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Vox Pop: Brand marketing stunts to remember (Part 3)

By Andy Black | Editorial Account Executive

Harvest Digital

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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 22, 2017 | 6 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: Harvest Digital, Return, Stein IAS, Agency UK, Isobar, Selesti, After Digital, Likefriends ,

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?

Darren Walters, creative director, Harvest Digital

I thought that the Magic of Flying, a campaign that British Airways ran back in 2014 was great. I think it was an innovative way to bring a real world environment into advertising. The adverts were technically complex, but delivered in a simple and exciting way. British Airways delivered a real convergence of advertising and tech, in order to start conversation – which I think is pretty cool.

Kayley Dempsey, head of strategy, Return

Not all marketing stunts involve a huge budget and months of preparation. Oreo spent millions of dollars on its TV ad for the 2013 Super Bowl, but arguably enjoyed greater success with a simple tweet. Play was suspended following a blackout at the New Orleans Superdome. Oreo capitalised on the power failure with a speedily created tweet declaring: “You can still dunk in the dark,” which was retweeted 10,000 times in an hour.

Danny Turnbull, Managing Director, Europe, Stein IAS

Marketing stunts; the very name suggests ill thought-out fireworks being set-off within feet of the watching audience. It could be spectacular, it could be wonderful – or it could be a disaster. Forget stunts, think engagement. Success is all about routing the activity in the DNA of the brand with a single-minded view on communicating, in the most powerful way you can. Realise what it stands for – then you’ll find the magic. It’s all about being bold, seeking the new and engaging with real passion. Some great examples include Direct Line’s Fleetlights campaign by Saatchi and Saatchi, which used drones fitted with GPS to ‘light the way home’, and of course, the first ever agency music festival by Stein IAS, the Unbelievable IAStival!

Ian McKee, social and PR director, Agency UK

The best stunts have brand relevance. Despite being a PR man, I have to admit to not being the biggest fan of marketing stunts. They tend to feel cheap. Not in monetary value, I know it costs to float a giant thing down the Thames, but in brand and engagement value. When you’ve grabbed people’s attention you should have something to say. That’s why the best stunts resonate with the brand’s message. Like Red Bull Stratos — a space related 'first' like Budweiser's pledge, but also an extreme adrenaline driven act that embodied what the brand is about, not to mention its ‘you’ve got wings’ tagline.

Simon Gill, chief creative officer, Isobar

I love Newcastle Brown’s Band of Brands, it’s 2015 Superbowl stunt featuring 37 brands democratized big game advertising, giving tiny businesses a chance to be seen on the largest marketing stage of all. The campaign was a great antidote to the logical progression, borrowed cool, that currently clutters our feeds. It was a standout piece of modern brand strategy. Not only was it an original piece of challenger brand attitude, it also ticked the brand generosity, purpose, fiscal responsibility, creativity, community and entertainment boxes in one record breaking campaign. By being creative they proved you don’t need big bucks to build big buzz.

Louise Gerrard, search executive, Selesti

It would have to be BrewDog. In 10 years, they’ve managed to turn two men and a dog into a craft beer empire vying for global domination. They’ve racked up an impressive amount of successful marketing stunts, The Drum even listed them in their top 10 in October 2016. Which doesn't even include the latest Puppy Parental Leave where employees are allowed a week’s paid leave for the arrival of a new dog or the beer-themed hotel set to open in Columbus. Through positive and negative coverage of stunts, they've proved there's no such thing as bad press, securing 46,000 investors or Equity Punks as BrewDog calls them!

David Johnstone, managing director, After Digital

I love when small brands are creative and gain recognition far beyond their 'budget'. A great example is small Lancashire based shoe retailers, Goodwin Smith, who ran an ambitious and cheeky campaign earlier in the year. As Trump was inaugurated into the Whitehouse, they allegedly dispatched a £100 pair of brogues, a condom and a letter addressed to Trump as "one of the lads with swagger", which they claim elicited quite the response. Whether true or not, their Facebook post showcasing his personalised response letter and the return of their shoes as "due to Whitehouse policy" he was unable to accept gifts (although, we note, the condom was not returned) went viral and earned them over 3.2K reactions and hundreds of shares. Their combination of wit and highjacking topical trends, all of which are in line with their tone of voice, meant this small gimmick has attracted national press coverage and a far wider reaching audience for their brand.

Frederik Bentsen, brand strategist, Likefriends

I personally rated the co-branded ‘Straight Outta’ campaign between the Straight Outta Compton movie and Beats by Dre in 2015 very highly. With a strong understanding of how culture spreads, the initiative proved how successful brands provide value for people, while at the same time getting their own message across. Subtly branded and with room for personalisation, the brands became facilitators for people to exchange stories with their peers. Brands can’t dictate the stories people tell. However, brands can inspire and facilitate the stories people tell by knowing what triggers them and enabling them to make it their own.

See what other members said in parts 1 and 2.

Straight Outta Straight Outta Compton Budweiser

Content by The Drum Network member:

Harvest Digital

Harvest Digital is a leading performance-based full service digital marketing agency based in the heart of London. Our clients span many different sectors – finance, retail, technology – but what they have in common is a hunger to drive more value from their digital marketing budgets.

