Separating your company and products/services from the herd is one of the primary targets for a considered marketing campaign.
Here, we celebrate some of the most unique and unusual marketing campaigns which have paid off handsomely, establishing the brand and products or services.
Area KFC
Image credit: businesswire.com
Realising a lot of Google Earth users were using the tool to try and find the elusive Area 51, KFC decided to create their own Area KFC in a nearby desert. Drawing their new logo on the sands, KFC ensured their brand was visible for people looking for aliens – a fantastic piece of brand awareness.
L’Equipe
French sports publication, L’Equipe, is one of the world’s most-trusted authorities on football, rugby, motorsports and cycling – but in its early days when it was known as L’Auto and was languishing behind competitor L’Velo. During crisis talks in 1903, the editorial team decided to organise a promotional bike race across France as a last-ditch marketing campaign.
The race became the Tour de France and the newspaper became L’Equipe – which has recorded daily sales of more than 1.5 million copies.
Uber
The smartphone-powered taxi company has received significant negative press since its surge to prominence and dominance in cities around the world – with black cab drivers accusing the company of undercutting their services. However, Uber has responded with a series of marketing campaigns to boost popularity. In 2013, to celebrate National Cat Day, Uber’s drivers in NYC, Seattle and San Francisco set up a Kitten Delivery service, where a driver would drop off a kitten along with shelter volunteer and special cupcakes. Customers got 15 minutes of kitty cuddles for $20 before the drivers would whisk the cats away for their next assignment. Other campaigns have included ice cream delivery services.
Uber continues to grow in popularity – overtaking traditional taxi services in cities around the world.
Dubai Desert Golf Classic
Tiger Woods was reportedly paid $1 million to promote the Dubai Desert Golf Classic by driving a ball off the Burj Al Arab – the tallest hotel in the world and the unofficial first ever 7-star hotel. The event made the news worldwide and the publicity still reverberates today.
The event has become one of the most famous publicity stunts of the 2000s and driving golf balls off a hotel has become a legitimate bucket list entry for thousands of people around the world.
Sony Bravia
Image credit: thedailyepic.com
Boasting industry-leading technology at the time, Sony promoted its new range of Bravia televisions by collecting together 250,000 bouncy balls and setting them free down the steep streets of San Francisco – creating one of the most memorable and striking ad campaigns of the 2000s.
Although the citizens of the San Francisco streets weren’t best pleased with the prospect of a quarter of a million bouncy balls descending over their homes and cars – the campaign so successful that Bravia has now become a brand in its own right.
Red Bull
Energy drink brand, Red Bull, have developed a very strong brand identity with their unique advertising campaigns and extreme sports sponsorship deals. In 2012, the company surpassed themselves when sponsoring world class base jumper, Felix Baumgartner, to jump from space to Earth – achieving a number of world records and world firsts in the process.
The event was streamed live on YouTube and broadcast on the Discovery Channel with more than 12.6 million people tuning in, it was one of the most watched sporting events of all time.
Asda
After Swiss football referee, Urs Meier, disallowed a Sol Campbell goal for England which saw them knocked out of the European Championships in 2004 – Asda offered free eye tests to all Swiss citizens.
David Rutley, Asda’s director of financial services explained: “Let’s face it, we were robbed. Sol obviously scored. Well, it was obvious to everyone apart from the Swiss referee, who clearly needs his eyes testing.
“To stop this happening again, we’ve decided to offer anyone who is Swiss a free eye test. We’ve also written to Urs Meier telling him if he would like to take us up on the offer, we will throw glasses in as well.”
This demonstration of humour reflected well on the brand – encouraging custom with Asda opticians and the supermarket as a whole.
The Leighmans range includes a wide variety of unique and unusual products helping you create an attention-grabbing marketing campaign. For the full Leighmans range, visit our homepage or call our dedicated sales team on 0800 169 0898.
