Tags
#Campaigns
Share your purpose publicly
In 2016, Airbnb launched a campaign sharing their purpose with the world. By doing this, they made themselves and their Hosts accountable for ensuring "Anyone can Belong Anywhere." The campaign included:
- An online platform that allowed people to create their own version of the Airbnb logo
- A variety of communications, billboards, and merchandise
- A social challenge to create #onelessstranger, which included sending $10 to 100,000 community members and asking them to use the money to deliver a personal or creative act of kindness
- The 'Don't Go There. Live There.' video
Win price wars by knowing your audience
In 1973, as a young airline, Southwest's low cost frequent flights were posing a threat to the market share of the larger well-established Braniff Airlines. Having deep pockets, Braniff launched a campaign that undercut Southwest's $26 flight from Dallas to Houston by half.
With the strong possibility of losing all of their business to Braniff's cheaper flights, Southwest fired back with an ad that read: 'Nobody's going to shoot Southwest Airlines out of the sky for a lousy $13.'
Within the ad, Southwest offered their customers a choice: Southwest would either match Braniff's $13 fare or customers could buy a regular $26 ticket and receive a complimentary fifth of vodka, whiskey, or scotch.
And the result? Besides Southwest becoming the largest distributor of those liquors in Texas during that time,:
- Three quarters of Southwest passengers chose the liquor over the half priced fare.
- Southwest's passenger count went up by 66%.
- Southwest turned its first ever profit that year.
Braniff, on the other hand, reinstated their original higher rates and would eventually cease operations in 1982.
Southwest's victory was a result of the company understanding their audience. Their core customers were business travelers who expensed their trips, and would much rather have a free bottle of booze than help their company save a few dollars.
Forget traditional advertising, just surprise and delight people
Pop quiz: A lone coffee cup is resting on top of a cab as it slowly starts to pull away—what do you do?
If you are the type of person that runs up to warn the cab driver, you would have been pleasantly surprised to receive a Starbucks gift card from the cabbie.
This clever empty magnetic cup was used as a way for Starbucks to surprise and delight potential customers. Instead of advertising in traditional ways like billboards, Starbucks prefers to find ways to bring joy into people's lives. They have even been known to have unadvertised free ice cream socials on hot days and free cups of 'Calm' on Tax Day, as well.
Start conversations with your community
An illuminated sign on the outside of an Umpqua Seattle store asked its community to fill in the blank: 'We want to have a conversation about ______.' A passerby could text topics to complete the phrase and have them appear on the store's facade in real-time. Inside the store, customers could also fill out postcards to finish the same statement and hang them on the display wall. Umpua used the submissions to determine which events they would hold next in their store.
Make your packaging memorable
For Zappos, their white box is the most tangible touchpoint they have with their customers. That is why it's so important to them, not only to make it recognizable from at least 25 feet away but to have it create a positive emotional connection. To do this, the Zappos team asked themselves: How can we turn our box into a creative and meaningful experience? Enter the #ImNotABox campaign that added:
- Hidden messages embedded into bar codes that customers can find using their mobile phones
- Different core values printed on each box to reinforce their unique culture
- Templates printed on the inside for customers to cutout and make different crafts