Marketing campaigns refer to the planned set of actions intended to promote, circulate and popularize a certain product or service. It includes all the promotional activities, ideas and innovative methods that go into designing a strategy that aims at effective marketing. A Campaign, ideally, focuses on projecting the uniqueness of the brand in a very creative, attractive, and relatable manner. Marketing campaigns are carried out on different media, like, television and radio broadcasting, internet, ad films etc.
Marketing campaigns form a very essential element of the marketing efforts that a business undertakes. Especially in a scenario where there is intense competition, it is really important for a business to stand out. At the most fundamental level, marketing campaigns provide a structure to the marketing efforts undertaken by a business. They convey the values of a company and increase its reach. They also communicate to the audience very well. Being carriers of a business’s value proposition, they also form a major tool for perception management.
Now that we understand the importance of marketing campaigns, how do we figure out the right formula to make our marketing campaigns successful? Ideally a marketing campaign must be communicative, interactive, reflective and appealing. It must effectively communicate the value proposition of the business. Campaigns should be interactive with the audience as that helps them feel more involved and enables the business to understand the audience better, identify their needs etc. Reflection of society’s values and being consistent with the upheld values and morals increases the credibility and realism of a campaign. This also allows the audience to relate more. Last but definitely not the least, a campaign must be appealing. This appeal can be created by keeping the required emotions in the right proportion, by storytelling, by capturing on human relationships etc.
Enthralling marketing campaigns always leave a very strong impact on us. If done effectively, campaigning can yield the most desirable set of results for the business. Most of the campaigns are all about highlighting facts that distinguish them from the other brands available in the same segment. Now that the importance of marketing campaigns is more internalized, we get to witness numerous marketing campaigns. Some of them do create an impact and are in every sense a good marketing campaign.
Let’s now have a look at two such marketing campaigns that gained massive popularity.
Vicks released an ad film recently that included a short film showcasing a Transwoman and her adopted daughter. This strategy exemplifies the Call to Action technique as it aims to reach out to a community that is on the fringes of visibility. It also has elements of emotional appeal. The ad film titled, Touch of Care, captures the essence of the brand Vicks. Keeping support and care as the ideological crux, this ad truly brings about the value proposition that Vicks is associated with. The idea of enacting a real-life story makes the ad an effective storyteller as well as keeps the realistic elements intact. The ad film became so successful that it went on to win a bronze at Cannes Lions.
Another successful campaign was that of Kolkata Knight Riders. This digital campaign re-branded KKR in a very positive light. The idea underlying this strategy is fan management predominantly and to ensure that their popularity is never hampered irrespective of their performance. The team has a distinguished presence of social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram with a whopping 21.1K followers. The team also ran YouTube Vlog named ‘Inside KKR’ and designed a mascot for themselves named Tutul Dada to be able to connect with the massive Bengali audience and their sensibility. This campaign leaves a mark on its audience. The team indulges inconsistent interaction with the audience which sustains their presence and popularity even during off IPL times. This campaign overall is very well-strategized when it comes to their relationship with the fans, how they appeal to the audience. A very interesting point to note is how the campaign has unknowingly led to the active involvement of the audience in the campaign.
So as the case studies show, campaigns influence brand reputation heavily. It is the right strategies and tactics that go into making an ad campaign successful.
References:
https://digitalready.co/blog/the-top-10-digital-marketing-campaigns-from-india
Levisay B., The 6 Essential Elements of a Successful Marketing Campaign’, 2012, https://rcpmag.com/Blogs/Marketing-Matters/2012/01/6-Essential-Elements-of-Successful-Marketing.aspx