Everyone wants to feel important, recognized, and valued. And nobody is better at tapping into this inherent need as much as advertising campaigns. Advertising seeks to manipulate perceptions to influence purchase decisions. The most brilliant ad campaigns are a heady cocktail of human psychology and data, fine-tuned to stay in our minds rent free.
While we often feel nostalgic about our childhood, some of our best memories are peppered with instances of us enjoying certain products together with our friends. These products were often first seen in ad campaigns. Knowingly or unknowingly we have been influenced by advertising campaigns that promise us the moon and nudge us to give the advertised product a try.
According to Zippia, the average American is exposed to anywhere between 4,000 to 10,000 ads a day. It is over five times the number of ads an average person saw in the 1970s. Since then, ads have evolved to become more customized, relatable, and intrusive.
As more and more people spend a majority of their waking days on the Internet, advertisers are now also tasked with helping companies connect with customers.
So, what is it that makes some advertisements far more memorable than others? Is there a secret recipe to making brilliant campaigns?
As you continue reading this article, we will dissect some of the most brilliant advertising campaigns of popular brands.
What is the main goal of an advertising campaign?
Advertising campaigns seek to inform, persuade, and ultimately connect with customers over the brand and its products. While each advertisement has its own theme, all campaigns fit these three goals.
A huge part of advertising consists of reminding customers why they must buy a certain brand over the competition. As advertising blends with marketing to convey its message, we decided to take a look at some of the common types of marketing messages.
Ethos – In an ethos marketing message, the company tries to add weight to their message on the basis of credibility. For example, toothpaste advertisements often show dentists recommending the brand.
Pathos – In a pathos system, advertisers aim to appeal to your emotions. They want the audience to feel good about their association with the brand and create a campaign that elicits positive emotions. A few years ago, Duracell came up with an advertisement that showed how its batteries helped military families stay connected.
Logos – The advertiser uses logic to appeal to prospective consumers. They hope to motivate customers to give their product a try by quoting statistics or explaining the course of certain things in life. For example, life insurance companies might give examples of some families becoming homeless after losing the breadwinner.
Offer and Pricing – In this tactic, advertisers flaunt limited-time deals, tapping into the consumer’s fear of missing out. Seasonal offers paired with great discounts tempt you to take advantage of the limited time deal. For example, Black Friday sales. Even if you do not need something, seeing a product available for cheap prompts you to buy it.
Storytelling – Often brands weave stories around their product that make them appear relatable and approachable. During the course of the story, the brand reveals its role and makes consumers wish to be a part of the narrative. For example, Starbucks UK showed how a person’s name is an important part of their story for LGBTQ+ individuals.
Humor – Humor is a universally accepted language. It cuts through barriers, prejudices, and apprehensions. Even when nothing works, humor works. For example, the Kia commercial featuring Melissa McCarthy managed to be funny while driving home a point.
Signaling – Through signaling, the advertiser attempts to point out how using the product will elevate your social status. Luxury brands often use this tactic to justify their high price and quality. Sometimes, celebrities are roped in to show exactly how cool you will look if you decide to buy the product.
Call to action – Although most advertisements have a call to action built-in, some campaigns directly ask the customer to act now. For example, the bouncy QR code ad by Coinbase at Super Bowl. It lasted for all of 60 seconds but the traffic generated crashed the website.
The seven brilliant advertising campaigns in our book are:
The best advertising campaigns manage to combine all these messages in different forms to hold the attention of the viewer. So, without further ado, we list the seven most stunning ad campaigns of all time.
1. Nike – Just Do It
Well, it is saying something if you decide to seek the patronage of the Goddess of Victory. Across print, television, and the Internet, Nike managed to associate itself with success with a well thought out campaign. As the world started becoming more conscious about fitness and healthy diets, Nike decided to show just how it can help.
Launched in 1988, the “Just Do It” campaign was a hit beyond any agency’s wildest dreams. It beat out the competition and also positioned Nike as the sportswear of choice for champions. The advertising campaign promoted the idea that Nike is not just meant for professional athletes but for everyone who wants to make a fashion statement.
The ads associated Nike’s products with the prospect of achieving greatness. Clearly, it had an impact. Within a decade, Nike’s sales reached over $9.2 billion in 1998, from making $800 million in 1988. People still associate Nike with the slogan and the clever messaging makes you feel like you can do anything.
Today, “Just Do It” is a trademark of the Nike brand and a symbol of victory over defeat. On September 5, 2018, Nike celebrated the 30th anniversary of its phenomenal campaign and released a follow up ad called Dream Crazy, which touched upon the same emotional points as its earlier ads.
Trivia: The “Just Do it” slogan was inspired by the words of a Utah criminal who said “Let’s do it”, just before his execution.
2. Snickers – You’re Not You When You’re Hungry
All of us are familiar with the term hangry. So is Snickers. The chocolate brand spun a campaign on how hunger affects our responses and mood, and how they have the solution. The universal truth in the campaign also made it easy to adapt it for local audiences.
The Snickers advertising campaign with the message “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” was created in 2010 in time for the Super Bowl, and featured Betty White. A teaser released before the campaign resulted in massive earned media and an 18,000% increase in searches about the brand on Google and YouTube.
In its ads centered around this slogan, Snickers often places people who don’t belong to the group on screen and show their transformation after having a Snickers bar.
According to Adage, the campaign catapulted Snickers into the limelight, helping it cross the $2 billion mark in annual sales. After the campaign was launched, the chocolate company saw its world sales increase by 15.9%.
“You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” has today become a popular catchphrase associated with the brand. The advertising campaigns are often humorous and memorable.
Trivia: Mars, the parent company of Snickers, makes 15 million Snickers a day. Each Snickers bar has a limit of 16 peanuts apiece.
