were greeted by a Hugh Heffner lookalike with a "welcome to the mansion" and entered the world of Playboy. Happily providing intelligence at every touchpoint via our RFID wristbands, we were rewarded with access to personalised boxer shorts, a sneak preview of the show and finally, a first look at the new delivery drone. If one of the main objectives of brand activation is to get consumers to act then this nailed it.

David Walby, biddable account director, Navigate Digital

In these strange times, companies and brands who truly strive to transcend what they sell and go beyond the call of duty, stand to be rewarded greatly with customer affection and reinforce loyalty. Last year Patagonia chief executive Rose Marcario pledged to donate Black Friday proceeds to charities in line with its ethically-correct environmental brand. She announced the move in a statement saying that the company wants to help its customers "show love to the planet." She also hinted strongly that the move was a deliberate response to the election of a certain toupee-touting president, who has publicly denied the existence of climate change. Brand marketing stunts are infinitely more powerful when sitting on the intersection between philanthropy, environmentalism & politics.

See what other members had to say in Part 1.

Betc Paris Patagonia Social Media

Content by The Drum Network member:

Propeller

Established 20 years ago, we’re the leading Digital Agency working with food, drink, fashion and hotels in Europe and USA.

We’re a talented team of specialists who are on hand to provide strategic support and direction where you need it most.

Whether it’s website design and development, UX and creative strategy, Social Media support or CRM and digital marketing strategy, we can help bring your brand to life online.

At Propeller we deliver beautiful digital experiences.

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Navigate Digital

Navigate Digital is an independent, international, award winning, digital media agency.

We’re experts in helping advertisers find different ways to exploit digital media in all its forms. We have a range of techniques to connect consumers with your brand.

Most importantly, we employ a strategic approach that is bespoke to every one of our clients to provide innovative digital media solutions that deliver tangible results.

Established in 2007, the agency is run by its founding partners - John Kimbell & Matt D'Alton and has offices in London and Sydney.

Key services =

Affiliates Marketing Paid Search Media Planning & Buying Social Media Content Creation

 

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AB...

Challenging Convention Since 1983.

Us

We are a talented group of creators, thinkers & doers, empowering and building brands through compelling ideas and a can-do attitude for our clients.

Clients

We work with an array of ambitious brands, including Flybe, BBC, Tesco, Crowdcube, NHS, Heineken UK, RAF Benevolent Fund, South West Water, Glassbox and more. 

Experience 

Experts in Brand Strategy, Advertising, Digital Strategy, Marketing, Data, Moving Image, Content Production & Corporate Comms. We are RAR Recommended, a Google Partner and part of The Drum Network. 

We are AB... The Full Service Creative Agency in Exeter and London, United Kingdom.

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That Lot

Shareable. Original. Arresting. We provide great content to brands and broadcasters to help them grow audiences and cut through on social.

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iCrossing UK

We are iCrossing. We build seamless digital experiences that influence consumers to act. With unrivaled access to Hearst’s powerful consumer insights, we uncover the data-powered drivers that matter to your audiences and use them to build impactful, creative, consumer-first experiences that provide significant business growth.

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Connect Group

At Connect, we believe when you combine creativity and technology you start something. It’s what enables us to create award-winning work and generate outrageous results for our many blue chip clients. Famous names that include Bentley Motors, Jaguar Land Rover, Birmingham Airport, Orion Media, Chiltern Railways, Tarmac and Goodyear Dunlop.

Based in the West Midlands and London, we specialise in creative technology marketing solutions. And that’s just for starters. To take advantage of the pragmatism, plain-speaking and cost-base of a regional agency; combined with the quality of thinking, advanced technology and proven experience found in a good London shop, start something with Connect today.

Services Provided Integrated Advertising and Design Digital Solutions Social Media Marketing Mobile Marketing Strategic Planning Insight Public Relations Scientific Thinking

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RocketMill

We are the UK's fastest growing, independent, full service agency, helping businesses grow through marketing performance. We have successfully united traditional creative with our digital heritage to provide brands with a full funnel service, using a strategy we call Total Performance. Our services span Programmatic, PPC, Paid Social, Technical & Content SEO, UX, Analytics, CRO, Creative and Strategy.

We are the #1 Agency to Work For in the UK in 2022 according to Best Companies and have consistently been named in their top 10 Companies to Work For over the last five years. We believe in radical transparency with our team, sharing profits with them along the way, and knowing that if we put our people first, they will do the finest work of their careers for you.

We are trusted by new market entrants and global brands alike, with londstanding partnerships with Kimberly-Clark™, Dropbox, The Telegraph, ZenAuto, HomeServe and USN.

Our strength is evidenced by our compound annual growth rate of +35% for the past six years, our track record of long-term client retention, our industry leading staff retention and the awards our client campaigns win.

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