Four innovative marketing campaigns that provide a glimpse into the future
The landscape of brand and consumer interaction has been revolutionised permanently. Brands are now offering deeper, more engaging experiences, coupled with an increase in unique, digital-focused strategies to captivate customers.
The pandemic triggered a surge in creative marketing strategies as advertisers were compelled to think outside the box. The past few months have seen an acceleration of digital adaptation equivalent to seven years, as per recent studies by McKinsey.
This speedy digital transformation has been remarkable, with four recent standout campaigns catching attention, underlining this monumental shift in the industry.
From Nectar to Miss Dior, Mini cars to Miley Cyrus, these campaigns offer insights into the potential shape of digital innovation in 2023 and hint towards future marketing advancements. All four successful campaigns prioritized understanding user insights and needs, and importantly, they all had a common characteristic: they harnessed innovative technology to merge the physical and digital worlds.
Here are some valuable insights from a few of our most cherished digital campaigns from the past year, which could potentially revolutionise your marketing approach in the coming years.
Redefining Miss Dior with a new lens
While QR codes are efficient, they didn't suffice for the luxury brand Miss Dior.
Last year, their marketing team launched a groundbreaking campaign heavily leveraging Google Lens. This allowed in-store customers to scan an image of their perfume bottle, leading to the creation of an augmented reality garden blooming with flowers. See for yourself:
This novel approach enabled Miss Dior to engage with 2.5 million customers and amass 350,000 global user engagements.
“Focusing on the customer took us out of our comfort zone but it made our engagement more relevant and allowed us to garner a new generation of Miss Dior admirers.”
Challenging the Trust in Commercials
Nectar, the mattress brand, is known for pushing boundaries, and they did just that with a recent campaign that advised customers not to trust the advertisement.
The musical video ad featured a spokesperson singing, "The only thing you know is true is that commercials lie to you," and has gathered over 1.3 million views.
With a playful approach, the YouTube ad catered to sceptical audiences by informing viewers that while ads may deceive, customer reviews don't, and encouraged viewers to read online reviews. The video achieved a 34% higher average watch time compared to the benchmark and had a higher click-through rate (CTR) than other Nectar ads.
“The campaign has been innovative and successful because it ties together the insight that people don’t really understand mattresses and that commercials typically lie to you. So, we tell you to trust real reviews from real people and buy according to that”
This aligns with years of Google research demonstrating the significance of reviews in aiding customers' purchasing decisions. Positive reviews can significantly influence individuals to make a purchase.
Mini creates new ways to explore Munich
Luxury automotive brand Mini capitalized on the world's largest mobility event - IAA Mobility 2021 in Munich - with an urban-centred campaign that harnessed Google's WebGL-powered Maps feature. This marked the first usage of these features by any brand.
Mini's "Map of Big Love" highlighted local and celebrity-favoured city hotspots via curated routes, including insights about their favourite places, and 3D object renderings over the map. Designer Paul Smith even contributed a curated route.
“This Munich map gave us the opportunity to experiment with new ways to introduce people to Mini’s optimistic attitude to life, which is open to all, no driver’s license needed”
The map was part of a global brand campaign establishing Mini’s “Big Love” message with its core audience. Beuchel stated that this innovative approach kept the Mini team close to their audience, which will inform new campaigns in the future. The campaign had millions of views and increased ad recall by up to 6%.
Magnum creates memories with Miley Cyrus
Unilever's Magnum ice cream brand wanted to reconnect with its Generation Z audience after a year of bleak lockdowns. They noticed how much their audience missed out on fun social events and concerts due to the pandemic.
“Young people are stuck at home right now and that’s not where they belong. They want to create memories, so how can we bring the fans closer to someone they admire?”
To do this, the team collaborated with global superstar Miley Cyrus to promote its Magnum Double Gold Caramel Billionaire product. They hosted a global campaign featuring Cyrus in an exclusive live performance on YouTube. Following the 'gold' ice cream flavour, Cyrus renamed Midnight Star’s classic R&B song 'Midas Touch' to 'Miley’s Touch' for her performance.
The innovative aspect of this campaign was the machine-learning, interactive lip-synching challenge that fans could share on social media after the concert. This interactive method placed fans at the heart of the action and generated 4.9 million views. This was on top of a YouTube Premiere that garnered nearly 600,000 views.
The marketing landscape was transformed in the past year. The transition to innovative, digital-first strategies has paved the way for 2022 and beyond. The end goal is to use all available technology and insights to create immersive campaigns that genuinely connect with customers.
Looking forward to 2022, Google is anticipating big, daring campaigns with breakthrough marketing innovations. We are eager to see what's next.