At Harvest, we create value through our channel expertise within all aspects of search marketing, display, and social media. Value comes from an effective integrated strategy, from knowing how best to combine different channels and devices.

We deliver the full value of digital marketing – and that means more than just strong sales performance. It means brand building, customer engagement, product testing, market research, and lead generation.

At the heart of performance is relevance. Success in digital is about showing the right person the right message in the right location – it’s as simple as that. 

From the very start, we were focused on integrated digital marketing including media planning and buying and creative development – and we still are. 

Find out more

Return

Return was born in September 2008 with one simple aim: to maximise our clients' return on digital.

The digital world has seen extraordinary changes since then but one thing has stayed the same. Our passion for return. Everyone who works here, everything we do, is with one goal in mind, to leverage a greater return on investment for our clients.

From a one-man band we’ve grown to an award-winning, market-leading agency with a team of some of the brightest digital minds in Europe. But that’s enough about us, what’s more important is what we can do for you…

Find out more

Stein IAS

Stein IAS (www.steinias.com) are the B2B Originals, the first and leading global brand-to-demand agency for B2B enterprises worldwide. Stein IAS drives brand progression and revenue growth through highly original and effective creative ideas combined powered by data, intelligence and disruptive technology. Stein IAS has been named a B2B Agency of the Year by the ANA 10 of the past 13 years – and has won the WARC Effectiveness Award (Gold) for B2B the past two and has won the WARC Effectiveness Award (Gold) for B2B the past two.

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AgencyUK

We’re an independent brand communications agency voted Ad Agency of The Year 2019 and Brand Strategy Agency of the Year 2020 by Drum Recommends. Our services span brand strategy, identity, positioning and activation; creative development, media planning, social and PR including influencer outreach, community management, content strategy & planning and web design and development.

We’re interested in helping our clients drive demand and sales.

Our results speak for themselves -

Iconic confectionery brand

Moved their NPS score by 10 points over 9 months and moved their UK positioning from 4th to 2nd in category.

Swiss skin care and supplement brand

Achieved a 70% increase in Holland & Barrett retail sales by quarter 2 of our campaign and 30% increase in online sales quarter on quarter.

Dog food brand

83% increase in sales across 2020 with 155% increase in online sales.

Global juice and fruit brand

Increased their sales by 20% in Tesco and ASDA during the campaign period and increased their baseline score by 14%.

Heritage Kitchenware brand

Within 4 weeks of the campaign being live, we more than doubled sales on Ocado. Overall, the campaign activity drove a whopping 50% increase in sales. Increased online sales in 2020 by 82%

Bio-tech brand

We drove more than 60 orders in the first 3-months (exceeding production capabilities).

Global Clinical Research Organisation.

We have increased on-site conversions by 37% and reduced recruitment media spend on similar trials by 23%.

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Isobar

Isobar is dentsu’s global creative agency focusing on building a differentiated offering around Strategy and Innovation, Product and Experience, Brand Design & Systems and Comms & Content.

Isobar crafts distinctive brands and innovative experiences for a connected future. We work on the intersection of brand creativity and experience design to bridge the gap between a brand promise and the experience it offers to customers, employees and communities.

Over the last three years, Isobar has won 400 awards, including 6 D&AD Pencils, 7 Cannes Lions with one Gold Lion in the Creative eCommerce category, and was named a Leader in the Gartner “Magic Quadrant for Global Marketing Agencies” for the seventh consecutive time. Isobar’s top clients include adidas, Coca-Cola, Enterprise, P&G and Philips.

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Selesti

If you’re really ambitious to change and grow, you’ll need a partner who can help you do and achieve much more. This is our value proposition, and being an excellent digital partner to our clients is the driving force behind everything we do.

At Selesti we believe that with smart use of digital technology we can help our partners to achieve great things. Over the last 12 years, we’ve worked closely with our clients, diving deep into the data, delivering sharp strategies and measurable results. We are vibrant, inventive and ambitious which has led to huge growth for both us and our clients.

Selesti is a Google Premier Partner agency, offering digital marketing as well as web and mobile app development. We create inspirational digital work and enable you to evolve and grow online. 

Our in-house experts specialise in designing profitable campaigns which solve commercial problems. Our data-led work has created a track record of producing fantastic results for clients for over 12 years. If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, then please get in touch.

www.selesti.com

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After Digital

Two decades of experience and a forward-thinking team has resulted in a strategic digital agency that understands that there is no standing still when it comes to technology. To stay on top, you need to be thinking about what's next. Welcome to After Digital.

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Likefriends

We are a people first global creative agency. We are committed to empathy as a business method.

Working like friends means more than being nice to each other. Working like friends means communicating without a facade, knowing honesty and openness forms stronger relationships. It’s standing up for your beliefs and ideas, knowing there is little progress without challenges. It’s embracing different perspectives as opportunities to broaden our understanding of the world around us. 

We work with friends globally, such as Marriott Hotels, PepsiCo and Randstad. 

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