Phenomenal marketing cases in the first half of 2019!

2019 is already halfway over, so let’s follow the usual practice and take stock of the mid-year marketing cases.

There were many brand marketing cases in the first half of the year, including brainwashing, sand sculpture, self-destruction, nostalgia, national trend... It was dazzling. In order to help you avoid pitfalls, Hezijun has selected some phenomenal marketing cases from them, hoping to bring you new inspiration.

So, what kind of marketing case is a good case?

1. 4 dimensions to judge whether a marketing case is a good case

To judge whether a marketing case is a good case, I think it can be considered from the following dimensions:

1. Is there anything innovative about the marketing case itself?

Innovation ≠ creativity. The “innovation” here refers to:

• Is it combined with digital solutions? For example: using big data to achieve precision marketing for thousands of people;
• Whether to integrate new gameplay? For example: technology marketing such as AI/VR/AR, or has the brand developed some innovative methods based on conventional marketing?

2. Can it inspire users to spread the word on their own?

In the era of social dividends, the user self-propagation effect is so fascinating because it can easily trigger an event, a product or a marketing campaign. Usually, there are six main factors that trigger spontaneous user dissemination, namely:

• Marketing content should resonate with users;
• Satisfy certain social and psychological needs of users;
• Personalized customization;
• Make users feel involved;
• Closely integrate with social hot spots;

3. Can it have a broad social impact?

Truly successful marketing cases will not be limited to a certain group, but will spread further beyond the circle, covering more people and forming a broader social impact.

4. Can brand and effect integration be achieved?

From a brand perspective, an excellent marketing campaign should play a certain role in promoting the brand, bringing brand visibility while increasing sales conversions.

For example, if a marketing campaign costs 5 billion but does not bring any increase in sales, this is definitely not a good case and this model is not sustainable.

II. Awards for Outstanding Marketing Cases in the First Half of 2019

Okay, now that we have a general understanding of the qualities that a good marketing campaign should have, let’s take stock of the 10 most representative marketing cases in the first half of the year.

1. What's Peppa Pig?

No list would be complete without What's Peppa Pig? On January 17, 2019, this 5-minute-and-40-second video spread rapidly like a virus, occupying major social media platforms overnight and becoming the first hit marketing campaign of 2019.

The reason why this case went viral is that, first of all, it took the Spring Festival as an opportunity to hit the pain point of the public of "going home for the New Year", and it had the "right time, right place and right people"; secondly, the cognitive contrast between the grandfather and grandson in the video not only provided jokes but also resonated with the audience; finally, the promotion layout of the content, in addition to the simultaneous publicity and promotion on Weibo, the most critical reason was the explosion on WeChat Moments, because after being forwarded by acquaintances in the Moments, the video was more likely to be opened.

2. Starbucks Cat Claw Cup

On February 26, Starbucks launched the spring version of the "2019 Starbucks Sakura Cup". Among them, a "cat claw cup" with its own cute attributes quickly became popular. Not only did its Baidu Index and WeChat Index soar, it also triggered a "cup-grabbing war." In response to this, many netizens expressed their incomprehension, saying that this was just Starbucks' "hunger marketing."

Putting aside the controversy over "hunger marketing", the popularity of the cat claw cup can be attributed to Starbucks's good marketing:

(1) Use platforms such as TikTok, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu to preheat the product, attract more consumers’ attention through KOL recommendations, and create a buzz about the product;

(2) Taking advantage of the “cat consumption” trend, because the number of cat owners is growing. They “love cats and cats” and will be very interested in cat-related products.

(3) Gaining insight into consumers’ psychological needs, such as the desire to show off and the desire to follow the crowd.

3. Nike: What's the point of talking about proportion?

On the eve of March 7th Girls' Day, Nike launched an advertising film and a series of posters with the theme of #What's the point of caring about the limits# with women as the theme.

This Nike advertisement seizes on the public's "prejudice against women" and, through the real experiences of several female athletes, objectively conveys that the female group should receive the respect, understanding and support they deserve from society, which resonates with female consumers. After watching the short 90-second video, both the advertising images and the text are extremely appealing. In terms of bravely breaking the "female prejudice", it also perfectly combines with its brand slogan "Just do it", conveying a positive brand value to the outside world.

4. Want Want 56 ethnic cans

In order to build momentum for Want Want Day on May 11, Want Want took the lead in launching 56 ethnic versions of Want Want Milk in collaboration with Tmall’s “National Trend is Coming” campaign. They are simply too adorable!

However, it is not an easy task to collect all 56 ethnic cans, because they are sold in the form of a blind box called "Surprise Box". The "blind box" model undoubtedly increases the difficulty of collection, but on another level, this innovative gameplay effectively attracts consumers' attention. Ever since Wangzai released the “blind box”, a craze for “looking for the Wangzai set” has started on the Internet.

5. Kindle: Eat instant noodles with Kindle, so delicious!

Has Kindle, which has been disliked for so many years, given up struggling? The slogan for “Juhuasuan Happy Gathering Day” in Taobao’s flagship store is actually “Cover with Kindle, the noodles taste better.” The official certification is that it is a lid for instant noodles. Is this... just a desperate move?

If you are good at making fun of yourself, you will definitely be on the hot searches. This "give-up" slogan prompted a large number of netizens to personally demonstrate what it means to "cover instant noodles with Kindle." The Weibo topic with the theme #Kindle官方盖塞内面盖# has been read over 200 million times and discussed 39,000 times. The previous topics boosted the sales of Kindle instant noodle gift boxes, and 100 units were sold within 2 minutes of the start of sales on Juhuasuan Joy Day.

