As we approach the middle of 2013, we wanted to take a look back at some of the best marketing campaigns that have already taken place so far this year. It was hard to compile a list because there were so many great campaigns, and some not so great ones, but these listed here deserve some recognition.
Arrested Development Launch Campaign
As if fans of the cult television show Arrested Development weren’t already ecstatic their beloved show was coming back to the small screen, the fans received some bonus material from the launch campaign. Netflix released the entire fourth season of Arrested Development on May 26 to its streaming service. The original running of the show was cancelled after three seasons, much to die hard fans dismay. Since then the show has experienced success in DVD sales and merchandise, and has continued its cult popularity.
The launch campaign for season four was handled beautifully. Netflix played to an audience who deeply loves a show in hopes they would come to deeply love Netflix. The creativity and details are what really set this campaign apart.
As past of the multi-dimensional campaign, Netflix launched the website insertmeanywhere.biz which featured the character Tobias Funke from the show showcasing his acting talents in hopes that director James Cameron would cast him in a film. To make his inclusion easier for Mr. Cameron, Tobias provides multiple reels of him acting as different generic movie characters in front of a green screen. The treat for fans is the ability to use these acting reels themselves to insert Tobias into their favorite classics. The results have been hilarious. (Insert YouTube example)
The Netflix launch campaign also took to the streets in major cities like London, New York, and Los Angeles to hand out frozen bananas from a replica of the Bluth family Frozen Banana stand from the show. Thousands of fans turned out just to receive the frozen treats and to feel like a part of the show. In London, some fans waited for six hours in line at the stands.
While this clever move from LinkedIn wasn’t necessarily enjoyed by everyone, no one can deny that it got people, and the media, talking. In Feb of this year, LinkedIn sent out a flurry of “congratulations” emails to users who fall within the top 1%, 5%, or 10% of profiles viewed. On the surface this sounds great, but when you take into account there are 200 million users on the professional social networking site, each “special” recipient was among 2 to 20 million other users.
The first wave of chatter came in the form of users who were bragging on Twitter and other social media sites of their accomplishment. The emails sent out to each top percenter encouraged them to share the news.
The second round of chatter came from those who did the math and realized they weren’t that special after all. The story exploded across blogs and main stream media alike dissecting whether or not this move was ethical or ultimately all that clever. Many writers criticized LinkedIn’s probably attempt to encourage email recipients to upgrade to paid premium accounts so they could manage all their profile views. Even with the criticism, those in the marketing industry had to admit the campaign was at least effective in creating buzz.
Dove’s “Real Beauty” Sketches
It was hard to avoid this video from Dove featuring real women being drawn by a sketch artist. The video went instantly viral, splashing across social networks like a flash flood, hitting over 2.5 million views in just three days.
The video features a group of women who are asked to describe their appearance to a professional sketch artist who has not met them. Another group of people who have met these women are asked to describe the same women to the same sketch artist. The result is a group of sketches that were quite skewed negatively by the women who described themselves. The video struck a chord with people, women in particular, who understand how hard women can be on their physical appearance.