3. Coinbase – Super Bowl Ad 2022
At one of the world’s topmost sporting events, if you find a bouncy QR code on screen, will you be tempted to check out? Yes? Well, you are not alone. Millions of people were tempted to figure out the mystery when Coinbase debuted a unique commercial during the championship game on February 13, 2022.
The one-minute long display was also available to those who were home watching the event on their television screens. Once you scanned the QR code, you would be taken to the crypto exchange’s promotional website where the users were offered $15 worth of Bitcoin just for signing up.
The no-frills advertisement cost Coinbase nearly $13 million and generated massive traffic, leading to the crash of the website. “Coinbase saw more traffic than we’ve ever encountered, but our teams pulled together and only had to throttle traffic for a few minutes,” Surojit Chatterjee, Coinbase’s Chief Product Officer, revealed on Twitter.
Installs for the crypto exchange platform jumped 309% week-over-week after the ad’s Super Bowl airing.
The ad campaign drove home the message that sometimes less is more and the power of a simple but brilliantly executed call-to-action advert.
Trivia: As a remote-first organization, Coinbase is a company with no headquarters.
4. The California Milk Processor Board – Got Milk?
The “Got Milk?” ad campaign was first published in the US in 1993. Over a quarter century later, it is still fresh in the minds of those who saw it. As milk consumption declined in the early 1990s to less than one cup per person per day, officials set out to make milk a cool necessity. Result? The “Got Milk?” marketing campaign.
The advertisements changed public perception about milk and sales in California alone rose by 7% in just one year. The first Got Milk campaign was quirky and just the right amount of zany, forcing people to confront the uncomfortable consequence of milk running out. During preliminary research, advertisers had found that people would become unhappy whenever milk ran out at home or in the workplace.
The success of the campaign prompted another pro-milk group Milk Processor Education Program, or MilkPEP, to license the slogan for its own print-ad campaign. Such widespread use of the tagline cemented its popularity while arresting declining sales and saving the dairy industry.
It took the dairy industry to show everyone that facing your fears in an advert can be a positive thing.
Trivia: The average American drinks around 18 gallons of milk every year.
5. Budweiser – Wassup?
How can a beer company endear itself to its customers? While “Let’s Get a Drink” mostly had romantic undertones, Budweiser wanted to launch an ad campaign that will make it the most popular beverage across demographics. Enter the “Wassup?” Campaign.
The initial advertisement was aired during Super Bowl 2000, where a group of friends called each other to know “Wassup?” The campaign focused on friendship and having a Bud, spawning multiple creatives and parodies in the ensuing months.
The campaign was meant to attract younger consumers across racial, ethnic, and gender divides. It also improved the bottom-line, with The New York Times reporting that sales increased by 2.4 million barrels.
The catchphrase has now become a cultural phenomenon, with the company serving up variations of the popular phrase in new ads. The campaign’s success prompted the brewer to resurrect the slogan for its 20th anniversary.
Trivia: Budweiser was the first brewery in the US to pasteurize its beer, greatly improving its shelf life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oymMa3yDgoE
6. Apple – Shot on iPhone
One of the most valuable brands in the world, Apple is almost a religion for its fans. The brilliant “Think Different” campaign had already established Apple’s dominance in the personal computer segment, but this time they had a new market to conquer – the mobile phone segment.
The “Shot on iPhone” campaign series took over billboards, print ads, and television commercials. Although it started out as advertisement, it has now evolved into a rubric of quality and the #ShotOniPhone hashtag had over 15 million posts at last count.
The campaign was started in 2014 and is still going strong almost a decade later. As hashtags and social media became popular, the tech giant wanted to tap into new opportunities this presented. According to TBWA Media Arts Lab, the campaign was mentioned by 24,000 opinion leaders, with an estimated 6.5 billion media impressions and 95% positive mentions.
You could be part of it too, as long as you had an iPhone. Despite stiff competition from multiple smartphone makers, Apple has managed to hold its own in the smartphone arena. iPhone sales makeup almost half of Apple’s revenue.
The everyday experiments of the “Shot on iPhone” campaign make for a subliminal viewing experience.
Trivia – The first iPhone was released on June 29, 2007. Two months later, on September 5, 2007, its 4 GB model vanished from shelves. Also, Apple releases iPhones every year.
7. Fitbit – My Reason Is
In 2017, Fitbit decided to motivate people to adopt a healthier lifestyle. The company launched the #MyReasonIs advertising campaign, highlighting how the wearable had significantly improved the lives of its customers.
The 30-second ad did not feature any celebrities, instead, it showcased the benefits of using Fitbit in the life of the common man. Making the ad more relatable was one of the customers saying, “You have to be able to take care of yourself before you can help other people.”
The three consumers who share their stories speak about everyday struggles and how they managed to win health as Fitbit helped them measure and track progress. The “MyReasonIs” campaign is simple and memorable in its ingenuity as using real people’s stories make the benefits seem much more tangible for the average person.
The advertising campaign demonstrated the power of good, clean storytelling and empathy.
Trivia: Fitbit founders James Park and Eric Friedman were inspired by how Nintendo Wii’s motion sensors worked with software to gamify fitness.
The ad campaigns on our list have been selected as they manage to form an emotional connection with the customers and clearly reveal how the product can enhance their lives. Although marketing messages might be common, presenting products in a unique manner that highlights its USP is what sticks in the minds of the customer long after the ad has been phased out.
An advertising campaign primarily sets out to attract its target audience while it must also showcase how it is better than everyone else. Advertisements build brand identity through interesting stories and anecdotes. The more genuine or unique your ad is, the greater will be its recall value.
