Here at Colewood Digital, we love it when big companies do amazing marketing campaigns. Especially, when they have such a profound impact on pop culture and consumer behaviour. From Coca-Cola’s personalised coke bottles to Dove’s impactful and empowering Real Beauty campaign, we have carefully curated the top five marketing campaigns and why they resonate so deeply with audiences.
Let’s explore how these ionic marketing strategies not only captured attention, but also transformed their brands perception and engagements across the globe.
Coca Cola – Share a Coke 2011
I think it is safe to say we all remember searching every bottle on the shelf down at the local shop, desperately trying to find our names on a Coca-Cola bottle. And if we found our auntie’s cousin’s dead dog’s name, you best believe we were buying it for them. Thanks to the shareability hashtag #ShareaCoke we were all sharing it over social media creating free advertising with organic user-generated content.
By using the 250 most popular names of each target country, Coca-Cola was able to localise its target consumers, generate more sales and even move market position! If they didn’t have your name, Coca-Cola would set up personalised booths in most regions, so even the most obscure name could share a Coke with a friend.
Aldi – Colin the Caterpillar Cuthbert 2021
Now if you were a smaller supermarket being sued by such a large company like M&S, it would definitely prove a challenge to overcome the bad publicity. Not for Aldi though, they managed to take a lawsuit and create a viral social media campaign by using their humour and wit. Aldi used every social media platform, especially X (formally known as Twitter) to make light of the situation. It resulted in some pretty hilarious tweets like this:
Other users joined in with #FreeCuthbert, creating an increase in user engagement whilst creating a sense of camaraderie with its customers. It also skewered the public view of Aldi, likening it to David vs Goliath with Aldi coming out as the Underdog. Aldi even engaged with other competitors, enhancing their image and watching Cuthbert the Caterpillar’s sales skyrocket. This resulted in M&S settling their dispute out of court with Aldi changing the caterpillar’s likeness to avoid future disputes.
Barbie Movie – 2023
2023 was a Barbie world, and we were just living in it. To promote the movie in unusual ways, the Barbie marketing team collaborated with all sorts of brands in all niches. Even if they were completely unrelated! From the pink ‘Barbie-cue’ down at your local Tesco, to the Barbie Pink Luggage collection with Beis. Even when Christoper Nolan’s big box office hit ‘Oppenheimer’ didn’t stop the Barbie marketing team, they created visuals combining both movie posts and encouraged fans to see booths films; creating Barbenheimer!
Not only did Barbie collaborate with typical children’s brands like Primark, they created collections that combined nostalgia and contemporary products by using the typical Barbie pink and retro fonts. Even on social media, Barbie created throwback snapshots whilst creating modern memes. This created a cross-generation appeal across such a large demographic, making the film suitable for generations alike.
They even collaborated with the worlds biggest search engine, Google!
Old Spice – 2010 Advert
Everyone remembers the “Smell Like a Man, Man” adverts with Terry Crews and Isaiah Mustafa. Especially Isaiah Mustafa riding a horse backwards shirtless. Women wanted their men to be them, and men wanted to be like them, and the best way to achieve this was to buy Old Spice deodorant. Genius.
Old Spice was experiencing its lowest sales since they were associated with an ageing generation. So, to combat this they created over-the-top adverts with younger shirtless spokespersons (Crewes and Mustafa!) to help target a younger demographic. Iconically, the adverts were all done in one take – creating a masterpiece that had an uninterrupted flow. To go further than TV, the team created a response campaign through social media. Mustafa and Crews would personally respond to fans’ questions and comments through humorous videos – massively amplifying engagement and customer loyalty!
Dove – Real Beauty Campaign 2015 (still ongoing!)
I’m sure every woman remembers when the beauty industry only featured one certain type of woman. Dove certainly did, so they created something completely new and daring – they created a media campaign to feature all women. By using women of all ages, body types, ethnicities and appearances, Dove redefined what it means to be beautiful and the industry standards.
Dove partnered with experts to conduct their own unbiased research that revealed so many women felt uncomfortable in their skin due to societal pressures and negative stereotypical perceptions. Not only did Dove use this as educational content, they took it beyond and created workshops and initiatives to help women across the globe work on their self-esteem,
By taking a stand on a socially relevant issue, Dove was able to become a brand that cares about its customers beyond their products. But, also, create a profound cultural impact with conversations about industry standards and influence other brands to adopt a more inclusive marketing approach.
Their most recent video for their Self-Esteem Project uses the influence of AI in the media industry and how to use it positively – check it out below!
Do you want to plan a marketing campaign for your business? Our team is here to support you with lots of fresh ideas and experience! Contact Us today.