Judging from the results, although the image of "Kindle covering instant noodles" is not so positive, Kindle cleverly discovered this slot and utilized it to produce content that the public likes. It not only narrows the distance between the brand and consumers, but also guides public opinion to the output of brand information, achieving a double harvest of brand voice and sales.

6. Oreo x Forbidden City: Six Chinese Flavors from the Imperial Palace

The powerful combination of two super IPs, the 107-year-old Oreo and the 600-year-old Forbidden City, not only launched 6 different flavors of royal desserts with the theme of "One cake combines all the flavors of the world", but also customized new products with Forbidden City characteristics such as Oreo jade seals, tea banquet sets, and ancient style song music boxes.

Oreo also spent 26 days shooting an "epic" commercial for this purpose, using 10,600 cookies to build the most delicious Forbidden City in history. It has been viewed by nearly 3 million people in just three days since it was launched. On Weibo, the topic #Oreo进宫了# sparked heated discussion, with the topic reading volume exceeding 1.29 billion.

In this marketing campaign, Oreo not only put a lot of effort into its products and packaging, but also had enough innovation and topicality in its communication. It also successfully leveraged the traffic of the Forbidden City IP to attract many consumers and convey to them the idea that Oreo is delicious and even more fun. On the day of the product’s launch, daily sales exceeded 760,000 units, an increase of 32% over last year, and the store gained 260,000 followers.

7. Huawei P30: Children’s dream of “Wukong”

Huawei P30 launched a vertical screen movie "Wukong" on May 23. The film was shot using Huawei P30 Pro without any external lens, showing the powerful shooting capabilities of Huawei P30, such as the clear capture of cats, snakes, and fish in the film, as well as the shooting of the protagonist's running, rolling and other actions, and even the "Huawei P30 Pro fire roasting" method of framing, all of which reflect the extremely beautiful image shooting effects of Huawei P30.

Many netizens said that they were "excited" by the short film. First, the story text, starting from typical group memory, explored the relationship between the brand and consumer growth, and established an emotional resonance between the image and the audience; second, the shooting techniques, which not only continued the concept of "future imaging", integrated the main functions of the product into the invisible, but also conveyed the black technology of Huawei P30 Pro to a wide audience.

8. White Rabbit x Smell Library: “Toffee Fragrance” Gift Pack

On May 23, the Smell Library teamed up with White Rabbit to launch the "Happy Childhood" series of fragrances with the theme of "Add Some Childishness". Once on sale, 610 limited-edition fragrance gift packs were sold out in 3 seconds, and more than 14,000 pieces of other peripheral fragrances were sold on Tmall in just 10 minutes. At the same time, it also gained extremely high popularity on traffic platforms such as Weibo and Douyin, and even attracted many celebrities and multiple media platforms to watch and support. The offline interactive device "candy grabbing machine" also had a long queue... The product sales and social influence are enough to prove that this is an excellent marketing campaign.

Why is this cross-border issue so popular? This is largely because the brand has hit the nail on the head for young people. The slogan “Let’s be a little childish” perfectly hits the mentality of those born in the 80s, 90s, and 95s. When childhood feelings and memories meet the “refusal to admit old age”, they are of course willing to pay for it.

9. NetEase News x NetEase DaDa: "Raising Manual"

As a popular internet celebrity, NetEase Dada never disappoints. On the afternoon of May 28, the H5 "Breeding Manual" launched by NetEase News and NetEase Dada was widely circulated on social platforms such as WeChat Moments, QQ and Weibo. The total number of views on the same day exceeded 10 million and it successfully became a hot search on Weibo. It is said that it is difficult for H5 to be popular in 2019, so how did NetEase Dada achieve such popularity?

First, the theme is novel and interesting; second, the design and content are "related to me". What everyone cares about most is themselves, and what prompts them to share are often things that are highly relevant to themselves; third, the operation is simple, which enhances the user interaction experience; finally, the design style is eye-catching. People are visual animals, and exquisite pictures can attract users' attention.

It seems that it is not that H5 is not good, but that it lacks imagination and execution.

10. NetEase Cloud Music x Sanqiang: "Music" series underwear and socks

NetEase is the leader in screen-sweeping. NetEase Cloud Music, which is comparable to NetEase Dada in strength, has also really dominated the screen recently. However, unlike the previous forms of screen-sweeping, this time it is because - selling underwear.

In early June, NetEase Cloud Music and Sanqiang jointly launched the "Music" series of underwear and socks, and took advantage of the opportunity to launch a magical retro advertising film.

Obviously, this ad is so ridiculous on purpose. The cheap hair accessories, retro character hairstyles, 50-cent animation special effects, and magical retro-style soundtrack in the video, coupled with the clear and melodious product introduction, are both funny and ridiculous. The ad caused a strong response from NetEase Cloud Music users and Sanqiang consumers on social media, creating a cross-border win-win effect. The ad was viewed 714,000 times on Weibo alone.

Conclusion

Looking back at the classic cases in the first half of the year, each one has its own merits. Various brands have risen strongly and exploded with huge brand influence. But to sum up, the success of these marketing activities, whether it is cross-border collaboration or leveraging marketing, is inseparable from any link in pain points, hot spots, and communication.

The above is a summary of the marketing cases in the first half of 2019. Has the best case in your mind appeared?

Finally, let us look forward to what more creative marketing cases will appear in the second half of the year.

Author: Activity Box

Source: Activity Box